Early Years Learning Resources from Teacher Play

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Our little ones have had a tough time of it when it came to their education these past few years. E is in Primary 3 now and her last two school years were interrupted due to the coronavirus pandemic, meaning that she didn't spend a lot of it actually in school. Most of it was home learning but hopefully we won't have any interruptions this year.

Emma Anderson, an assistant headteacher from Peterborough has set up a business called Teacher Play which sells products that aim to help children flourish in their early stages of life by assisting their language, reading, writing and numeracy skills.

The products are targeted towards children aged 1-7 and are great for helping with vocabulary, phonics and conversational skills. E is at the upper end of the age limit but I thought they would be a great help for her considering her past two school years were a little unusual to say the least.

We were very kindly sent the Common Exception Words: Set 2. E is very good at reading and can read phonetically well but these have been great for helping with her "tricky" words.

Inside the pack, you get 64 double-sided cards, each with a question or mini story which helps your child understand how we use that word. You can either choose to read this to your child or, like E, they can attempt to read it on their own. The child then uses a dry erase marker to trace over the word to help them learn it.

When we first opened out the pack, E said "Oh, this isn't a fun toy!" but once we began with the first couple of cards, she kept asking to do more! She gets set homework each day and we also add a couple of these cards in as extra. Sometimes we will even do a little test to see if she can create different sentences using the word on the card. The illustrations are beautiful too.

We also received a Phonics Mat, a Capital Letters Mat (I LOVE the addition of the countries and flags - an extra little learning tool), a list of all Common Exception words, an Alphabet Mat and a Numbers mat. All of these we have used during homework time so E can do the majority of it independently, without needing to ask me for help.

The Common Exception Words cards, I feel, have helped E lots of the past couple of weeks and I can see her becoming more confident with more difficult words. The full range at Teacher Play look fantastic and I wish they were around when my children were younger!

You can browse the range at Teacher Play or follow them on Instagram.

Vet Squad Toys - Review

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E is a massive animal lover, she will instantly make a beeline towards any animal that she sees so I've always said that I wouldn't be surprised if she ended up being a veterinarian when she's older.

Vet Squad is a new range of toys from Vivid Toys which, as you can probably guess by the name, are centred around vets, but the best thing is that they are all female characters.

There are a few different toys in the range, all at different price points, and they have teamed up with Sea Life Trust to donate some of the money raised from the sale of these toys. We received:

• Vet Squad Air Adventure (£16.99)
• Vet Squad Reef Rescue (£12.99)
• Vet Squad Forest Rescue (£12.99)
• Vet Squad Animal 3 pack (£3.99)
• 4 x Vet Squad Vet & Pet sets (£7.99 each)

E wanted to open the smaller sets first, the individual characters that come with their own animal; Emily & Brooke the Dog, Yara & Luna the Rabbit, Robin & Snowy the Owl, Ava & Leo the Cat. Each character has a little backpack with two different veterinary objects to help them do their job. These can attach onto the backpacks and you can also put them in their hands.

I love the diversity with the characters. Not only do we have characters of different races but Robin wears glasses too! As a glasses-wearer myself, I was very excited about this as it is quite rare to see when it comes to children's toys.

Next up, the Reef Rescue and Forest Rescue. The Reef Rescue set comes with an Emily figure, the speedboat, a turtle (complete with removable bandage on its flipper, stethoscope, bucket and sponge. The Forest Rescue set comes with an Ava figure, the jeep, elephant with a feeding bottle and a little case that holds a bucket, sponge and a pair of sunglasses.

The play options are great with these sets. E liked to put her characters in different scenarios, having them rescue the poor, injured animals. The figures are poseable and E just needed a little help to get them into the seats of the vehicles. Each items is well made and to make the sets even more exciting, if you wipe the injured area of the animals with warm water, it will disappear like the vet has fixed them!

E has taken to filling up the bathroom sink and bringing the Reef Rescue set in for some water play too.

The Air Adventure set is probably the most exciting one in my opinion. In this set, you get the helicopter, Robin figure, a horse and another case which holds smaller accessories. The helicopter has a real working winch so it can rescue the horse from danger.

E has enjoyed playing with all of the sets together. The speedboat that comes with the Reef Rescue set has a hole at the back so she would pretend that Emily's speedboat had gotten into difficulty and use the winch to pull it out. I love that each set has it's own functionality but can all work well together.

