Thomas and Friends Educational Toys for Pre-Schoolers

Here is a last minute Christmas idea for pre-schoolers who love Thomas and Friends. The Thomas Alphaphonics and Flip and Learn Phone from Trends UK, are great educational toys which will help little ones to learn while they play. Featuring Thomas and the other Really Useful Engines from Sodor, these toys are colourful, fun and perfect for little fans to enjoy.

Thomas Alphaphonics - £19.99

Pre-schoolers can learn letters, sounds, and spelling with the Thomas Alphaphonics. The easy-to-handle interactive system features every letter in both upper and lower case. Each letter is represented by a character or associated word with 'T' of course being for Thomas! Children can select from seven different play modes, including musical activities and play patterns to help memory. Activities include questions on letters, sounds and words and a game for identifying sequences of  objects. It is easy for little hands to carry and would be great for keeping children entertained away from home or on car journeys.

It assists early letter and word recognition, basic communication, sensory perception, memory and concentration.  It requires 3 x AAA that are included. Suitable from 3 years+.

Thomas Flip & Learn Phone  - £10.99 rrp

This chunky classic flip-up phone in blue, has a backlit answer screen with an image of Thomas and Percy on it. Little ones can call Thomas and his Sodor friends to hear their greetings. It also includes games to help children with number and colour recognition. You can even pretend to take pictures with the camera-phone feature.

This chunky little phone helps children with colour and number recognition, simple communication skills, hand-eye coordination and encourages imaginative play. Memory, concentration and attention is developed as pre-schoolers follow instructions from Thomas and some basic vocabulary is learned through the friendly chatter.

The sturdy, solid design is ideal for younger children aged 18 months+. It might even keep toddlers off their parents iPhones!

The Thomas and Friends toys will be a hit this Christmas. Find the Alphaphonics on Amazon or find the phone in Argos, currently in their 2 for £15 offer.

Thomas and Friends - Merry Christmas Thomas

Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends are all set for some festive fun in this great new DVD for Christmas: "Merry Christmas Thomas!"  This two DVD collection will be a perfect gift for little Thomas fans so climb aboard and celebrate the festive season with Thomas and Friends.

Merry Christmas Thomas! features six fun and festive episodes and the bonus disc Big Bang Surprise features a further five making a grand total of 138 minutes of  Christmas magic with Thomas and his friends!

The episodes include exciting snowy adventures, presents, parties and the search for the perfect Christmas tree to keep little ones in the festive mood throughout the holidays.

Thomas has been a favourite in my house for years and we love sharing the adventures of everybody's favourite blue engine and these Christmas stories are just perfect for this time of year.

Episode List for Merry Christmas Thomas!

• The Christmas Tree Express
• Ho Ho Snowman
• Salty's Surprise
• Emily's Winter Party Special
• Percy the Snowman
• Tree Trouble

The RRP of this double DVD pack is £12.99 but today's price on Amazon is just £7.75 which is a fantastic bargain.  A perfect gift or stocking filler...Peep! Peep!

Thomas and Friends: King of the Railway Review

In this latest feature length DVD installment from Thomas & Friends: King of the Railway, a new engine Stephen comes to the Isle of Sodor.  Stephen brings a big surprise and important jobs for Percy, James and Thomas!

Thomas fans will love this DVD with its quality CGI animation and brand new characters.  The plot involves the arrival of Sir Robert Norramby, Earl of Sodor with his engine Millie.  He wants Thomas and his friends to help rebuild Ulfstead Castle. They discover suits of armour, coats of arms and legends of long ago heroes.

Stephen is a very old engine and when he gets in trouble, it's up to the engines to help find him and avoid disaster. The engines uncover Sodor's mysteries as they delve into its history. It's an epic adventure filled with danger, excitement, history and some great moral messages such as the importance of teamwork and working together.

I loved the historic reference to Stephenson's Rocket, which was a really nice touch!  Freddy loved the castle setting and enjoyed the historic adventures.  The familiarity of the Thomas brand and the added songs make this DVD perfect for very young children, while the adventurous story line will appeal to pre-schoolers and slightly older fans.

Classification: U

Studio: HiT Entertainment

DVD Release Date: 2 Sep 2013

Run Time: 68 minutes