Little Live Pets Lil' Hedgehog and House

Little Live Pets definitely have the 'awww' factor when it comes to animal toys. They look, act and sound so real, children can't help falling in love with them as they deliver cuteness, fun and interactive play! The range continues to grow with new pets coming this year. The latest additions are the Little Live Pets Hatching Chicks and the Hedgehog and House

Freddy received the Little Live Pets Lil' Hedgehog and House to try out from Character Options. The play set consists of a battery operated, pet hedgehog that rolls into a ball or scurries around on its wheeled base, and a plastic house complete with hand operated elevator, a little flap door and curved slide. The hedgehog has a soft, velvety covered outer casing and a plastic face that peeps out. The pink nose can be pressed prompting the hedgehog to roll into a ball. After a moment, it pops out its head and continues to scurry and play.

We received the exclusive Shy Sky in the play set, a cute little mauve coloured hedgehog toy. Other colours of hedgehog are available separately and can be played with alongside Sky in the house.

Batteries are included, so you can play with Shy Sky straight from the box. You can play with it on a flat surface where it will scurry around until it hits something and rolls into a ball or goes off in a different direction. Or you can use it inside the play house, where it will run into the elevator, roll into a ball ready to be taken to the top of the slide for it to roll back down. The set comes ready built apart from the very edge of the slide that needs to be attached by clipping it on.

Freddy at first thought the creature was a 'big, fat hamster' as it doesn't have the characteristic spikes of a hedgehog, but that didn't deter him at all. The mechanism of the play set works quite well, although sometimes the hedgehog needed a bit of a push to get him to roll down the slide from the top of the raised elevator. After a few attempts we found that raising the elevator really quickly with a bit of a flick at the end did the trick, and Freddy became a dab hand at doing it. The movement of the hedgehog is fast and quirky and it is cute when it rolls into and out of a ball. Sometimes he ended up upside down and needed to be flipped back over, which added to the fun. The hedgehog can run around inside the house and pop through the door, but if you want him contained, the door is lockable using a little catch. The play set has a carry handle so you can take your toy wherever you go.

Freddy had a lot of fun watching the way the hedgehog moved both in and out of the house and liked making him roll down the slide using his well honed technique. I like that the play set is an all in one construction, so there are no little bits to lose and it stores away nicely with Shy Sky inside. The play set is a good size for little ones to carry around, perfect for taking along with them to the grandparents' house, on holiday or in the car.

The Little Live Pets Lil' Hedgehog and House is recommended for children aged 5 and over and has an RRP of £22.99 with additional hedgehogs costing £12.99. You can find out more at www.character-online.com/little-live-pets-hedgehog-and-house.

Keep an eye out and join on the fun on February 20th as UKMums.tv are having a Little Live Pets Takeover!

Little Live Pets Cleverkeet Playground Set Review

Freddy has been a big fan of Little Live Pets ever since we attended the Little Live Pets Takeover event at Eureka back in the summer of 2014. The interactive animal toys give children the experience of handling toys that act like the real creatures, which respond to their touch and voice. Freddy loves the birds, which mimic what you say to them and sing songs. He was delighted to have been sent one of the latest Little Live Pets toys from Character Options; the Cleverkeet, which comes with its own interactive playground playset. 

Taking the interaction even further, the Little Live Pets Cleverkeet not only responds to your voice, sings and talks, it also dances, drives a cart, swings on a perch, flaps his wings, shakes his head and eats food, all the while chatting to whoever is playing with him. It certainly is very clever!

The Cleverkeet comes with demonstration batteries and will do a selection of his interactions in demo mode. Once replaced with 2 AAA batteries and switched on, the full functionality of the bird is unleashed. You can name him and he will respond to that name during play. He even comes with his own adoption certificate. Freddy called his Cleverkeet Squirtle.

The Cleverkeet chats away asking to be positioned on the swing, at the food bowl, on the hand perch or in the cart. It also likes to dance in front of the mirror on its perch and asks you if you have any tunes that you can play for him. Freddy had the Cleverkeet dancing along to Britney Spears and while it grooved away it told him that the song was awesome! It's really good fun.

The Talk to Me and Talkback functions allow the Cleverkeet to record and repeat phrases and use them during play. Sometimes it will mash up phrases to make funny sentences, which amused Freddy no end. For example it started saying that it was really good at bananas instead of dancing, which Freddy thought was pretty hilarious. The Cleverkeet can also be quite sassy, again making Freddy laugh. When on the removable hand perch, it will copy back what is said instantly, just like a real talking parakeet does. Sometimes, it will ask you to ask it a question and will reply to any yes/no type question with a comment similar to a magic 8 ball. The level and complexity of the chatter is really quite impressive.

The Cleverkeet really gets going when placed in the handcart. Once correctly positioned, it will tilt its body up and down to propel the handcart forward. This is a great addition to the toy that can be used independently from the rest of the playset. The Cleverkeet is also very good at swinging on the swing perch, making its body rock to and fro, creating its own momentum. These independent movements take the imaginative play to a whole new dimension. The flapping, bobbing, tilting and head movements definitely add extra action and realism to the interactive nature of the toy.