If you want to add more to your collections, the Animal 3 packs are great. Inside these sets, you get two animals and an accessory. These would make great little stocking fillers for children who already own any of the bigger sets.

There is full Vet Surgery Playset due for release at the beginning of October and judging by how much E absolutely loves the rest of the range, Santa will definitely be bringing it!

You can check out the full Vet Squad range at Smyths Toys.

Schleich Horse Club Mobile Vet Van & Horse Club Girls - Review

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I absolutely love Schleich products and we have been lucky enough to review some of their jungle animals and dinosaurs with C in the past. E was very excited to get her very own first Schleich products from the extensive Horse Club range.

We, very kindly, were sent the Schleich Horse Club Mobile Vet Van and two Horse Club Girls to have a play with.

The Mobile Vet Van is a fantastic set with tons of creative play value. The van itself is simple to put together, taking me less than ten minutes, and E enjoyed helping me pop the stickers on to make it look pretty. 

Once the top and side of the van are opened up, you have the main veterinary area. The set comes with 15 accessories such as a table and laptop and x-ray machine, you even get a ramp to help get the horses up to the van to be checked. Everything every good vet would need! It can all be closed up and kept enclosed so you won't lose anything. A few of the pieces are quite small so wouldn't be suitable for children under 3. The target age for these toys are around 5-12 years.

As well as the actual van and accessories, you get a Hanoverian foal figure and vet with movable arms which is great as you can use your imagination to have the vet work with the foal, handle medical equipment or hold onto the included reins. E loved the addition of sticky plasters and a printed notepad to jot down the foals ailments.

The Schleich Mobile Vet Van retails at £30.00 and is available from Argos.

Schleich have a huge range of Horse Club products which can all be played with together. In addition to the Vet Van, we received two Horse Club Girls (and their horses). There are four girls in the range; Hannah, Sofia, Lisa and Sarah. We got Sofia with her horse Blossom and Sarah with her horse Mystery.

Each Horse Club Girl has her own personality and relationship with her horse. Sofia and her beautiful Andalusian mare Blossom are a dream team with Sofia's blonde hair matching Blossom's fair mane. Sarah loves to go on long rides and gallop across wide fields on the back of her Arabian mare Mystery.

The attention to detail on these figures are fantastic - they are so realistic and lifelike. You can tell that so much thought has been put into the design of them and the quality of the entire Schleich range are brilliant. They are the type of toy that will withstand the test of time and be played with for years.

The saddles and bridles can be removed and the girls slot on easily, having their feet resting on the stirrups and the reins in their hands. 

The Horse Club Girls retail at £15.00 each and can also be purchased from Argos.

Celebrating #BritishScienceWeek with Learning Resources

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It is British Science Week from the 6th-12th of March and it is one national week that I am always eager to support. We have always been into science as a family and both C and E are fascinated by all things science, from why things look and behave the way they do to how things are made.

Learning Resources have a great range of Science themed toys that are perfect for getting young children excited about the world of science. Both C and E were thrilled to kindly be sent the GeoSafari Jr My First Microscope and GeoSafari Jr My First Telescope to try out. These are available in both pink or blue colourways. C is happy with any colour and even at the age where he can be influenced by society and what others think, he loves pink as much as any other colour. E, on the other hand, is stereotypically girly so was thrilled to see pink and purple science-based toys.

GeoSafari Jr My First Microscope
This super cool microscope was designed by a scientist and mum of two and it is a working microscope targeted towards children aged around 3-7 years old. E and C are 5 and 7 respectively and the eye piece is the perfect size for their small faces. It takes three AAA batteries (not included) to activate the light.

Unlike a typical microscope, it has two eye pieces meaning that your child doesn't have to close one eye to use it - I know that can throw some kids off because they don't know which one they should be closing! It is completely designed for little hands with one chunky focusing knob that children can move easily on their own.

E was happily searching around the house and outdoors for things to look at under her 8x magnification lens. The fixed stage means that both flat and 3D objects can be viewed easily without the need for slides. Her favourite things to look at were leaves and her own fingertips and she was in awe at what these items looked like close up.

GeoSafari Jr My First Telescope
I love the idea of a children's telescope because as a child, I remember my dad being massively into astronomy and now he speaks to my children, his grandchildren, about the galaxy and constellations.

The My First Telescope, like the Microscope, is perfectly made for little faces. My face doesn't fit properly in the goggle and nose guide at the dual eyepiece but C and E can use it easily as it's designed with children's pupillary distance in mind.

