Peppa Pig Stage Playset - Review #PeppaPigStage

(AD/Gifted - We received this item in exchange for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This post also contains affiliate links meaning that I will earn a few pennies if you purchase through my link.)

Although E has just turned five and likes to think she's a grown up with her love of make up and general sassiness, Peppa Pig is still one of her favourite television shows to watch and has been since she was no age.

She was very excited to get her hands on the Peppa Pig Stage Playset from Character Options to see exactly what it did.

This interactive playset works in two ways; as a stage or as a cinema.

Upon opening the box, E instantly recognised that it was a stage set. The set includes three double sided backdrops so you can create six different scenes by slotting them in the back. If you open out the hidden part of the stage at the front, you'll see a drawer containing 25 different accessories so you can really set the scene. I like that you can pop them all back in when tidying it away and keep them all together without any getting lost.

The accessories for the play scenes are a mix of both plastic and cardboard and the cardboard pieces are double sided too so there are plenty of ways to use your imagination. You even get two sets of three seats and a Peppa and George figure so they can sit and watch the show. We have lots of additional Peppa Pig characters that we have collected over the years so we can even include those in our play too.

You also have a sound panel to make it a little more interactive with sounds ranging from laughter to applause and music.

If you want to switch to a cinema style you can slot a tablet in the back and have your characters sit to watch the "movie".

E has been having so much fun with the Peppa Pig Stage Playset and I think it perfect for children aged around 3-5 but to be honest, her almost 7 year old brother was happy to join in too!

As I said above, E watches a lot of Peppa so she would happily act out episodes that she's seen or come up with something completely new altogether.

The Peppa Pig Stage Playset is available to buy from Argos and retails at £40.00.

Peppa's Laugh and Learn Laptop - Review & Giveaway

Peppa Pig is one of those shows that I don't think has been off my television for a single day since I became a parent six years ago. Kids are just drawn to the show and, I'll admit, she's grown on me a little. My four year old daughter E loves Peppa so we were excited to receive the Peppa's Laugh and Learn Laptop and it was perfect timing with E starting nursery.

E began nursery at the start of the month so we will be focusing a lot on her numbers and letter sounds at home to go along with what she's doing at nursery. The four game modes focus on colours, numbers, letters and word recognition so it sounded fantastic.

The laptop is full of bright colours, as well as an image of Peppa on the front, perfect to pique a small child's interest. It also has a little handle so it can be carried around easily. 

Upon opening, you are met with a whole host of buttons and E couldn't wait to see what everything did. Along the side, there is a slider to change activity; Discover, Quiz, What Can You Find? and Music. It's really easy for a young child to choose their activity by themselves and E happily played around with the buttons to see how they'd changed for each different one. 

When in the Discover mode, pressing one of the six buttons in the centre corresponds to one of the images on the backlit screen eg. telling you that there were "three red clocks" - great to teach both numbers and colours. The Quiz activity asks questions such as "What is the first letter of the word 'coin'? At 4 years old, E did need a little help with these but I definitely feel that when she gets playing more and more, it will teach her a lot of things that will get stuck in her head and aid her learning.

What Can You Find? is similar to the Quiz mode but will ask questions based on sounds, so it will play the sound of an aeroplane taking off or a clock ticking, then the child has to choose the correct button. E loves this setting and it would be great for younger children too. The Music mode transforms the main six buttons into piano sounds so when they are pressed, you can create your own tune.

The six buttons along the bottom add a little extra to each activity. Whether it be musical sounds from the bongos, recorder or saxophone or just telling you the character names of George, Danny Dog or Suzie Sheep.

I think this is a great little toy for children aged 2+. I love a toy that is both fun and educational and the addition of a well loved character helps. The Peppa's Laugh and Learn Laptop retails at £19.99 from all good toy shops.

(We received this item for the purpose of this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)

Want to win one for yourself? Just enter via the Gleam widget below. Good luck!