Petting the Cleverkeet unlocks extra animations and sounds when it is in the cart, on the swing, eating or being held. The more you play with it, the more varied the interaction becomes. Children feel like they are really taking care of the Cleverkeet, meeting its needs and having fun. If you stop interacting with it, it tries to get your attention for a while by making sounds, but will eventually fall asleep. You can wake it up and resume playing with it whenever you want to. It remembers what it has learned, but can be reset if needed, for renaming and to delete stored recordings.

All in all, this is a great addition to the Little Live Pets family. It's fun, with good interaction and it teaches children about what it means to look after something (even if it is just a toy). Freddy really enjoys playing with it, in particular with the recording and repeating functions. He will sit for ages making it say silly things or speak in funny voices. Freddy also loves the physical aspect of the interaction, with the cart, the dancing, the wing flapping and the swinging. Having the Cleverkeet on the hand perch and being able to carry it around with you is also a nice touch, meaning you are not restricted to playing in the playground itself.

At around the £60 mark, this is poised to be a popular toy this Christmas. Perfect if you don't want a pet but want all the fun of a super smart feathered friend to keep the kids amused! This innovative toy gives children a unique experience through its interactive functions. There is definitely hours of fun to be had with this toy, and even when not in use, it will look lovely sat on a shelf.

The Little Live Pets Cleverkeet is aimed at children aged 5 and up.

Here is a video of Freddy demonstrating some of the functions while he plays with his new super smart, interactive feathered friend!


                           

Little Live Pets at Eureka! The National Children's Museum

We were lucky enough to be invited to the Eureka! The National Children's Museum in Halifax for the Little Live Pets takeover.  I was really excited to take the two little ones on a day out to a place that has the ethos of encouraging kids to play to learn.  Plus we were delighted about discovering the must-have toy for summer, the Little Live Pets from Character.

The museum was so hands on, perfect for children who want to explore, play and touch everything!  There are six galleries where kids are encouraged to interact with the exciting exhibits.  These were our three favourite areas:

All About Me is an amazing area dedicated to the workings of the human body.  From exploring the senses to pretending to be a doctor to finding out about bones, brains and the digestive system, the newly opened area was a huge hit with Freddy and Kizzy.  Freddy loved filling in his All About Me Passport, taking part in activities to test his reflexes, monitor his heart rate and measure his body.  The Health Centre allows children to role play as doctors, midwives and dentists.  Freddy loved giving the pregnant woman model a scan and seeing her baby on the screen.  He also enjoyed testing his brain and body on the climbing wall.  At 11, Kizzy was interested to learn facts about the human body, look at X-Rays and microscope slides and take part in some experiments. It is such a great area with so much to see, do and learn.

Living and Working Together is a fabulous reconstruction of a little town complete with garage, post office, shop, bank and petrol station.  Kids are able to role play all the jobs from being a postman to a cashier to a car mechanic.  It was great fun!  Kizzy and Freddy enjoyed the bank vaults where they were able to crack codes to enter the bank's safety deposit boxes and discover the content of customers from Doctor Who to Harry Potter to our Queen. The garage was pretty cool too.  They changed tyres, used petrol pumps and learned about the parts of an engine (with dad's expert tuition!!)  There is also a house where you can learn about what happens when you flush a loo, play with water, have fun in the kitchen and explore your dreams. 

Our Global Garden takes children on a voyage of discovery of the outdoors, looking at environments as diverse as the Arctic, the jungle, the town, the countryside and the sea bed.  There are so many things to explore.  Kids get to surf and light up a city; play instruments in a jungle hut and see through the eyes of a rat.  Whilst in the Global Garden, we also took part in the Little Live Pets Bird Watching Trail, finding hidden birds and solving the clues to find a word.

Outside the main Eureka! museum building is a huge sandpit, grassy areas and some outdoor activities and there are lots of events taking place throughout the year.  A cafe and gift shop are on site and the toilet facilities are good.  The area is lovely, with views of the countryside, as the 13 acre site is nestled between Beacon Hill and the town centre.

We were treated to a yummy buffet lunch and Freddy got his face painted, which made him very happy!  The children also made glass painted butterfly sun catchers and  coloured in Little Live Pet colouring sheets.

The Little Live Pets area let children get up close and personal with the latest interactive toys.  With gorgeous birds and butterflies to play with, little ones can enjoy the feeling of holding a fluttering butterfly on their hand or chatting to a tweeting, talking bird.

The butterflies are very beautiful and the movement is very realistic, but Freddy fell in love with the birds.  Petting them makes then sing, chirp and tweet with a moving beak that makes them seem alive!  Pressing a button allows you to record a message which is converted to chirrupy bird language and tweeted back to you.  Freddy loved the mimicry feature, which enhanced the play value of these cute little toys.

The Little Live Pets Birds (RRP £9.99) and Butterflies (RRP £12.99) come in a host of colours and designs making them appealing to every taste.  You can also buy a Birdcage complete with a bird for £19.99 and a Butterfly House with a butterfly for £22.99.  Perfect for displaying your collection.  

Find out more at: www.character-online.com/products/Little-Live-Pets

Entrance to Eureka! is £11.95 for ages 3 to adult, but your day ticket can be converted to an annual season pass for free allowing you to visit as often as you like over the year.  There is so much to do and so much fun to be had, having access for free for a year would be fabulous for families.  It's an amazing deal.

Find out more at:  www.eureka.org.uk