Best toys of Christmas? The 2011 Edition

Important Disclaimer...everything talked about in the post has been paid for by me! I have not been asked or paid to review any of these products. So there.


Last January I blogged about the best toys of Christmas. That is, what were the best toys in our house.  In case it's helpful for anyone, I thought I'd do the same this year.  

As I said last year, things can sometimes be a bit hit and miss and toys that they have longed for hardly get looked at, whilst others that were an afterthought or a small stocking filler get played with until they fall apart. Example. The most played with toy in our house this Christmas? A £1 whoopee cushion. I kid you not.

In no particular order, here are the toy successes of Christmas 2011.

The Hawkins Bazaar Penguin Race. It's not even a game but that doesn't stop my 4yr old from playing with this for hours and hours. I knew it would be a hit as he'd been making eyes at it for about a year.  It was a last-minute purchase when I needed to even up the pile and I'm glad I got it for him.

A toy I wanted to resist as I feared it would be a one-hit wonder, the Disney Snow Globe Maker. In fairness, it probably is a bit of a one-hit wonder but she has loved making the snow globes. I don't love it. It requires far too much input from me and it's a bit complex for my tiny mind.

A surprise hit of Christmas 2011 - Squinkies - and a hit with both the boy and girl in my house. We have Disney Cars 2 Squinkies, the cupcake Squinkies you see above, a Wedding Surprise Playset and Barbie Squinkies. They seem quite expensive on Amazon for what they are, but I managed to get them all for less than half-price at Argos before Christmas. I predict that these will get played with a lot over the next few months.

Mario Kart for the Wii. Probably should have just bought this and nothing else to be honest as they love it.  I'm not a huge advocate of video games for young children but at 6 and 4 I felt it was time to introduce them to the Wii - we've had it for 3 years and they've not noticed it! However, all their friends are playing these games and I've noticed they're getting left out when they go to friends houses because they don't know what to do with the controller and that makes me feel bad so I thought this was a nice game to introduce them to the world of games consoles. I'm a harsh mother as they have to wait until Sundays to have Wii-time and then, they only get it if they've been good all week. It's a good one too as we can all play it as a family.

The much-coveted Sylvanian Families caravan.  My little girl had been asking for this for months and months and even I think this is great! I think she'll get a lot of play out of this over the next few years. The attention to detail, as always with Sylvanian Families, is spot-on right down to giving you different stickers for the number plate so you can match it to the car you have.

What's that coming over the hill is it a Hexbug? It's a Hexbug!  They are LOVING the Hexbug Nanos that they got in the Christmas stockings and they go perfectly well withe the spiral habitat set that I reviewed last year. I think these are designed for slightly older children but my 4yr old loves them and nurtures them like little pets.

I ummed and aahed over buying Guess Who Extra as we already had the original Guess Who game but I am so glad as I did as this one is a lot better quality, the other was really flimsy, but I think they've changed the design again now. It also adds a bit more to the game as there are different characters from the standard ones we all know and love - including monsters and animals. It makes the game a lot trickier actually but this is a game we love playing together.

Another things they both loved were the big buckets of Lego we bought for them. It's interesting to watch my children as my daughter is very methodical and likes to follow instructions to the letter so she pores over the guide books and diagrams to get her model absolutely perfect. My son likes to free-range it a bit, and he's a lot more imaginative, creating things from scratch and just running with an idea.

Would be interested to hear what the biggest hit in your house this Christmas was?

love & kisses

Mrs M x