The Joys of Being a Toy Tester

When Kizzy was named as the new Princess Galt, she was awarded £250 of Galt Toys as part of the prize.  Having the chance to choose her favourites from the whole range of art, craft, activity, science and discovery sets was a dream come true.  The Girl Club offered her loads of items befitting her princess status!  Kizzy particularly loved the sets that combined her two favourite things...science and beauty...and picked out sets to make her own perfume, bath bombs and lip glosses!  She also loved the girlie secret diary, jewellery making sets and fashion designer sets.

She has enough activities to keep her going for a whole year and we'll report back on her favourite items.  What a lucky little girl she is!!  Just look at the two huge boxes that arrived for her!

I really like the fact that my little princess loves her science.  The Disgusting Science set really got her excited as did the Horrible Science range.  I predict lots of messy experiments will soon be carried out in my kitchen!

We are so grateful to the lovely people of Galt for holding such a lovely competition for the kids, with such amazing prizes.  Kizzy considers herself to be a very privileged young lady and intends to carry out her royal duties to the best of her ability!

Take a look at Galt's website if you are looking for ideas for really innovative and inspiring arts, crafts, science and activity sets for both girls and boys.

Princess Galt is in the Papers

From Shropshire Star Group Newspapers

Kizzy is The Face of Princess Galt

A while ago I spotted a competition where you had to submit a video of your child showing why they should become the Face of Galt.  There were four categories:  Scientist, Artist, Baby and Princess.  Kizzy embraced the idea of the contest and here is the video we submitted.

Earlier this year we had an email to say that Kizzy was to be crowned as Princess Galt!  A photoshoot was organised at the Marriott Hotel in Derby, which is the oldest Marriott in the world with the charm of an olde worlde castle.

We met the other category winners which included Lisa, a long standing friend of mine from the Facebook who is a fellow comping blogger, mum to the gorgeous Dexter and a very lovely lady!  We had a room which was filled with Galt products for the kids to play with while they waited for their turn in the limelight.

Galt Sequin Art

Kizzy was given a lovely princess outfit to wear which made her look absolutely gorgeous...like a real princess!  She really was perfect!!

My Princess

Kizzy's photo shoot was very fairytale like. Brown toned filters and a smoke machine created a soft focused effect.  The settings included a secret staircase and an ornate window sill.  Kizzy followed the instructions of the photographer really well although that meant holding quite uncomfortable positions perched on the edge of a very narrow wooden step.  She was a star!

Setting up the shot.

We had a lovely lunch and then the kids did a group shot.  I felt so relieved that I had a 9 year old daughter who was able to hold her pose while all around her things were chaotic.  The other three little ones and their parents had quite a time trying to get them to sit still and look at the camera.  Getting them all looking in the right direction and smiling was a real challenge.  I could just sit back and relax as Kizzy sat like a little angel, even when Baby Galt stuck his rattle in her eye!

We had a great day.  Kizzy did so well and I was very proud of her.  Freddy was pretty well behaved even though he ate four pieces of cake, crawling halfway across the table to get them...but he had a great time supporting Kizzy!  Even big sister Ella enjoyed playing with all the arts and crafts sets that Galt had provided.

I can't wait to see the finished photos used by Galt...they were incredible.  The photographer had such a great vision and the models were all gorgeous!

Take a look at Galt's website to see all of the Face of Galt winners.

Make Your Own Lip Gloss with Galt

As a Tiny Toyologist, Kizzy loves testing out toys...however her favourite sort of review is anything that involves make-up!  So she was delighted to receive Galt's Make Your Own Lip Gloss from Toys R Us.

The kit contains everything needed to make three lip glosses which come in cute bottles each with an applicator. The set included easy to follow instructions for making the lip gloss.

With red and blue colourings (to make red, blue and purple glosses), pearlescent powder and a fruity flavouring, the end product was always going to be very appealing to any mini make-up fans.

Kizzy worked independently, following the step by step guide.  Everything was easy to do and she had great fun getting creative.

The finished result was three little bottles of lip gloss which fitted in a cute, drawstring, cloth bag.  Kizzy was very proud of her achievement!  The gloss itself was subtle, adding a shimmer to Kizzy's lips.  The only downside is that the taste of the lip gloss is quite unpleasant, but that didn't seem to worry Kizzy in her pursuit for luscious lips!

This is definitely a fabulous toy for keeping your girls occupied on a rainy day in the summer holidays.  Kizzy gives it a double thumbs up and says "it is fun and easy to make and the result is beautiful and perfect for makeovers!"

Follow Toys R Us on Facebox for more Toyology reviews and competitions.

Galt Nail Art...a Toyology Review

The Galt Nail Art set is the exact toy that my 8 year old daughter adores.  An activity set that is all about beauty and fashion.

The set contains 7 nail polishes, tattoos, nail gems, holographic stickers and a funky star shaped nail file.  Everything you need to create some fabulous nail and hand art with cool artistic designs.

There was no instruction leaflet but it didn't hold back Kizzy at all.  With her two older sisters and me as willing models she set to work applying nail varnish.  The colours were subtle and pearlised and went on very evenly.  The two glitter nail  varnishes added sparkle!

The gems came in different shapes and colours and stuck well.  The tattoos came in fun and funky designs and were applied simply using water to dampen the paper from the back of the tattoo.

The set contains plenty of materials for many a manicure!  The nail varnish is not that peelable stuff you find in some children's sets, it is the real deal.  So long after the stickers, gems and tattoos are used up, the nail varnish will still be going strong. 

We spent a happy hour or two doing mani's.  It is a lovely activity for a bit of girlie fun.  It nurtures creativity and also helps develop hand eye co-ordination within the art of applying nail polish!  The suggested age range is 7+.  I can imagine it being a bit messy in the hands of younger children so I think that is spot on.  It would be perfect for a sleepover/make-over activity for young girls.  It would be a nice rainy day activity too...just watch the carpet, clothing and furniture!

It sells for £5.99 in Toys R Us which is great value for money.  Kizzy loved it!