Toddlers

Over the weekend Bugs has been testing out the Dinosaur Roar app which was released last week! The app was inspired by the best-selling picture book Dinosaur Roar! By Paul and Henrietta Stickland.

The app has three activities. Firstly you can read the book or have it read to you. The book is really adorable and my kids have been really enjoying it, they also have the hardback version which they love!

On the app the book is read to you in children’s voices which is so so CUTE!

There are also 14 fantastic dinosaur pictures for your little one can colour in, they can also save them when they have finished too!

The third activity is to create your very own dinosaur name… you just type in your name, shake and hey presto…

If your child is a dinosaur fan aged between 2 and 4 then this is a really lovely story book app with added extras 🙂

The app is now available on iTunes  and is priced at £1.99

Bugs has been very lucky to have received a Y Velo Balance Bike from Y•Volution to go under the Christmas tree. I’m under no obligation to review this but I am so excited by this I just have to tell you about this bike and the company behind them 🙂

Y Velo Balance Bike

The stylish balance bike gives children the opportunity to learn balance, coordination and motor skills.  It is perfect way for kids to progress to bicycle cycling quicker and is suitable for children as young as three years old!

I have been wanting to get Bugs a balance bike for a while now and cannot wait to take him to the park on it on Christmas morning! I have heard so many great thing about balance bikes and truly believe that they are the way forward!

What does the Y Velo Junior offer your child?

• Lightweight but strong aluminum Frame
• Rubber over-mould wheels, great comfort and grip with no punctures
• Larger wheels, Designed for safer play and easier riding on uneven surfaces
• Higher ground clearance means the frame won’t get caught on uneven ground providing a safer ride
• Older child fork rake means safer steering
• Cartridge wheel bearings giving great long-lasting durability and a smooth ride
• Comfy beam saddle so your child can slide up closer to the handlebar and slide back as they grow taller
• Indestructible build quality means a lightweight but long lasting bike
• Maximum loading weight: 55.1lbs [25kgs]
• Product weight: 9.9lbs [4.5kgs]
• Product dimensions:18 x 26.77 cm
• Seat height: 13.39 cm

Suitable for ages 3+ years. RRP £49.99

I just love the products at Y•Volution, their range starts with the Y Pewi which is an innovative baby walker suitable from 9-36 months, then there are the three different balance bikes, one being suitable from 18 months, the other two 3+, then there is a fantastic range of scooters which you really must see the website for the whole range!

Here is a short video of the awesome Y•Flicker Carver  which is the ultimate performance scooter that performs tricks, stunts, carve, drift and even 360s at greater speed. It comes in 2 Sizes 5+ & 7-Adult

Watch this space in the New Year as we will be telling you all about how Bugs is getting on with his Y Velo 🙂

When someone mentions Tonka to me I am sent straight back to my childhood riding on my big yellow Tonka dumper truck! I’ll never forget that truck the hours of fun we used to have on it… so when I was approached recently by the lovely people at Tonka to review some of their new range Tonka Town I was delighted for Bugs obviously 😉 I was desperately hoping that the quality was going to be good as that is what I remember so well about my Tonka truck it was so well sturdy and brilliant quality!

We received the Tonka Town Fire Station play set which Bugs was very pleased about as he loves fire engines at the moment, the quality has not let me down at all. The set comes with the fire station, a fire engine, two firemen and a couple of ladders. It has two different buttons on tops for sirens and when these are pressed the the blue lights at the top of the fire engine flash too, the sirens are noisy and very annoying, there is no way to end them either, you just ahve to wait until they finish which can seem like forever 😉 Obviously the kids love that though and keep pressing it all the more!

Bugs loves the two little firemen, of the whole play set i think these are what he has played with the most, he found out you could take their boots off so he will sit there taking them off… they will get lost if I don’t remember to put them back on before it gets tidied away! He loves the fact you can attach the firemen to the pole and slide them up and down it, I find it really hard to attach them to the pole, it is impossible for Bugs to do it, maybe as they get played with more it will become easier! I hope so anyway as it can be very frustrating when Bugs shouts me to do it every 2 minutes 😉

The fire engine is great, although we would have liked to see a siren on that (well Bugs would, not me so much!) Please excuse the hole in Bugs’s jumper, that’s what you get from buying cheap uniforms 😉

Bugs has played for ages with his new fire station and even Boo loves to play with it too! I think some of the features could do with a bit more thought like the fire at the top of the training tower for example, when it is pushed up it glows but neither of the kids can push it up to the top so that it does glow, it is really really stiff and to be honest in day light you can’t really tell that it glows. Despite the little niggles we love it and I wouldn’t hesitate to buy more of the range.

