Foamë is a new discovery for us - a construction toy, a creative play toy and even a bath toy all rolled into one and Lara and Holly (and their new little friend who joins us for play three evenings a week) have taken to it instantly. So has the cat, who likes to chew the pieces if we leave them lying around!
Foamë is effectively a set of building blocks. Shaped foam pieces that can be slotted together in all sorts of different ways. The pieces can be used in the house, on your travels or even in the bath because they have been designed to float in the bath and to dry quickly. They even come in their own special Foamë satchel which sticks to the walls of the bathroom and has holes in the bottom to allow the pieces to drain and dry naturally.
We received two different sets of Foamë construction kits to build - one themed around Creatures and the other themed around Boats. Both sets contain all the pieces you need to make loads and loads of different designs and they come with a little booklet to give you inspiration. Some of the pieces are very clearly designed for one particular use, especially in the Creatures kit. However, in the Boats play set there are a lot more opportunities for innovation to create boats of all sizes.
I think Holly was most taken with the Creatures set. Lots of the creatures are water themed so that they enjoy being in the bath! You'll find everything from star fish to stingrays, from ducklings to polar bears! This kit contains easy-to-build projects that would be suitable for even the smallest hands. Foamë is recommended for children aged 3 upwards.
Lara enjoyed the slightly more complex projects in the Creatures kit and some of the boats too. Lara is someone who very much enjoys following the instructions whereas Holly is more into free-play. Either way, construction kits such as this are a great way of exploring the imagination and developing fine motor skills.
We were impressed by Foamë in the bath - I've been looking for a slightly more grown up bath toy for some time. I probably wouldn't recommend putting two whole sets of Foamë into the bath at the same time like Lara and Holly do because it takes up the entire bath! The pieces are enough of a distraction from hair washing for both girls and they (so far) seem happy to scoop them all up and put then in the bag at the end.
The girls have enjoyed building their own menagerie from the kits and despite the occasional gnawing from Bella the cat, they've so far proved resilient to small children and pets alike!