We tended to wait til night-time to use this to try and get a good view of the moon but it was great to point out the door during the day to see what we could spot (mostly birds on the roof on the house across the road). It has 10x magnification with a wide field of vision and built-in mirror. 

It is so simple to set up and comes with a collapsible tripod too. Attaching the telescope to the tripod is done by lining it up with the top and screwing it on. E found the telescope absolutely fascinating but it did take us a little while to suss out the fact that unless the item we were trying to look at was at least 100 feet away, it wouldn't focus and seemed blurry. Once we got past that hurdle, she was able to easily use it on her own and would excitedly tell me about what she could see.

Learning Resources have a whole host of fabulous science related toys and you can find out more at their website, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

OKIDO Which Way? Game - Review

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My eldest child C is on the autism spectrum and, as a result, is a very logical thinker. He has a keen interest in maths and science, always telling me that he wants to build things or be an engineer when he's a grown up.

OKIDO Which Way? is a fantastic STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) game which teaches the fundamental principles of programming to children aged 4-8. C is almost 7 and E is 5 so they were excited to be able to play it together. They are familiar with the CBeebies show, Messy Goes to OKIDO so instantly recognised the characters.

Inside the box you get:

• Magnetic gameboard
• 16 magnetic tiles
• Magic car
• Mission wheel
• Screwdriver
• 4 x batteries
• Instruction manual with a sheet for keeping score

The object of the game is to spin the wheel to get a mission. Each mission will be classed as 'Easy', 'Medium' or 'Hard', depending on how many stops it has and how far away they are from the start. 

On your magnetic gameboard you will see START next to an image of Messy. The magnetic tiles work as a road and you will see other characters such as Geoffrey and Mayor Oki. Your mission will be to get Messy to visit some of these other characters. You need to use the magnetic road tiles to get Messy to their friends using the shortest route possible - you don't want to run out of tiles!

Once you've finished, switch your magic car on and place it at the start. If your route is correct, it should follow the road tiles along to its destinations.

We had so much fun playing this game - me included! - and it is honestly a lot better than I'd assumed it would be. The scoreboard on the back is a nice touch and not only did it get us all to think about what we were doing, it is a game where the children weren't competitive. They liked brainstorming ideas together to work out what to do next.

It is one of our favourite games to play now and we will definitely keep bringing it out on family game night. I love that it's not only fun but educational too, encouraging cognitive thinking and problem solving.

You can purchase your own OKIDO Which Way? Game from the OKIDO shop for £30.00.

Casdon Morphy Richards Toy Kitchen Set - Review

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I really love the Casdon range and we have reviewed the Hetty Cleaning Trolley, Chip 'n' Pin Till, Shopping Trolley and Wooden Kitchen in the past.

Both my children love pretend play, especially if they are acting out "grown up jobs", and E will always tell me about playing with the role play toys at nursery such as the fruit and veg stall, shop or house.  

E was so excited to be sent the Casdon Morphy Richards Kitchen Set, as one of her favourite things to do at home is to pretend to cook at her wooden kitchen. This set would be a perfect accompaniment to that.

Inside the box is:

• Kettle with level gauge indicator
• Toaster with two pieces of toast
• Coffee machine with carafe 
• Two cups
• Two saucers
• Two plates
• Two teaspoons
• Two forks
• Two knives
• Play food - bacon, sausage and egg

Without even properly looking into each item, I thought E would be able to use her imagination well with these but it's the little extras that really make this set great.

As I mentioned above the kettle has a level gauge indicator and you can flick the switch just like a real kettle. The coffee machine has a lid at the top that you can open to pour water into then it filters through into the carafe below. E absolutely loves this aspect as we have a coffee maker at home and it makes her feel just like mummy.

The toaster is very cool too. Not only can you twist the knob on the front to hear clicks but once you've inserted the bread into the slots, you can push the toast down using the lever and after a few seconds it will pop up.

The set is really true to the Morphy Richards style with the gorgeous style, colour and logo. E could play with this set for hours, either making breakfast for us or setting up a cafe for her dolls and teddies which is really cute to watch.

The quality is fantastic and great for little hands to play with, from age 3 and up. The Casdon Morphy Richards Kitchen Set retails at around £17 but Amazon currently have it for £12.99 - go snap it up!

You can find out more about the full range at the Casdon website.