Top Picks for a Proudly South African Christmas
Category: Reviews
Travel with peace of mind this holiday season – with Ring Security
December holidays are just around the corner, with that comes the inevitable worry about home security and time spent away from home. Travel with peace of mind knowing Ring’s range of smart tech security home solutions and devices are safeguarding what’s most important to you.
You may remember that last year I reviewed the Spotlight Camera from Ring, a nifty little camera that helps me monitor my outdoor spaces from anywhere, it even lets me communicate directly to my children in the garden! The range continues to develop and there are some brilliant new releases to give you peace of mind.
Expecting deliveries? The Ring Video Doorbell (2020 Release) (R1999) allows you to watch over your house and valuables in crystal-clear 1080HD video via the Ring app on your phone. You can hear and speak to visitors from anywhere thanks to instant mobile alerts and two-way talk, enabling you to answer the doorbell from your smartphone, tablet and PC.
Ring’s Video Doorbell 3 is easy to install and includes a quick-release, rechargeable battery so you can charge your Doorbell without removing the device.
For pet owners, house sitters or nanny cam’s there is the affordable Ring Indoor Cam (R1299), which brings smart security into the home. Put one in the living room to watch over pets, another showing your garden and perimeter and maybe one in the children’s room for when the family is at home, when you can’t be physically in the same room.
As we head into Holiday Season, have peace of mind by shopping any of the fantastic Ring Products available in South Africa. Tailored to suit your needs and easy to install, with Ring, you’re always home.
KELLOGG’S SERVES UP A CREATIVE FEAST!
One of South Africa’s favourite food company, Kellogg’s is on a mission to inspire and evoke a renewed sense of creativity in the kids of Mzansi by transforming ordinary family moments into extraordinary bursts of fun and inspiration.
To do this, the Coco Pops & Rice Krispies vanilla brands have joined forces with art supplies company, Crayola as they seek to nourish the creative juices within each child. The iconic brands have come together in a campaign that serves as a vehicle to bring families together by transforming the lives of kids as they give away educational prizes worth R250 000.
All South Africans have to do is get their hands on the unique, hard-to-miss Coco Pops and Rice Krispies vanilla packs, enter via USSD and if you colour it in, you get an extra entry to stand a chance to win educational prizes including school bursaries, tablets, stationary and more.
The Kellogg’s kids’ brands want to promote joy in having families spend time together and reconnecting through the fun on-pack activities. Breakfast can now be a great opportunity for parents to, not only nourish the growth and development of their kids through a great breakfast choice, but they can also help to unleash their creativity and have fun together.
It is Kellogg’s belief that creativity resides not only within the artistically-inclined child, but in all children and it need only be nourished. They aim to show parents and all children that with just a little creative imagination, anything is truly possible.
Kellogg’s will also be sharing some beautiful content pieces of children exploring their wildest imaginations as they respond to the question of how they would make the world a more colourful place and the kind of society they wish to grow up in.
Make sure to stay up to date with the latest fun and creative exploits of South Africa’s future stars by following Kellogg’s South Africa on Facebook and Instagram.
**Disclaimer – This article is a paid for advert by Kellogg’s South Africa**
Top Toys Guide 2020
We have focused on Proudly South African, I’ve spoken about my favourite educational toys and I have also helped you to have a look at my hottest selection from one of South Africa’s biggest retailers. Now, here in one consolidated list are my top choices across the board for Toys of 2020.
Starting from top left to right:
Singing Elsa Fashion Doll
Part of Hasbro’s Great Gift Guide for 2020, the Elsa singing doll is the perfect gift for your children that have now seen Frozen II a million times, it sings “Into the Unknown,” which is one of the biggest hits from the movie.
One of the toys that we reviewed was the Power Rangers Beast-X King Morpher, with light up lion eyes. When kids strap the morpher to their wrist and move around, they will hear show-inspired sounds and phrases. When they use the Morph-X key in the Beast-X King Morpher, it will enter Beast-X mode, for even more sounds and phrases! It’s actually reignited my boys love for the show!
