Lara and my own little princess Holly are both keen fans of TV's Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom and were excited when they were told that there was a new range of magical, sparkly toys to accompany the programme and that they would get a chance to try them out!
This is the Ben & Holly Magical Castle Playset from Golden Bear toys which is a comprehensive toy. The iconic castle opens up to display every room of the house with flights of stairs that the toy fairies can climb up. But everyone knows that fairies don't need to climb stairs and in fact, with the clever little 'magic' (magnetic) wand, the fairies appear to fly. This magical addition is really what makes this toy because my girls are totally fascinated by the magic wand. There are also clever little nick nacks throughout the castle which cause the fairies to pop out (of the bath for instance!)
The set comes with several fairy figures included so that your child can re-enact their favourite magical scenes from the show. I think this playset is clever and great for a slightly older Ben and Holly viewer (Lara at 4 is probably a perfect age for it) but I was a bit disappointed with a couple of features. The stickers that decorate the castle had to be applied manually and I know that this means the price of the product can be reduced but it took Mr. B. nearly an hour to apply them all! And in hot weather, the stickers struggled to stay stuck. I also found the opening of the castle wall to be tricky... Lara certainly can't manage it herself.
You can buy some of the magical Flying Fairies on their own (without the playset) with a wand to activate them.
A much bigger hit in our house across the whole family was this Ben and Holly Sparkly Domino Set. We are always on the lookout for simple family games that our girls can join in with and this picture dominos set is perfect as it doesn't require your child to yet be able to read or to write. Dominoes encourages simple matching and counting skills.
I'll admit that Holly is a touch too young to play sensibly (and is well below the recommended age for this product) but the sparkly decorative wooden tiles are great for her to hold (when supervised) and explore. For Lara, she has enjoyed playing Dominoes in the evenings with us and it is great to see her engaged with an activity like this... it is also cool to see her tidy up afterwards and put them all back into their cute wooden box.
This is the Ben & Holly Magical Castle Playset from Golden Bear toys which is a comprehensive toy. The iconic castle opens up to display every room of the house with flights of stairs that the toy fairies can climb up. But everyone knows that fairies don't need to climb stairs and in fact, with the clever little 'magic' (magnetic) wand, the fairies appear to fly. This magical addition is really what makes this toy because my girls are totally fascinated by the magic wand. There are also clever little nick nacks throughout the castle which cause the fairies to pop out (of the bath for instance!)
The set comes with several fairy figures included so that your child can re-enact their favourite magical scenes from the show. I think this playset is clever and great for a slightly older Ben and Holly viewer (Lara at 4 is probably a perfect age for it) but I was a bit disappointed with a couple of features. The stickers that decorate the castle had to be applied manually and I know that this means the price of the product can be reduced but it took Mr. B. nearly an hour to apply them all! And in hot weather, the stickers struggled to stay stuck. I also found the opening of the castle wall to be tricky... Lara certainly can't manage it herself.
You can buy some of the magical Flying Fairies on their own (without the playset) with a wand to activate them.
A much bigger hit in our house across the whole family was this Ben and Holly Sparkly Domino Set. We are always on the lookout for simple family games that our girls can join in with and this picture dominos set is perfect as it doesn't require your child to yet be able to read or to write. Dominoes encourages simple matching and counting skills.
I'll admit that Holly is a touch too young to play sensibly (and is well below the recommended age for this product) but the sparkly decorative wooden tiles are great for her to hold (when supervised) and explore. For Lara, she has enjoyed playing Dominoes in the evenings with us and it is great to see her engaged with an activity like this... it is also cool to see her tidy up afterwards and put them all back into their cute wooden box.