  Peppa Pig Laugh and Learn Laptop

T&C's:

• This giveaway will run from 13th September until 30th September
• One winner will win one Peppa Pig Laugh and Learn Laptop
• Open to entrants aged 18+
• UK residents only
• One entry per person
• No automated entries  

 

 

How Peppa Pig Helped Us with Potty Training

My darling daughter E will be three in four weeks time. We only potty trained her brother C last March when he was 3.5 years old but because her language and understanding was fantastic when she turned 2 last September, I decided to introduce her to C's old potty.

She was having absolutely none of it and would scream and cry anytime I suggested using it. I didn't give up but I also didn't pressurise her. I would just suggest trying again every other week but it was always met with the same crying and squealing. With C finishing preschool at the end of June, I was determined to train over the summer. Everyone says that summer is the best time to potty train so I was willing to give it a go.

We received a fabulous bundle of Peppa Pig potty training goodies and because E is a big Peppa fan, I hoped it would sway her a little bit. Usually when she'd see C's old potty, she'd run away from me. I got her to open the box herself and seemed really pleased with the contents. We received a Peppa Pig Steady Potty (RRP £9.99), Peppa Pig Training Seat (RRP £8.99) and Peppa Pig Step Stool (RRP £8.99) - all of which have images of Peppa dressed as a princess on them (another of E's loves!) - as well as a copy of the Peppa and her Golden Boots book (RRP £5.49) and some Peppa Pig Hand and Body Wipes (RRP 75p per pack).

I left the potty sitting out for the first day and she surprised me by sitting on it with her clothes on to get used to it.  I felt like this was a breakthrough in itself so I was happy enough to go forward with proper training the following day. I cannot believe how well she is doing and I have Peppa to thank! Right now we have been using the potty for around a month and E is completely dry during the day with no accidents. We are yet to use the insert and stool because I think she's a little afraid of the big toilet but there is no doubt in my mind that they will make the transition from potty to toilet easier for her.

The Peppa Pig toilet wipes have been great for giving her independence and she's happy to wipe herself, help me flush the contents down the toilet then wash her hands afterwards. She seems comfortable when sitting on the potty and she has now sussed exactly what way to sit so that nothing spills out. The feet of the potty, feet of the stool and edges of the insert are non-slip too so that puts both of us at ease. The Peppa and her Golden Boots book helped in the early days because she was able to sit and flick through the pages whilst sitting down and trying to go - it now gets read a lot a bedtime!

If you're struggling with potty training your little one, I definitely recommend character themed training sets. They are even available in George Pig style.

(We received these items for the purpose of this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.) 

Peppa's Alphaphonics Campervan - Review

I have introduced phonics to C in the past by flash cards and paper but with him starting preschool at the beginning of September, I was eager to get him back into learning again. We were given the opportunity to review the Peppa's Alphaphonics Campervan and it was perfect timing. C has loved Peppa Pig since he was little so I knew it would be an instant hit as he'd recognise the characters that he loves.

The Campervan has a slider at the top where you can choose to play one of 8 games such as Try & Spell, What's the Letter?, Find the Letter and Copy Me.

When you have the pointer on the first picture on the slider, you can press any button on the keyboard which has a letter and picture of an item beginning with that letter. When pressed, you will hear, for example, "D is for Dinosaur, rarrr!" and similar sounds for the rest of the letters. We started off with pressing all of these as it got C used to what was on the campervan in full. It was also great for encouraging him to remember the sounds and focus on his concentration.

The second task gives you the phonetic sound of the letters and a word that begins with the letter - "kuh as in kiss". I found that having C press these and copy the sounds for himself helped him recognise letters and words and he was able to remember these himself the next time he played.

 
The next few games are a little bit more difficult. Peppa asks you to find a word in one of them so C really had think and pay attention to what we'd learned before. If Peppa asked him to find the van, he had to remember the sound that the word started with then the letter. Finding the first letter of words was probably the hardest for C. I had him repeat what the game asked, specifically sounding the first letter then trying to have him work it out on his own.