Marvel-Avengers Titan Hero Iron Man, this 12-inch iron man figure from titan hero series features a classic design and comes with character-inspired accessories that attach to the figure’s arms, hands and back.. The perfect figurine for any Marvel fan and Iron Man in our house is ALWAYS a winner!
Enjoy some fun family time with Boggle. This brings back so man memories of playing with my dad, Boggle always sat on top of our fridge. Earn points by spotting words your opponents don’t before time runs out. Shake the grid to mix up the letter cubes, players have 90 seconds to write down as many words as they can find on the grid before time is up. It’s the perfect size to take with you on holiday and a great exercise in literacy for younger children too.
Lego – Always a firm feature on my lists, I’ve picked out the Disney Princess Cinderella Dream Castle. (My family knows how badly I wanted a castle growing up 🙂 Let your child re-enact their favourite scene from Cinderella, complete with a horse carriage and revolving dance floor. Or perhaps you have a house full of superhero fans, like me. If that’s the case you cant go wrong with any of the Avenger sets. From Spiderman to Thanos, pick your favourite figurine to build. On the top of my kids wishlist at the moment are the newer “SuperMario” sets which would provide a welcome relief to playing the actual game.
Melissa and Doug – Band-in-a-Box- This 10 piece set is the perfect gift for younger members of the family. From about 16 months kids love to shake, bang and smash.
Hatching Toothless from Hatchimals- If your kids are fans of How to Train Your Dragon, they will love watching as this interactive baby Toothless comes out of its shell, teaching it to fly, and taking care of it.
Peealots & Poopalots Big Wags Pets collection, probably one of the “toys of the season” and another expansion of the “Fureal pets”. Each “Peealots “pet comes with a leash system that allows you to take them for walks and a water bottle so you can give them a drink. Of course, after all that drinking, your pet will need to go! Just lift its tail and watch as your pet lifts its leg and pees – but be sure to clean up after them! Give your cuddly Poopalots pet a few of the included play treats, then take them for a walk to do their ‘business’, leaving a trail of poop nuggets behind! Luckily, your pet comes with its own poop scooper for quick and easy cleanups. A pretty good introduction to the real thing I’d say!
Imaginext Mega Bite Shark – Another one the boys were lucky enough to review, and it came just in time for a certain shark obsessed little boy! He had just finished learning about sharks at school and this provided hours of education and entertainment. Its pretty realistic looking, down to the retracting jaw and it can even “swallow” the scuba divers whole. Roll the shark along and watch the realistic swimming motion and its head moves from side to side. We’ve taken our shark into the pool to add an extra element of play.
Playdoh Elastix and Playdoh Slime – Two new additions to the Playdoh family and the perfect stocking fillers. We always had Playdoh in our stockings growing up. Playdoh slime gives kids an extra dimension to play, its squishable, you can pull it and stretch it while the Elastix looks just like traditional Playdoh but is softer, more stretchy and extra flexible.
Tonka Mighty Metal Fleet – I think almost every child goes through a phase of being utterly obsessed with diggers. With my eldest we would literally drive around town scouting out construction sites as he would watch in awe. Tonka has a full range available in South Africa now, whether its the dump truck, garbage van or digger, these trucks are Tonka tough! Durable, long lasting and perfect for outdoor play, I know this would make the perfect christmas gift for many children.
Transformers Cyberverse Battle Call Trooper Class figures. A must in any transformers fan stocking! Each little figure includes a signature weapon, which disassembles and attaches to the figure to create “power-up armour”. There is a voice activation feature, with each figure, that sets off pulsing lights in the figurines chest. All figurines convert between vehicle and robot modes as well.
I mentioned the Playdoh Drizzle Ice Cream Set before and then I came across this Kitchen Creations Candy Delight Playset and had to mention it as well. Kids can create pretend gummy bears, peanut butter cups, and create their own candies with this awesome playset that comes with five cans of Play-Doh. I think I’m going to need a play room just for Playdoh soon!
