Toys and Games – Reviews and News

Most people might think I am crazy writing about buying outdoor toys in Winter, because you won’t be able to use it on the snow. To be honest yes you can but it’s not advised to use it of course. I recently bought two trampolines; one mini trampoline for fitness reason and one outdoor trampoline which can be used by my children during the summer to play on. I am huge car fan and I actually saved a fair bit last months for the new car accessories I wanted, but then I thought why not surprise my children this Christmas by buying what they wanted all that did not include a swimming pool.

So the reason why I bought the trampoline at this time of the year is simply because it’s much cheaper to buy it now. The prices are low during the winter because no one actually buys outdoor toys at this time. And when you get towards April/March the prices will start to come up again. We have seen this happening across other retail products as well and not just the outdoor toys range.

I saved about £50 buying these trampolines at this time, which means I can use that as a Christmas present to my children and also use that £50 to buy my wife what she wanted for Christmas. Now I have sorted my Christmas presents so why not do what I did.

Of course there is a concern about where you will fit the trampoline but if you have a garage why not shove it in there till the summer because after summer you will still need to store it somewhere.

I sometimes wonder whatever happened to the  upright washing machines that people had when I was a child. OK so they weren’t very efficient kitchen appliances cleaning wise, took up space that’s available to use as a work surface if you have a front opening unit but they didn’t leak or flood the kitchen when they went wrong, you could take things out or throw extra things in mid-wash, even if you’re well organised you need to open the machine mid cycle from time to time, if you’re like me it’s almost every single time!

Alright, your integrated washing machines can wash your clothes in a trice while the upright’s central do-dad rotates gently from side to side at about 45 degrees hour after hour but that inefficiency meant that if you left things in your pockets they’d come out damp but unharmed the other side. The one I remember wasn’t even plumbed in, when not in use I think my grandma just covered it over with a tablecloth. To use it you had to pull it over to the sink, attach it to the kitchen taps with a hose to fill it, switch it on and wait as it sort of fidgeted your clothes clean. You had a pair of wooden tongs to push the clothes under the surface of the water like a sack full of kittens but my nan, safety conscious as she was never let you push the clothes under while it was going because it could “Rip your arm off!” She certainly had a very inflated opinion of this white goods’ death dealing capabilities. I could imagine Daddy Long Legs besting it in a fair fight and we all know how easily separated they are from their limbs.

When the weather was nice then the clothes would go out on the line, but in the winter or when it was wet there would be so many clothes horses shambling around the house it was like a dressed up dressage! Gran would never consider wasting money on anything as frivolous as condenser tumble dryers, (and her idea of an integrated dishwasher was putting a scouring pad on a fork if the washing up water was too hot) notwithstanding the fact I had childhood asthma and my granddad had emphysema, luckily their house was so draughty that the damp never really became a problem. Provided the clothes had been run thorough the mangle properly. There’s a thing. I’ve already started seeing toys I used to have in antique shops and things I used to use regularly my daughter will only see in museums of social history. Feeling old much? You bet!

While you probably shouldn’t trust kids with their own silver jewellery, they definitely enjoy making their own. There are a lot of make your own jewellery sets on the market (and I’m sure most of us remember badge makers, which are still going strong), but you can always come up with something home made. Popcorn, pasta and even cereal have all been used to make jewellery in my house (though in the latter cases what they’re made of usually results in them being eaten afterwards).

If you want something a little more permanent then you can always used something like coloured clay, which can be baked into the oven in order to make your little ones’ masterpieces last forever (excluding equally little accidents, of course).

You never know, though; it may easily rival your gemstone jewellery!

Twister is a game that everyone has heard about and is often played at parties or with friends. Whislt it is unlikely that anyone will be seeking accident compensation as a result of playing this board game it has been said that this game could be more dangerous than many people think.

Twister can of course be a lot of fun although recently we have been hearing some stories of people getting a little too carried away. When most people think of Twister they think about a group of in shape individuals creating all kinds of shapes across the floor. However get too many people involved and you have  a recipe for disaster.

Whilst the game is all about moving around and getting in different positions there is no need to go jumping all over the place and flailing your limbs about. Once you get going people’s competitive instincts soon kick in and this is when the injuries happen.

Plus as you get older you soon find that those positions that looked fun whilst you watched from the sidelines are now no longer as enjoyable once you get into the action yourself. Indeed there have been many a pulled muscle as a result of playing twister.

How much would you pay for a real dishwasher? £150? £200? £300, £400? It would be a question of choice dependant on budget and requirements.

Now, how much would you pay for a toy dishwasher? £30, £75, £100 even? How about £200? Would anyone really spend that kind of money on a toy dishwasher? There must be some people that do. If you look hard enough you can find toy dishwashers at this price on Google.

In fact Trifle Toys are selling their dishwasher products for £199.00* (see image below)

£200 Toy Dishwasher

Here are a selection of other toy dishwashers that are over £100 and close to the price of very cheap dishwashers from online electrical retailers.

Toys R Us – £129.99*

KidsKitchens.com – £120.60*

Amazon.co.uk – £119.99*

So what next for expensive Children’s Toys? I know most children love LCD TVs, toy washing machines and the like, but if you are anything like me, you might well find these prices a bit high. What ever happened to cardboard, paint and imagination?

