Tag: Game Stores

Top Toys Guide 2020

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

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.