Go Glam Nail Stamper – I’ve seen this mentioned by a few bloggers and it looks like the cutest set for any budding beauty. The Go Glam Nail Stamper makes it fun and easy to create custom manicures in minutes. With 125 nail customisation’s to try out, this is definitely a gift that keeps on giving, so pull up a chair and let your child create gorgeous nail designs on your manicure for the holiday season.
Instax Mini 11 – We have packed for our mini roadtrip and the first thing we included in the boys suitcase was our Instax. The perfect little camera for taking holiday snaps and memory books and the perfect present for any budding photographer.. The Instax Mini 11 provides on-the-spot photo printing, and features an Automatic Exposure for better-looking photos in darker lighting conditions. RSP R1299
Top Festive Finds With Game
Game Stores invokes Christmas memories, actually, it brings back memories of any toy shopping. Growing up in Botswana, for a while, Game was one of the only stores to shop for Christmas presents at. It has something for everyone; from your new baby’s first Christmas, to your tween’s music selection; presents for your gardening parent or your “DIY DAD”, end to end Game has you covered!
Here are our top 5 picks from Game’s diverse range of Christmas gifts this year. (I may or may not be forwarding this list onto grandparents 🙂 )
- Extreme Guardian Bot – For the longest time my youngest son has wanted his own “Robot”, and I have been searching high and low for one for ages! This was immediately, the first thing that caught my eye in the Game Festive Catalogue because I knew it would be a winner! This little Robot Built in motion detectors, recognizes hand gestures and has different functions & actions. Available in both “Spy Bot” and “Guardian Bot”, retails from R699.99
- Furreal Friends – Mama Josie and her Joeys – When I was browsing the catalogue with my daughter, she took one look at Mama Josie and said “ahhhh Kitty… Mwaaah”. We also don’t have a “real life” pet yet and this interactive “Pet toy”, responds to touch. R1,999
- I-Play Electro Blocks – You know by now that anything STEM related is a firm feature on my blog. At R99.90 these colourful interlocking blocks and interchangeable gears can be used over and over again and encourage creative thinking.
- I-Play Drifter Twister – Another Winner from Verimark. My mum bought an older version of this when the boys were younger and it was one of their most played with toys, the way the car twists and can climb up ramps and walls will be sure to entertain your kids for hours. It also “dances” to music with its own built in speaker. R899.99
- Drizzy Ice-Cream Play Set – Mmmmmm, who doesn’t love ice cream? Especially pretend ice-cream made by your kids 🙂 This unique Play-Doh set comes with magical Play-Doh drizzle topping, you can drizzle a crazy candy coating onto your creations with pretend chocolate and silly strawberry topping. It’s a different way to decorate! It comes with 1 Play-Doh Drizzle bottles with a Play-Doh drizzle compound, a pretend syrup that instantly turns hard when you squeeze it on top of Play-Doh. Ill have a vanilla and chocolate please! R499.99
I also MUST mention that Game stocks a full range of the STEM kits I love so much. From candle making, wind chime making to at home Slime Kits. Such affordable options starting from as low as R65.00, depending on what you choose.
So, there you have it, our top “Wishlist”, this festive season, save time and do all your Christmas Shopping under one roof 🙂 Go to Game and “Ungrump” your Christmas!
Disclaimer: This post was written in collaboration with Game Stores but all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Christmas Gift Guide – Educational Toys
I have to be honest, my kids have A LOT of toys. The boys have all gone through phases of being obsessed with digger, trucks and cars to superheros and NERF guns, but the thing is, that’s exactly what it is. A phase, and soon I know those toys will be lying in the toy bin forgotten or not played with, like a sad tale from Toy Story.
That is one of the reasons why I am such a huge fan of educational, open-ended toys and sets. Play items that are designed to encourage imagination and creative play. Toys that teach and that can provide endless years of return play. Here is a list of SOME of my favourite educational toys this Festive Period.
From Top left to right:
- No educational wishlist is complete without some LEGO. The possibilities are absolutely endless and it is something that is enjoyed by all ages. I have to say this is the first year my kids REALLY got into LEGO, aged 5 and 6. Let me rephrase that, they didn’t just “get into it”, they are OBSESSED. From cars and cities, to forts and Superhero towers they will spend hours happily creating. I have one son who is a “rule follower”, he follows that instruction manual to the last detail, but struggles a little with more free play. I have another son who is the complete opposite. DO NOT give him a manual 🙂 He can take those bricks and turn them into anything his heart desires. It’s so incredible to watch.
