John Crane's "The City of London Train Set"

After having just returned from London after attending the Cybermummy Conference last weekend, it seemed particularly apt to be reviewing John Crane's Branching Out 50 piece City of London Train Set! 

Central London by John Crane!!

The wooden train set included tracks, a bridge, a three carriage train, other vehicles including an iconic black cab and double decker bus, London landmarks including Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and a working London Eye.

The set provides a wonderful scene for floor play, encouraging imaginative ideas as the City of London is brought to life.  It is recommended for ages 3 and up, but 2 year old Freddy loves playing with it.  It develops hand-eye co-ordination and problem solving skills.  Kizzy is now 8 and she had great fun naming the famous buildings.  It is an excellent educational toy.

Perfect for little hands.

Everything was well made with great attention to detail and was perfect for little hands.

Choo Choo!!!

The John Crane train sets are compatible with other brands of wooden train track making them great value and versatile.  The City of London set can be added to or is a perfect stand alone train set.

Next stop, The London Eye!!

I was particularly impressed that the cardboard box was sturdy enough for the train set to be packed back into for storage.

The City of London Train Set by John Crane is currently available for £34.79 from the Wooden Toyshop. That is such good value for a toy that will last for years!

*I was sent the train set as part of the Craniac review program*

John Crane's Stack-Up Cubes

Freddy is a lucky boy!  His latest toy for review from John Crane is their beautifully crafted Stack-Up from the Branching Out range.  The ten large size wooden cubes, featuring colourful wild animal designs, stack up to an impressive 104cm tall tower.  Perfect for floor play and for developing hand-eye co-ordination.  The cubes are numbered 1-10 so they are perfect for early counting skills.  When not in use they neatly nest together for easy storage.

As with all John Crane's toys, the wood comes from replenishable sources from Rubber Trees that have reached the end of their natural cycle, making them environmentally friendly.  The Stack-Up cubes are recommended for ages 18 months and over.  Here is our video review of how Freddy got on with Stack-Up!

This is a lovely toy.  The characters are very cute and appealing and the counting element helps develop early number skills.  The tower stands impressively high and it was very tempting for Freddy to kick over!  He loved exploring the cubes, building them up, knocking them down and fitting smaller ones into bigger ones.  They certainly tested his dexterity and his hand-eye co-ordination.  As he gets older I can see the Stack-Ups playing a bigger role in his learning, whilst remaining a very appealing and fun activity.

I think Stack-Ups are absolutely lovely.  They are robust, sturdy, colourful and big!  The fact that they nest together for storage is brilliant.  I'd highly recommend them!

You can buy Stack-Up from Amazon for £25.49 with free UK delivery.

John Crane's Lilliputiens 10 Little Indians Review

John Crane's Lilliputiens range is a collection of stimulating, heart warmingly attractive and completely safe toys.  They have a common theme of wonder...the magic of hidden surprises, the stirrings of curiosity...every plaything is a voyage of discovery.  Soft materials and disarming characters will captivate and challenge a child's inquisitive spirit.

We were sent the very beautiful Wigwam and Ten Little Indians for Freddy to try out.  I was instantly enthralled by the wonderful workmanship, attention to detail and fabulous play value of the ten little characters, their colourful wigwam home and accessories. The wigwam can be opened and closed  Each Indian is numbered with a 1 to 10 on their chest making them ideal for counting games or songs.  They are a lovely size for little hands and everything is made of a soft material that is very tactile. The Little Indians are all different, some are boys, some are girls, there are two babies in papooses and a chief in his headdress.  Freddy enjoyed studying them and making them walk!

Here is a video of the toys in action!

 

The Wigwam and Indians are suitable from 9 months +.  The potential for pretend play will grow with your child.  The characters are so appealing and the numbers add the extra dimension of learning to count and order.

They are available from Amazon at £40.60 and will provide many years of play for your little one.  It would be perfect as a nursery toy.  A Noah's Ark and a Nativity Set are also available.

SES Creative Glass Bead Bracelets

We are so proud to be Craniacs!  This means that we are ambassadors for John Crane, testing a selection of  beautiful toys and writing reviews about them.  My 'Tiny Testers' Freddy and Kizzy are poised ready to help out with any toy testing that needs to be done.  This time it was Kizzy who had the opportunity to try out SES Creative Glass Bead Bracelet set.

The SES Creative Range includes hobby kits, craft sets and art materials.  Kizzy was lucky enough to be sent the Glass Bead Bracelet making set.  The pack contained everything needed to make some lovely personalised bracelets.

Kizzy really enjoyed making this and has enough bits left in the set to make a couple more bracelets.  She was able to do most of it independently, but linking the beads together was a little bit fiddly and she needed my help for that.  As with all craft kits, you need to be patient as the paint and glue takes time to dry between each stage, but Kizzy understood that and didn't rush her project.  The end result looks very effective and Kizzy was very proud to have made something that looked so nice.

This craft kit was definitely one of the better ones Kizzy has used in terms of achieving a good end result, and she had a lot of fun in the process!

Kizzy said "I love jewellery and make-up and girlie things so it was really nice to make my own design of bracelet.  I enjoyed doing it and like painting my own design but it was fiddly putting the beads together but Mummy helped me.  I am proud of my lovely bracelet!"

Available at Amazon for £6.99...it really is a great value for money craft kit. for any budding jewellery maker!