I won't lie, C found some of these a little tough to begin with as generally, he expects these types of button-pressing toys to just play music or say phrases. It took me to sit with him and explain what to do but once I'd told him once, he took to it like a duck to water. Some of them he still does struggle with, especially spelling the full words, and needs help with but I think it's a great introduction to phonics. 

 
I love that the campervan has a music button to play the familiar Peppa Pig theme song as it makes it a bit more "fun" rather than just all about learning. There is a repeat button too which C uses quite a lot but it's a great way for me to see that he is really concentrating. The only downsides that I feel the campervan has are, although there is a volume button it is still quite loud on the lowest setting. There also isn't an off switch so if another toy falls on top of it in the toy box, it can be set off then Peppa will repeatedly ask you to pick a button until she realises that it isn't happening and then it goes off on it's own.

All in all, I think that the Peppa's Alphaphonics Campervan is a great toy especially for getting children ready for school. It's recommended for children aged 3 years+ and it retails at £19.99.   

(We received this item for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.) 

 

KD UK Peppa's Musical Microphone - Review

I am super chuffed to be a part of the KD Mumbassador scheme. My kids love character products so I am seriously grateful for the opportunity.

One of the items that we have received is the Peppa Pig Musical Microphone. Both of my children absolutely adore Peppa Pig so I knew that this would go down a treat.

The musical microphone has a little image of Peppa herself on the top, something that C kept pointing out to me. He was just interested in singing into it to begin with until I taught him what each of the buttons do.

Down near the bottom you'll see the off switch but you can also slide it to the microphone or the question mark. If you switch it to the microphone, you can obviously use the microphone but the centre buttons do different things too.

The pink button will play well-known songs such a Ring o' Roses or Mary Had a Little Lamb (you just need to keep pressing to switch song), the green tick button and orange 'x' button will make different sounds and noises.

If you switch through to the '?', the microphone will switch off and the centre buttons will do different things than before. The pink button will give you a sound or fact alongside a question, your child will then select the tick or 'x' button, depending on which answer they want to give. The questions are ones like, "Rebecca Rabbit starts with the sound "ba". True or false?" or a drum noise would be playing and Peppa would state that it was a guitar then again, you'd choose the tick or 'x'.

I love the fact that such a small toy has a lot of activities. You have the microphone to sing and have fun but also a learning setting too, which is something that I always look for when I buy toys for the children.

Both children love it, although E is a little young to understand it fully, but she does love shouting into the microphone!

The Peppa Pig Musical Microphone retails at £11.99 which I think is very reasonable for what it actually does. 

You can find out more at the KD UK website and you can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

(Disclaimer: We received this item as part of our role as a KD UK Mumbassador. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)

Fun in the Pool with Zoggs, Peppa and George!

C is very much a water baby and always has been. I try to take him swimming as much as I can and I really hope E will begin liking the water too. She does like a good splash!

Zoggs have a range of Peppa Pig swimming accessories. C is obsessed with Peppa and George so when we were offered the chance to review, I knew he'd love them. We received two sets of George armbands in sizes 1-3 years and 3-6 years and Peppa & George soakers.

E and C turn 1 and 3 next month, respectively, so I thought that the armband sets would be great fits for each of them and I was right. They are super easy to inflate too. The chambers are in two sections, front and back, and you need to squeeze the valve and blow in. Squeezing the valve means that if you let go, you won't lose any air unless you squeeze it again. They fit round both the kids arms perfectly and the fun George design means that the kids love them. They do what they are supposed to do perfectly and are a great buoyancy aid. They are made from heavy duty Vylux so risks of bursting is minimal.

The Peppa and George soakers are little soft toys that are fine to be submerged in water. They are good to use as little friends in the pool and are great to splash and squeeze out water. I thought E would like these as shes only small but she never gets a look in with C! He loves playing with them in and out of the water and they don't take ages to dry out either.

The armbands retail at £7.50 per set, the soakers are £8.00 and they can both be purchased from the Zoggs website. You can also browse their full range of Peppa and George themed products.

You can also keep up to date with Zoggs on Facebook and Twitter.

(Disclaimer: We received these items for the purpose of this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)