- Safari Ltd from Timeless Toys – It’s no secret how much I adore making “mini worlds” for the boys. The reason for this is because it combines sensory play WITH learning. My eldest has moved on a little from “normal” sensory play, and buy using figurines and by creating “Mini Worlds” our adventure begins again! The toobs sets from Safari Ltd are my absolute go to. They are a great size and you can purchase any theme you life, from the lifecycle of a frog or butterfly, to “Amazon”, “Africa” or “Antarctica”. These make great stocking stuffers! From R250.
3. Double sided Alphabet Tracing Set from Harper and Sloane. This beautiful wooden alphabet tracing board is a great way for young children to practice their letter recognition, letter formation and writing skills. I love the fact that the board is double-sided with lowercase letters on the front and capital letters on the reverse, all too often only one case is focused on which causes problems when school starts. R525 .
4. Melissa and Doug lock board available from Eden Kids.This was the first “puzzle” that I ever bought for my eldest child, and it is still going strong 7 years later! Its my 18 month old favourite puzzle at the moment, everyday she pulls my arm and says “tome” for “come” and makes me sit with her to open up the latches and look at the animals. Its a classic, and if its baby’s first or second Christmas, this one is worth it!
5. GeoSafari Jr Talking Microscope – Ok this has been on my wish-list for YEARS and I still haven’t gotten around to getting one for the boys. It comes with 12 slides of commonly found insects to deepen your child’s love for learning and exploration.
6. Spelling Card Box from Shop Mums Palette – I adore this box set and wonder why I didn’t stumble across it sooner! Such a fun, creative way to assist spelling and matching and at an incredibly affordable price! R230
7. Logarithmic Montessori numbers available from Takealot.com . I love everything about this set. It has counting, matching, fine motor skills you name it. It is great for hand eye coordination and I think is going to be one of our newest additions to the playroom!
8. All in one kits from One Two Play – making life easier for parents all across the country! One Two Play creates pre-packed kits to make sensory play and exploration that much easier. From Dingo Digs to Swamp Adventures, you can buy a pre packed box with everything you need in it for some sensory fun. While you’re at it, add some of their story blocks to your cart for some super fun, open ended play.
9. Card Machine Till – A till is more then just a till – Its the beginning of an entrepreneurs journey, its endless hours of shopping, counting, learning. Its maths. I bought a cheap plastic one for the boys about 4 years ago, I didn’t particularly like it at the time but it was the best I could find and that thing is one of the MOST used toys in our house! Its gone with us to market days, the boys set up shop at home and try to resell me food I’ve bought just to try to increase their pocket money 🙂 A good quality till is an investment, a masterpiece, and this one from Timeless Toys is just beautiful.
10. Imagimags – When I saw Marie-Louise post about a South African brand of magnetic tiles I jumped for joy! We were gifted our magnetic tiles a few Christmases back from my aunt in the USA (and they are a lot cheaper there). I’ve been wanting to add to ours for ages as the kids genuinely play with them a few times a week. Imagimags are proudly South African and trust me 108 pieces is a fantastic amount and the hours of play would be endless! This would be a gift that keeps giving year after year!
108pc Magnetic Building Tiles Set R 1,599.00.
11. Mega Blocks Sustainable Forest Friends – these need a special mention, because these blocks are made from plant-based plastics, yep you read that right, a sugarcane based renewable raw material. Even their packaging is 100% recyclable and has FSC-certified packaging, made from both recycled and sustainably-grown materials. They are the perfect fit for little hands, and I love the fact that you have to “match up” the animals.
My 18 month old was able to comfortably stack and take apart the blocks with ease.
Proudly South African Christmas Gift Guide
It’s that time of year again (I cant quite believe it), to round up some of my favourite finds for Kids this Festive Season. You are guaranteed to always find a focus on open-ended, educational toys up on my blog, with a few good old superheros chucked in (because, boys…..). This year I feel it’s even more important however, to focus on our beautiful array of talent here in South Africa. To support proudly South African entrepreneurs and my goodness, we have a huge amount of talent and creativity in our country.