The Tonka Town range is suitable for children ages 3-5 years and is available at all major toy retailers in the UK and it consists of…

Tonka Fire Station Play set – £39.99

Tonka Jail Play Set – £24.99

Tonka Dup Truck – £19.99

Tonka Fire Engine – £19.99

Tonka Police Ranger – £14.99

Tonka Fire Car – £14.99

Tonka Police Bike – £9.99

Tonka Figure Play Set £3.99

We love cycling and used to cycle quite a lot before we had the two little ones, when Boo was little I always used to say we will get a child seat for the bikes but we never got round to it, at the beginning of the summer I started to talk about it again mainly because it would make my life so much more convenient to have a bike with a child seat on for Bugs so when the opportunity to review a seat dropped into my inbox I was over the moon! No more nagging at my other half, no more looking at seats to decide which would be best!

The Bobike Tour Exclusive – Looks great and is brilliant quality!

The lovely people at Madison knew exactly what I needed and sent us a Bobike Tour Exclusive childseat and a Lazer P’Nut dragon helmet – as soon as I saw both of these products I was so excited and I could tell that they were both of really good quality! I asked the lovely people at my local bike shop to fit the seat for me as I am really paranoid when it comes to my children’s safety! The guys who fitted it were so impressed with the child seat they have taken the details to see about stocking them themselves, they said it was far and above the quality of any child seat they have ever stocked!

The back of the seat – it even has an integrated rear LED light (needs batteries)

Bugs absolutely loves being in his seat and I feel really confident that he is safe and secure in there, the head and foot rests both extend a large amount to fit different sized children, Bugs is quite a tall boy so we have extended them out quite a way. The foot straps and harness are all really well made and are easy enough for me to use one handed whilst I fasten them and hold the bike steady as well. It did take me a few rides to get used to riding with such a heavy load and you really do need to have a very steady grip on it when getting off or the bike will easily topple over, but that is really to be expected when there is such a heavy weight on the back 😉

Features

• With the Tour Exclusive you can take your child safely and comfortably along on the back of your bicycle with the maximum protection and comfort
• The seat has an integrated rear LED light and a head support that easily adjusts to your childs height and offers extra protection, even if your child falls asleep
• The Tour Exclusive will always have the right fit for your child because of the patented safety belt system and foot rests that easily adjust in length
• Easy to mounts to virtually any bicycle with its supplied one point mounting and luggage carrier mounting brackets
• The smart design of the 3-point patented safety belt system, with its ergonomically shaped shoulder section and unique upper closure keeps the safety belt from slipping off the childs shoulders and ensures a safe and comfortable sitting position
• Waterproof cushioned seat, spoke protectors, adjustable foot support trays and helmet recess ensure your child’s comfort
• Approved to the latest European strict safety standards EN 14344

Getting fed-up with Mummy taking photos! 😉

The Lazer P’nut is a fantastic helmet, Bugs loves the design and will happily wear it! It has an autofit system that delivers equal and constant tension by eliminating the need to manually adjust helmet retention: simply pull the helmet on, and the front and rear baskets of the helmet will adjust themselves to provide a great fit. I love the shapes of it, it feels like it offers a lot more support and protection that other helmets I have seen but obviously I cannot speak about how safe it is as these things are only realised when an accident occurs but I am confident that it has been put through its paces! I also love that it comes with Lazer’s patented Crazy NutShell which means that you can easily change the look of the helmet by purchasing a different shell 🙂

Bugs loves his helmet!

Here are a couple of instagram photos to show a happy Bugs 😉 In the above photos he was getting a bit fed up of me taking photos and he just wanted to go for a bike ride! He loves his new seat and helmet and asks ALL THE TIME to go out on it! This has opened up a whole new world of adventures for us and we cannot recommend either products enough!

The Bobike Tour Exclusive will set you back £129.99 and comes in six colours – pink, green, black, cream, grey and blue. It is suitable for children weighing from 9 to 22 kilos, ages 9 months – 6 years.

The Lazer P’Nut costs £34.99 and comes in many other colours and designs.

For more information head over to Madison