*Prices correct at time of writing

As slim as England’s chances were of winning the world cup, it came as a huge surprise to all of us to see them sink to such a meteoric low against our bitter arch-rivals, The Germans. The nation will be reeling for some time, not just from England’s swift exit, but also from the way they limped through the group stages then crashed out so pathetically. Those feeling especially low will by the kids who hero-worship these failed footie father figures.

Months of anticipation and high expectations after a strong qualifying campaign were dashed in the space of ninety minutes last Sunday. Fans and the media are looking for a scapegoat, an individual to blame for this farce. The truth is this is no one’s fault, the team were collectively terrible and deserved to exit when they did, if not sooner.

So, where from here? The thought of another four year wait to see England play in a world cup is positively agonizing, better to ease the pain and enjoy the rest of the tournament, free from anxiety. What better way to do that than to surround yourself with an array of Word Cup experience enhancing gadgets? An ice cold beer is the perfect accompaniment to a game, so why not inject a touch of personalization into your beverage by brewing it yourself?

If you thought you had it bad, think about those kids. Their idols have failed to live up to expectations, budding Wayne Rooneys across the nation will be hanging up the replica shirts in disappointment. All is not lost however, instead of letting your little ones skulk around the house, get them in training for World Cup 2014 with some fun but practical toys.

A huge inflatable football will not only improve hand-eye co-ordination for your stars of the future, it is also a great way to keep fit and healthy and get them out in the fresh air after being glued to the TV for the past two weeks. Even Robert Green couldn’t miss one of these!

When the British summer inevitably takes a turn for the worse a traditional game of table football has got to be the next best thing. If you can’t keep up with your kids in the garden show them who’s boss by putting a few past them with just a twist of the wrist. To avoid questions of whether it crossed the line, invest in an RC Helicopter to provide your own eye in the sky goal-line technology, even if Mr. Blatter is not interested.

Two words which arent often used together, right? Safety has never been top of the list for toy and games manufacturers, but there is an emerging school of thought that the two concepts can be combined to create exciting, practical products for kids. There are currently a range of gadgets and toys being released which satisfy both of these categories.

It is high time toy manufacturers started adopting a responsible philosophy. Horror stories concerning toy hazards are about as regular as a swiss alarm clock. Tales of limbs on action figures which could be easily swallowed by toddlers in the 1980′s have been joined in recent times by fears over the effects of violent video games on youngsters. With this taken to into account it is truly a breath of fresh air to see such products as the Pool Jet gaining commercial success.

The Pool Jet is a small swimming aid for kids which provides underwater propulsion for those who are not yet entirely confident in the water. This kind of thing is perfect for kids from beginner to novice level and can be used in public swimming pools or the sea with adult supervision.

It works by spinning up the jet when buttons on the handles are clasped, as soon as these buttons are released the power is cut and the jet stops rotating. Of course this will put parent’s minds at ease as their kids can splash about confident in the knowledge that the Pool Jet can get them out of trouble.

Form a kids point of view this is clearly also going to be great fun, imagine motoring around the pool at your desired speed, racing your friends and generally enjoying being in the water. Come to think of it, Id love one myself!

Pool Jets would make a great birthday gifts for him, allowing life-like and stunning reenactment of the underwater battle scene in the bond movie Thunderball. It could also be considered one of the best gifts for her as this will turn even the most overweight partner into the spitting image of the man from atlantis!

It would seem with all of this new technology such as computer consoles and crazy programmes for kids on the television that smaller and smaller numbers of children are actually sitting down with their parents and building something from one of those model kits. Even easier constrictive sets like the popular Lego bricks are finding it hard to sell and it would seem that adults are more interested than kids. However is all of this actually having an effect on our children?

Gaming

Personally I have no problem at all with kids sitting down and playing video games but this should really only be done at certain times and they should not be there all of the time doing it. The great thing about model kit building is that kids need help with it which is where the parents come in but with something like gaming it is often the kids teaching the parents on what to do which is why on the most part gaming is called unsociable. Although I do not believe this to be true because of things like Xbox Live I have to say model building with the parents would be much better for a child.

So if you can why not get your child a model kit and sit down with them to build it, if this is something you know will not happen then consider getting them one of those RC helicopters or RC Tanks.

Childhood toys are fantastic there is certainly no doubt about that. The reason for this is often down to the fact that as adults we will always remember playing around with them and the thought of this really does make us smile.

The great thing about these toys is actually that every single adult has a favourite one and will think differently of each toy.

My personal favourite was the SNES and if any of you do not know what that stands for it is simply Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The reason that it has always been my favourite is simply because I remember countless times of me sitting there with the mates playing on Super Mario World. The great thing about this “toy” is that I can get away with going back to it and playing with it again because it is a games console!

So why not go in search for that favourite old childhood toy just to remember the good times you had with it.

First thing you definitely need in maintenance of swimming pools is a swimming pool heater to protect your pipes from freezing. These swimming pool heaters can be fitted to any new or old pools.

It is difficult choosing which pool heater is required, so you will have to make certain that the swimming pool heater you buy is powerful enough to heat the volume of water in your pool.

Gas, electric and oil based heaters are the more traditional forms but many people these days are opting for heat pump systems. Heat pump

is a device that moves heat from one place to another place. So, how does it work? Normally these heat pumps use pipes, which are buried under the garden to receive heat from the ground. This process is used for radiators to warm water or underfloor heating systems.

Now that you have some idea on what sort of swimming pool heater can be used for your swimming pools, I recommend you do the same type of reading and research on choosing swimming pool covers, swimming pool chemicals and swimming pool filters.