I’ve divided my gift guide into 3 different articles this year, Local, educational and good old “off the shelf” items.
Lets Kick off with our Proudly South African Stuff:
From top left to right:
I’ve made no secret about my love for Thornewood treasures, we have the rainbow stackers, the rainbow peg dolls and next up on my wish list is the incredible rocker. The benefits of rockers are endless and in the pre-school years development is key! They are perfect for rainy days indoors and add in an extra element of fun to any play! From R1300
Dovetail Studio is another one of our favourites and Ang knows the way to my heart! This exquisite sensory table is sure to last a lifetime, but the best part is you can cover the basins to covert it into a functional table as well! R1890h
I feel like I’ve been a part of Charlie Loves Studio right from the start and the pieces just keep getting better and better. This Christmas these gorgeous “My twinkle tot” dolls need to be on your wishlist! R225.
I’m living my best “engineer” life with Stumped Toys, seriously these are the kind of gifts my dad would adore. They have a fantastic range of wooden toys, but my absolute favourite has to be the “Knock a Block” set. You can choose from a starter or bumper version depending on your budget and let your little builders create away! From R335
No Christmas would be complete without a customised stocking from the incredible “Little Banner Company”. No only are you supporting one of the nicest people I know, Claire’s creativity is endless. From bunting to tree decorations, check out her awesome selection. Customised Stockings start from R220.
Busy Books are my thing, I adore them, I really do appreciate the time and investment it takes to create them but my goodness some of them are super pricey. We have been loving our Hedgehog Busy Book from Mums Palette and it is the perfect addition to any holiday bag or trip and it’s the most affordable one I’ve seen! Busy Book from R550.
Calico Ceramics make the cutest DIY Painting Kits for children to paint and play. These would make the perfect stocking filler or table gift for Christmas Dinner (my mum always bought us little gifts for our side plates). R230
Imagine Play has the most beautiful range of open ended wooden toys, I found it impossible to choose just one. Top of my list are these “Village Dwelling” houses (R425) and these “Bright Roller” Sets (R950).
No gift list would be complete without these “Gem stackers” from Liv Bespoke. I’ve seen them all over instagram and I adore how they add in an extra element to traditional building blocks, that and they are just so pretty! At just R220 they are pretty on your pocket, and on your playroom shelf!
Imagine Play has the most beautiful range of open ended wooden toys, I found it impossible to choose just one. Top of my list are these “Village Dwelling” houses (R425) and these “Bright Roller” Sets (R950).
Land of Lark – Probably the most expensive item on my wishlist for the kids this year, but my gosh, would you just look at it! This Wooden “Pop-up Playhouse” is absolutely incredible. With all its gears and levers its such a great addition for any playroom. R3900 (Check out their Ndebele Birchwood house while you’re at it).
They also have the cutest range of play-mats in bonded leather which are great for messy play and crafts. My favourite is the Africa Play-Mat for hours of adventuring fun! R1980
That’s it for my South African round up! Stay tuned for the next 2 days for my educational and more commercial gift guides! I still cant get over the talent we have here in South Africa. Everyone goes on about “Nordic” designs etc, but honestly here in South Africa, the quality is incredible!
Support local this year and let’s rebuild our economy together!
Ring Security Camera Review
GET YOUR RING SECURITY CAMERA THIS BLACK FRIDAY!
Not a day goes by where the topic of Home security isn’t mentioned here in South Africa, and If you have been looking at installing a home security option, there is no better time to do it than right now. Thankfully, gone are the days of complicated and expensive home security systems. Ring arrived in SA earlier this year, and it has made life so much safer.
I’ve actually been blown away by the features of our Spotlight Camera. I receive an alert on my phone if there is any motion detected, I can watch the kids swimming from my phone while I’m at work and I can even use the microphone feature to talk to them or shout at them if they are playing too rough! The Spotlight Camera also has a Siren feature that sets off an alarm of 110 decibels, enough to deter any unwanted guests. It has an incredible night vision camera and with the Spotlight Camera, the light shines on when it detects motion.
