Imagine The Boy's surprise and delight when he opened up the box of the above goodies from Galt Toys for us to review. He absolutely adores all types of craft activities, but painting and drawing with his crayons are the utmost all-time top two for him. He was almost beside himself when he saw some new 'draw-draws' and when his little eyes caught sight of the paint, bless him, he couldn't stop jigging with excitement.
The crayons got the first round of serious analysis: definitely a success there! He took the pot over to his desk, sat down and started to examine the colours. In the pack of goodies that Galt sent us was a pack of 25 sheets of paper. The paper is A2 size and therefore quite large, perfect for large scale painting or sticking activities, but it also means that I can halve each sheet making it go further (we also always use both sides of the paper – environmentally aware!).
The crayons are a delightful rainbow of colours, 24 in total, including various shades of the primary colours and a range of secondary and tertiary hues aswell. They are described as chunky crayons which are ideal. As a teacher I remember a training session where we were taught not to give little children jumbo writing implements because they only have small hands and small grip. However, I've tried thinner crayons and he just ends up accidentally snapping them in half as he is too young to be aware of strength of grip.
As you can see from the pictures, drawing is a very serious business in this household (definitely a left-hander).
In the pack of art resources, we were also sent these finger paints:
The Boy is an independent little creature who likes to think outside the box already (don't you love toddler thinking?) and therefore wanted his paintbrushes to use with them. These paints are great; in the pack are six 100ml pots of bright, thick and washable paint. And yes they are washable! I've had my hands stained for hours after using the Crayola washable paints (especially the blue and green ones) but not with these paints.
*There is a disclaimer on the box that it may not remove from materials and surfaces that cannot be laundered, although it does say it can wash from most machine washable clothes.
The Boy had great fun with painting, he loves exploring the colours and textures as you can see:
We were also sent a pack of face-paint sticks to use, and I tried to test these but the little monkey wouldn't keep still long enough for me to get more than the outline of a spider's body and three of his eight legs! When he's a few months older, I'm sure that he will enjoy using these a lot more but I suspect he's just a little too young at the moment. I will say though that they are encased in a plastic tubing to prevent mucky hands with a push-up sliding holder for the actual face-paint stick in order to maximise the amount of face-paint used. It strikes me as an excellent idea.
I was very impressed with both the paints and the crayons, they are a much richer hue and depth of colour than other well-known branded crayons and paints. I will be purchasing these in future, especially because of the fact that the deeper coloured paints doesn't stain skin!
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While I received these products free of charge to provide an honest review, I have not been offered any other reward for my opinion.
Lavender Hand Wash
I've used the Techno XLR a fair amount around town, but also in off-tarmac locations. We went to a local country park in the squelchy mud and it more than handled the ruts and pot-holes. It was also a freezing afternoon and The Boy was able to tuck his arms under the apron of the foot-muff and was toastie-warm. The top of the apron is designed to fold back, and he's quite happy to rest his arms out, but the minute he thinks it's a bit chilly: "armies in!"
We popped to the 
The Boy love his new pushchair and finds it incredibly comfortable. Following a Monkey Music session a fortnight ago, I had to pop to a couple of the shops in the town centre. I knew I was pushing it for his nap-time, but I really had to get a few things and he ws quite happy chomping on his snack and observing the world. I nipped into the library and having picked up the information I wanted, I asked The Boy if he was ready to go home for his sleep. No reply. I glanced down and he'd fallen asleep! He was so snug and warm that the silence of the library had pushed him over the edge. The Techno XLR is so easy to adjust as it has four positions for the back, so I reached down and pulled the lever on the back which lowered him down to almost flat. He could have gone lower, but the change bag was hanging off the back so I didn't want to knock his head.
I had had a minor gripe about the size of the shopping basket underneath, in comparison to what I was used to. However, I also couldn't stand my change-bag anymore because it was an inconvenient shape; big but the wrong dimensions. So I bought a new one in the style of a messenger bag which fits in the shopping basket with room to spare for smaller items of shopping, but is far more convenient slung over the handlebars. I can get to my purse and his drink more easily, and it frees up a lot of space in the shopping basket for its intended purpose. Loads of space for grocery shopping in the town centre!
However, in the past six months he has become obsessed with them! Some days are toy days and others are book days, when all he will want to do all day long is 'read' every book that he owns. It always amazes me how much children learn from books, even at this tender age; he's never seen a tiger but he knows what one looks like. We're working on colours and shapes at the moment, so when the lovely people at 
'Something Beginning with Blue' is a delightful and beautifully illustrated book based on all the different colours of the rainbow. It takes the 'I spy' theme and transfers it to the colours of an object; e.g. 'I spy with my little eye, something beginning with… blue!'. It then lists a couple of things that it isn't and gives factual clues as to what it might be. On the opposite page to the text is a picture of a child with peep-holes for the eyes. When you look through, you can get a growing picture of what the item might be.
The Earth Friendly Kids Gentle Wipes (flushable and 100% biodegradable) are soft and thick, which is always great. I've tried a few supermarket own-brand wipes that are quite thin and almost a little gritty, so these were a 'refreshing' change. Nothing worse when dealing with certain nappies to have to use one that is too thin! I should point out that they are labelled as being 'ideal for toilet training and sticky hands' and not intended for nappies, but they do actually work. They are nicely fragranced containing 100% organic Aloe Vera which is also soothing for little sensitive bottoms!
The kind folk over at Earth Friendly Baby have offered up a few products for a competition. One of you lucky individuals can be in with a chance to win items from their Earth Friendly Kids range: the Zingy Citrus Bubblebath has a blend of organic extractswith an easy-pouring bottle while the Zingy Citrus Body Lotion is ideal for the whole family, has a skin nourishing formula and has an easy to use pump.
As you can see from the photo, The Boy is extremely comfortable sleeping in his Twinkle Togs; he had far more freedom and slept just as soundly as in a sleeping bag, but had more independence prior to bed, and after waking up. I'll definitely be using this for a while yet!
