Makka makka

I bought both my toddlers a makka pakka but the youngest likes to call him makka makka (very cute). They are very tough and very much loved by my children. I expected them to be tiny but are a good size. Great buy for in the night garden fans.

As a childrens English teacher I love this game

This is such a great game for those wanting to teach food vocabulary to young classes in English. The pictures are cute and for the most part its clear what its meant to be, and the colours are bright and attractive. The only problem is that after they know the vocabulary its not much use except in other classes. However I've used it with small classes of 1-3 Spanish children and they loved it. I've just discovered that you can now buy expansion packs to add to it which is great. If your using it with children who can't yet read the shopping list it's a great way to teach and reinforce the vocabulary in other languages as well, in that sense its very versatile. Even when they turn over items thats not on their list I have them say what the item was so there is a lot of reinforcement. I can't recommend this game enough to language teachers.

GREAT FUN FOR ADULTS AND KIDS

Bought this present for my nephew for christmas, he much enjoyed it, i found the moulds quite good they do crumble slightly, i much enjoyed making my handprints in the sand. it took me back some many years to my childhood.

Easy to fold scooter

I bought this for my six year old girl. Obviously it was an instant hit because it was pink! However it's also great because it is so easy to set up and fold away. The wheels are fairly large and overall this is a sturdy scooter. The adjustable features are also easily altered to suit. Definitely great value for money.

so, I might be a bit older than the target audience...

I bought a Time Lord watch :)
... Still not a Time Lord. Even when I put the batteries in. :(

... okay, so, yes, a toy. For ages 5 and up. I'm, er, up.

It is plastic. Except for the chain. The chain makes the plastic look cheap. But does function to keep the watch where it is put, so that part works out. The case has patterns just like on the show, and seems fairly accurate. Same with the watch face. So that's nice. But the light effect is pathetic - I've got a better light on my keychain, and it doesn't light the center of the watch at all. And the sound effect happens whenever you make the light, so it isn't much use if you, for instance, want to know the time in the cinema. Plus it sounds like the Doctor only if the Doctor is talking through a comb after inhaling helium. Actually come to think his voice doesn't change when inhaling helium, so it's just out of character. Er, I mean, it sounds mostly like hsssh shhh crsshh and you can only tell what he's saying because we have it memorised from TV. Bit disappointing really.

On the plus side - Time Lord watch! Wheeee!
It, er, gets all its stars from that bit.

A bad batch? Very disappointed

I purchased a BT Digital Baby Monitor from Amazon in June and was extreamly happy with the clarity, use of use etc (although concur on the battery life).

8 weeks later and the parent unit LCD display indicated noise in my baby's bedroom but the parent unit was silent. We increased the volume on the parent unit but still nothing. Seconds later there was an almight scream from the parent unit as it sprang into life. This problem continued for 2 nights until I called Amazon and asked for a replacement.

Amazon were excellent and sent us a new unit and refunded out postage on the returned one. Unfortunatly, less than 3 weeks later the same problem has occured. Needless to say we were very unhappy about this and Amazon has refunded us without any questions but we are without a monitor for 3 nights waiting on the new one.

Could this be a bad batch from BT/Amazon?

Leave it to Crayola to save the day!

Ah... Crayola... what will you think of next? This one's a winner for many reasons. The concept is brilliant in that the children can use markers (like they see their older siblings doing), but are not able to ruin the walls, sofa, etc. in the process. You use clear ink markers to color the book and the colors appear as you draw. The color is in the pen, not on the paper, so it does leave some creativity to your children in choosing what colors they want to use where. I took this with me on a recent plane trip as a"keep busy" toy... no marking up the plane seats and it kept the kids busy for a while. I do hope that Crayola expands on this product to include more books, as mentioned in a previous review. Great CLEAN fun!!!!

Another poorly made scrabble

I have to agree with the other poor comments about this set. We had the Scrabble Anniversary for £60 which was a nice set but did not have a grid to secure the pieces so that set was returned.

We then purchased the cheaper so called 'Delux' set for £30 and other than the well written manual on playing the game the rest was terrible and seriously tacky to say the least. The center tile area with the apparent grid just didnt function, the grid varied in depth all over the board, the board being made of cheap tin metal, the underside is really cheap plastic, the wooden sides are certainly nothing to write home about and seem out of place to be honest as wood normally means quality and yet the rest of the item is tacky.

No extras like a score pad or timer, so why its called 'Delux' I have no idea. Franklin Mint might be able to say 'Delux' to there £400 scrabble set but thats another story which we intend to investigate as it appears the Franklin Mint scrabble might be your only option if you want to play on a decent set as there is nothing to my knowledge under £100 thats any good or worth buying.

I think this set is highly overpriced for what it is. Really do not advise purchasing this.

I wouldn't have sonic!

As a kid whose just been given his presents on Christmas Day, it may surprise you that although i got many gifts, including a new iPod Nano, the thing I have used most is this.

I love running around the house with my Laser Screwdriver - the sound may get a bit annoying and the aging is rubbish but it makes me feel very empowered.

Sonic or Laser? Laser, by far.

Nice toy but...

I bought the dora laptop for my two year old. She was very excited about it cause of the idea that it is her own laptop just like mummy's and because she loves dora and the mouse extension is a nice touch BUT there are two disadvantages about it. First the LCD screen is black and white Second the keys have the letters in small not capital letters. When they teach the kids the letters in a preschool it is in its capital letter format so this is confusing for her because she doesn't recognize any of the alphabet in this way. I would strongly advice that you consider WTP Pooh's Picture Computer
it has a colored LCD screen, the letters are in capital format and in order to help the child learn the alphabet and it has 15 double sided activity cards! Its on amazon US website and it is much cheaper than the dora one and its also made by Vtech.

