Aimee Horton

On Friday a big brown box was delivered, however I snuck it away until Monday.

Why did I sneak it away?  Because I knew it contained hours of fun, and we were going out and needed to get in the car within 30 minutes, distraction would not have helped my already constant cries of “SHOES.ON.FEET” (which then got the response “perhaps you should try saying the magic word mummy” GAH).

The lovely people at Galt Toys had recently read my post about how evil toys are and wanted to show me that they’re not all out to get me.  Some might ACTUALLY be on my side.

So, on one of the hottest days of the year, while Fatso was napping and all The Beast wanted to do was watch Spiderman, I brought out the box.

As you will see the child takes after me and loves a good present opening session, Spiderman in tow…when he finally let me join in we found three things to play with.  A Marble Run, a board game and some jigsaws for Fatty.

First up, the marble run.   We opened the box and my first thought was “I’m going to die on these marbles”, however, after the initial calming him down stage, building, destroying and re-building runs (with no instructions), he got the hang of it, so I fibbed and said I was nipping off for a wee, and for an entire hour all I had to do was pop in and watch an excited 3 year old drop marbles down the runs he’d produced  THIS NEVER HAPPENS.  WIN.

Since then it’s been out most days, and even though I know it’s for older kids, Fatty also enjoys dropping the marbles down and will happily sit playing pre-bath time.  With the exception of the arguments about the Fat One body slamming the carefully constructed run from time to time, it’s quite nice to see them playing together in a fairly harmonious fashion.

Later that day I bribed my friend and her daughter over with the promise of numerous cups of tea and cake.

We set up Pirate Pursuit after a stint in the garden – perfect bribe to bring them in for a bit of time out.  It’s aged from 3-7 years, so we dumbed down the instructions so that it was easier for two 3 year olds with short attention spans (who aren’t good at losing) to get in to.

Even knowing I was going to lose (apparently it was a good idea to let them win at least the first time ), it was great fun, and I love the idea that we can adapt it as the boys get older so it’s got some real longevity.  They both got the hang of it quickly and the wind up boat added a bit of extra.

Just so you know, I wasn’t allowed to be red (Heidi was hmph), AND I came last.

We played the game a lot over the RAINY HORRIBLE bank holiday weekend, and it was a god send.  I love board games, but some of them tend to be so wild, this was a lot calmer, and also not so bulky we can’t keep it tidy in its box.

I left Fatso for another day.  He’s always been good at playing lining up/putting in and out/organising type games (that’s my boy), so these puzzles were perfect for him.

Two piece puzzles of bright animals which meant whilst teaching him to put them together I can rope the horrible one in to making the animal noises for him.  Therefore, whilst I was painting my toe nails, The Beast took it upon himself to help out, and as you can see Fatty was impressed…at times he was even a little too premature with his celebrations!

As a whole, a success, the toys still have potential to be tricking me, lulling me into a false sense of security, but so far they’re allowing me to drink that cup of tea while it’s still warm.

Thank you to the lovely people at Galt for sending them in return of a review.