Ring Africa’s home security offerings utilize HD cameras that connect directly to your smartphone via the Ring App and they have a huge variety of options on hand depending on your needs, from a Doorbell Camera, an Indoor Stick up Cam, to the Spotlight Camera which I opted for. There are options for everyone and can be set up in less then 15 minutes. Ring is really putting the power of home security into the hands of homeowners.
There’s no better time to order yours.
Remember when I mentioned there is no better time to set up your home security? Well, RING has extended their Black Friday Deals for the entire month of November! This month you can literally save up to R1000 on various Ring devices, massive savings!
Some of the more notable Black Friday deals include:
Indoor Cam R999 (R500 saving);
Stick Up Cam Battery R1999 (R500 saving);
Door View Cam (Peephole Cam) R1999 (R1000 saving);
Spotlight Cam Battery R2999 (R1000 saving);
Spotlight Cam Wired R2999 (R1000 saving);
Floodlight Cam R4499 (R1000 saving).
Head on over to my Instagram to see some of the features in my stories or visit TAKEALOT for more information.
To take into consideration before you install yours:
They really do mean it when they say that all RING cameras can be installed in 15 minutes or less, I set up ours and installed it myself! The hardest part for us was deciding where to put it, we initially ordered the wired option, which I thought would be a better option, we wanted it out by our front gate and we have a plug point there, however, our WIFI didn’t reach that far. So, we brought it in a little closer where our WIFI DID reach, and then realized we didn’t have a plug point (should have gone with the battery version). Eventually we settled on our backyard, which worked out perfectly for us, we can keep an eye on the kids and the garden!
Ring Africa products are now officially available in South Africa through: – Takealot, Builders Warehouse, iStore, Incredible Connection and Leroy Merlin.
Disclaimer- This post was written in partnership with Ring South Africa, but all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
Do breakfast “with heart” with Jungle Crunchalots
Are you a “breakfast” kind of family? My kids take after me with their love for cereal – the boys literally go to sleep planning what cereal they will have the next day. I used to have fights with my parents as a child because every night I would want cereal for supper!
As I have become a parent myself, I have realised and witnessed first-hand, how important a balanced breakfast is. It replenishes your body with a supply of essential nutrients and keeps your little one’s energy levels up throughout the day. I have seen a direct correlation in my son’s moods if I give him a typical “sugary” cereal versus a more wholesome one. As a result, I have recently started to pay much closer attention to the ingredients and nutritional benefits of my breakfast cereals I’m buying.
Have you looked at the cereal aisle lately? There are literally a million options; many of which claim to be healthy when they’re not. How do you know which healthy breakfast cereals taste good? Words like “whole grain”, “all natural” and “sugar free” are thrown around, but which is best?
When we were asked if we wanted to review “Jungle Crunchalots” I jumped at the chance, knowing that my cereal monster would love to try them out. Any cereal that contains Vitamins A, BI, B2, B6, B12 and Niacin, calcium and iron as well as dietary fibre is a winner for me. The Jungle Crunchalots cereal comes in all the favourite flavours – strawberry, honey and chocolate flavor and has 32% less sugar*. But would they like it?
Firstly, my kids were excited about the brightly coloured packaging. They were instantly drawn to “Oaty Cerealot” and his crew of monsters and of course my younger son wanted to try the chocolate flavor first, while mama wanted strawberry. One of the things my son loves the most is that the cereal stays “crunchy”. He often stops eating his breakfast when the cereal gets soft and soggy but Jungle Crunchalots remain solid and crunchy a lot longer.
Most bought cereals fall into the unhealthy category because they’re heavily processed or full of added sugar and additives, and this means they simply aren’t what I would consider a quality breakfast for your body. I love the fact that Jungle Crunchalots is made from oats and are high in Vitamin B, Iron and fibre. In addition to being a convenient source of nutrients and tasty start to each morning, by adding in yoghurt or milk it contributes to a portion of your daily calcium needs. Chuck in some fruit and you have a completely balanced breakfast.