Much better value than I expected.

I have to admit that I found this rather fun. I bought it for my little girl, who has outgrown her duplo bricks. You can make allsorts with it (literally, if you are that way inclined!) and it also comes with a guide to a load of suggested models.

I ignored the guide book and built my girl a car. You get a few wheels etc so it can actually be pushed around. I wish my parents had got me this sort of stuff when I was a kid. I got handmedowns though, with all the good pieces already lost.

Um, enough about me. My daughter loves it. The only slight criticism is that the supplied baseplate is a bit small. That really is a minor quibble though. There is an awful lot of lego in this box.

Jenga- best game ever!

Jenga is a great game, minimal effort required to set up the blocks, slight concentration to play, no effort required to knock it down.
Good Sturdy game as built out of wood!
Overall- a must for every home, a great way to spend an evening!

All-surface base NOT an advantage

The write-up above mentions the 'advantage' of the sand / water filled base, but for us it has just become an annoyance.

The metal pole repreatedly slips out of its mountnig point in the plastic base - causing the pole to lean at 45 degrees - usually midgame - and bringing it to a premature end.

I'm wondering why I just didn't buy a traditional 'stake it into the grass' model.

If you do not have a lawn then it's inevitable you'll prefer this model - but be prepared for some frustration or self-administered modifcation to how it is assembled.

Great product, if you can get one that works

Well, it looks like eventually this will be a good product, when I get one that works. I got one that had been double-checked by powertraveller after getting two apparently non-functioning units.

I'd recommend one, they're very good, now that the quality control issues appear to be over. The solar recharging appears to be actually practical, in the west of England on a cloudy Autumn day, it appears to have recharged about 25% despite being behind glass (which makes a surprising difference) in a west-facing window rather than south-facing (so only gets direct sun for a few hours).

The leads that come with it are very good indeed and all use the same jack plug for input, so I've since gone back and ordered lots of extras because you can use the power monkey to recharge one device, on a sunny day you can plug the panel into another device (I charged my mobile directly from the solar panel), use the USB lead to recharge a third if you have a USB port handy, and even recharge a fourth using the mains charger. The extra leads are reasonably priced and there's a very extensive range.

I'll just quickly side-track off to talk about the leads a little more;

Once you have a few of the USB retractable leads you start realising that you can replace all your multitude of phone/PDA/ipod chargers with one USB hub, and just carry USB leads around with you because you can use ports at work, at friends houses, buy a hub in another country if travelling etc. My ipod PSU with a four-port hub can now charge my ipod, phone and PDA. I have one of the leads hanging off the back of a Nintendo Wii in standby mode which is now the downstairs recharger for an ipod, a Nokia N770, another spare mobile phone, a Nintendo Gameboy Advance, a Nintendo DS and even a 4 AA battery charger. That's six mains rechargers I no longer need to use, 8 if you include my PDA and main mobile.

I think the leads are worthy of being a product in their own right, they're easily the best I've come across so far and have the most extensive range of tips. You get a good selection with the powermonkey with many more tips available from powertraveller, it's worth thinking about the potential of the leads on their own, don't just think about using them with the powermonkey. If you travel a lot, using these leads with a car cigarette lighter to USB converter (readily available), a mains USB converter (ditto), a USB hub, or a computer, you can recharge just about anywhere you're likely to want to. One of the powermonkey USB leads and a selection of tips is all you'd need, although a few extra of the USB leads will allow simultaneous recharging of several devices from a hub. You can buy the leads separately from powertraveller, on their web page go to the powermonkey classic and select"monkey nuts" and order"extra" tips and at least one USB retractable lead.

Right, back to the powermonkey;

One gripe (other than quality control) is that the powermonkey won't charge a device while the powermonkey itself is being charged, as soon as it detects a charge coming into the charging port it shuts off the output current. This means you can't plug it into your phone/ipod/whatever and then connect it to the charger to charge them both overnight. This is a real shame and something they could easily do; charge the power monkey then once charged, pass all power through to the attached device. It doesn't do that however.

It comes with a useful velcro bag and a zippered semi-rigid box that are worth having, and the whole package seems well put together. Only the inability to recharge while attached to a charger, and of course my issues with getting a working unit, stop it from being a five-star buy. The excellent leads almost make up for the issues I've had.

I also have a freeloader. It's rubbish, total rubbish (see my review for it), so if you are thinking of spending the extra money (3x the price) then this unit is worth the extra provided you get one that works. The freeloader's leads aren't anywhere near as flexible as the powermonkey's leads so don't help to make up for the unit's weaknesses.

A great puzzle, but strictly for Rubik's Cube masters!

Be warned, this is an EXTREMELY difficult puzzle. If you thought the standard Rubik's Cube was too hard, or if you've never tried these cube puzzles before, stay well away!

However, for those who have already mastered the original Cube, this one adds extra challenge. Just to give an idea, my Dad was a bit of a speedcuber back in the day, he could solve the original Rubik's Cube in no time at all, yet he gave up on this one very quickly!

Once you've cracked the Revenge, you can apparently move on to the Rubik's Professor Cube which is 5x5x5! Mind-boggling stuff.

its amazing

its belongs for a character taht improves for kids an special and interesting values into family, apracition of life, improves corauge to take and solve any problems.