Bath Time Fun for Little Ones with the Bathtime Buddies Alphabet Set

A Bathtime Poem

The bath is not just for cleaning and washing,

It's a place for fun and splishing and sploshing!

A place for imagination and play.

A place to unwind at the end of the day.

When little Freddy jumps himself in,

Submerging himself right up to this chin,

Immersed in a sea of bubbly bubbles

Full of magical fun, free from all troubles.

One of the things he really enjoys

Is having some fun and playing with toys.

My little schoolboy is quite discerning,

Enjoying mixing play with learning,

So his favourite toy to get,

Is his Bathtime Buddies Alphabet Set!

                              

Learning how to read and spell,

Is something he is doing well,

His ability just keeps getting better,

The more he plays with the colourful letters.
Making words, spelling names,
Learning while he plays his games!

They stick to the side of the bath,

(And also to him, which makes him laugh!)

The 65 letters can also float,

Like a fleet of alphabetical boats.

And when bathtime is over for another day,

The letters are easy to pack away.

Scoop them up - water and all

Then drain with the lid...this is so cool!

A clean boy and tidy bath post play,

Is thanks to the experts at H & A!

Overview: The Bathtime Buddies Alphabet Set consists of 65 lowercase foam letters that float in water and can stick to tiles and onto the bath tub. They come in a storage tub with a holed lid for drainage.

They are fun, educational and there are plenty of repeated letters to make words with.  They float and stick well and are a great value bath toy for little ones to enjoy!

Suitable for ages 3+. Available in Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco & Wilko  RRP £3.30

Pairs in Pears

Pairs in Pears is a game by Bananagrams, the ingenious folk who combine great family games with one of your five a day!  We were sent Pairs in Pears to try out for ourselves.  

Pairs in Pears

The pear shaped zip up cloth pouch contains four full sets of alphabet tiles in different designs: dots, stripes, solids and outlines.  I loved the design of the bag and the tiles are strong and chunky.

The Different Suits

The tiles are divided out according to how many people are playing.

The aim of the game is to make pairs of words sharing one letter and made using the same pattern.  Words must be at least three letters long.  It is a fast paced race to make the pairs of words before your opponents.

There are different variations on the game so you can play in the best way to suit your family.

You can win by being the first to make the pre-decided number of pairs or you can play the scoring game where points are scored by how many letters have been used.  In the scoring game you do not have to use letters in the same pattern but double points are awarded if the letters are in the same suit.

Scoring Game

I really liked the pace of the game.  9 year old Kizzy was able to play just as well as me  (sometimes better!)  She is quite keen on word puzzles and this game uses the same skills.  Younger children can use the tiles to learn the alphabet, practice phonics, match patterns, use memory skills and develop cognitive thinking, so the scope for using this game as an educational aid is really good.  The game is deceptively simple, fun and fast paced. You can play as many hands as you want so the game will last as long as you want it to.  You can be as competitive as you want and adapt the rules to suit your number of players.

I'll definitely be taking this on holiday with me at Easter!  It is perfect for travel as it is self-contained and compact. 

The Pairs in Pears game costs £10.99 RRP.

The Ministry of Letters

Operation Alphabet

There is a secret world that not many of us know about!  Inside an ordinary post box in London, there exists a top secret government department, The Ministry of Letters.  It is here where all the words in the world are made.  Every word you'll ever read!  But shhh, don't tell anyone...this is highly classified information!

If, like me, you become an official pal of the Ministry of Letters you will discover an exciting world.  The S.A.S. (Secret Alphabet Service) will share its secrets with you and your child and together you will learn about the exciting power of the alphabet and inspire a love of letters, words and stories.

Each letter has its own personality and together they make learning fun.  They are the stars of the book Operation Alphabet by Al MacCuish which tells the story of a little boy called Charlie Foxtrot.  The S.A.S. undertake an intrepid journey to help Charlie learn the letters of the alphabet before he has a test at school.   With an alphabet song, the letters teach him all about the alphabet and the wonders of words.  Children will enjoy this fast paced story and will love the letter characters.  Freddy really likes Colonel A!  They will learn while they are having fun!  The book is really special with incredible old style illustrations and a lively text.  It has a retro, old fashioned  50s feel to it which is most refreshing in this high tech age.  Both parents and children will love this unique book.

The book is accompanied by a great website ministryofletters.com with lots of fun stuff.  The Letters' Personnel Files kept Freddy entertained for ages with each letter saying a selection of its favourite words.  Every letter has its own quirky personality.  Take a look at this Public Service Announcement to discover more.

It is a lovely concept to think that there is an agency where every word is created.  It is a very appealing idea that kids will love, and anything that instils a love of words in children gets a thumbs up from me!   The book can be bought from Amazon for £6.57 which is a great price.

I'll leave you with the very cute Alphaphonic Orchestra video.  It's well worth watching because it is fab!