One of the biggest benefits for me is the fact that Jungle Crunchalots has less sugar than any other cereal, at less than 1 teaspoon per serving, this is a HUGE advantage for me with my little sugar monster over here! Crunchalots also came in the top 3 cereals when profiled with the Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM).
Safe to say, I’m adding Crunchalots to our monthly shopping list and will certainly be repurchasing them for our breakfasts from now on.
*Disclaimer – This post was sponsored by Jungle Crunchalots, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Wacky Box SA – Everything you need to entertain your kids, in one box
Lets see how many times you have googled “activities to stimulate my child” this lockdown… 2, 3, 4? As a blogger who focuses a large portion of her writing on activities for children, I have certainly noticed a huge increase in requests for ideas since COVID changed our world. Yet I still find myself at a loss from time to time at what to do. Working from home during this time has also left me with less quality time with my kids (believe it or not), because I am always trying to juggle between the two. I wasn’t finding the time to prep activities for them or to think in advance of things to do, not to mention my craft supplies were dwindling at a rapid rate.
Enter Wacky Box SA. The Wacky Box is brought to you by the Educational Box Company, and it aims to provide support, promote and empower parents in South Africa, giving them the ability and opportunity to spend quality time with their kids, despite their busy lives. Every Wacky Box is jammed packed with activities and follows a different theme for the month. The activities are tried and tested for each age group, and it comes with a detailed instruction booklet for parents, highlighting the benefits of each activity, as well as ways to step it up. The activities inspire both fine and gross motor skills, sensory play as well as arts and music. The box is designed to be completely used up, if fact, even the box and packaging are used as part of the activities.
Our boxes were themed for “senses”, so we had activities such as sticky jelly play, drawing on sandpaper, “listening” by creating shakers, making binoculars, physical movement and of course music themed activities. We even had cinnamon scented oats!
Double it up
My boys are pretty close together in age, so most of the time, I need activities that will engage both of them. One of the things I love the most about Wacky Box is that you can double up your box for siblings for just R110 extra. No more fighting over who gets to do what activity, now they can both do exactly the same thing.
At a time where we are at home more, Wacky Box has been a lifesaver. I haven’t had to think of themes, everything is provided for you, every piece of tape, piece of paper and inch of glue. The boys particularly enjoyed the physical activities, the ping pong ball races and spider climbing. It also prompted “out of the box” thinking (excuse the pun), letting us get creative by drawing on sandpaper to experience different textures. Another aspect I appreciated is that a lot of the materials in the two boxes (we got 4-6 years and 1-2 years) were actually the same. It was just the way the activities were executed that were different. Take the oats for example, For baby they were more of a sensory experience picking up and scooping, filling containers etc, whilst the boys used them to create art. This is a huge benefit when your little one wants to copy her big brothers all the time!
Toddler Play
I jumped at the chance to get a box for my daughter, who is 14 months old. I find myself at a loss of things to do with her, as everything requires supervision, and she isn’t “old enough” for crafts yet. She is at a bit of an “in between phase”, always wanting to do what her big brothers do. We dug animals out of jelly, painted with bells on a brush to add another learning element (I loved this idea) and even reused our box to learn the concept to enhance fine motor skills. It’s been a treat to sit down with her and allowing her to discover new things.
How does it work?
You an order your monthly subscription at just R380 per month, with a different theme chosen for each month. Simply select your appropriate age group and everything is delivered to your door! There are also once off boxes available as well as gifting options. Delivery across South Africa is free.
For more information visit the Wacky Box website, and follow them on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest.
Giveaway:
We will be gifting one lucky parent with a 4 month subscription to WackyBox , worth R1520.
To enter:
- Like and follow both In these stilettos and Wacky Box SA on Facebook and Instagram .
- Share this article so more people can find out about this awesome service!
For another chance to win head on over to Mommalikeme to enter!
Winner will be announced on 30 June 2020 and the chosen individual must have a child aged between 5 months and 6 years old.
** Disclaimer ** This article was written in collaboration with Wacky Box, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.