Showing posts with label toy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label toy. Show all posts

September 6, 2012

Antiqued Wooden Snake Toys

This idea started when I took my boys to a show called 'Snakes Alive' where they had a blast learning about reptiles (mainly snakes and alligators) and even got to hold and touch them! Tom Kessenich the herpetologist was so fun and so good with all the kids! The show was great and I highly recommend it to anyone who has kids that love reptiles!


My older son has always been fascinated by snakes, other reptiles and anything creepy crawly! My younger son likes that stuff too but he isn't as much into it as my older son.

Anyway, they had a wooden snake toy there for the kids to play with and both my boys had a hard time putting it down when it was time to leave. It was solid unstained and unpainted wood but slithered, moved, had a tongue and looked antiqued! I looked at it and thought we should just try and make a few instead of hunting for hours trying to find two to buy.



The snake they played with looked weathered/antiqued. Whether it was like that from the start or like that from hours of play I don't know but I liked the look so we tried to replicate it in a painted version!

You can find the instructions on how to make your very own snake HERE on Instructables.

March 31, 2012

Playmobil Secret Agent Headquarters

I have to admit this is a pretty cool toy. There is a secret agent secret room that opens up. There is a transforming car/vehicle, a motion detector alarm, a trap door leading to a jail cell, and tons of accessories. The people have lots of weapons to hold in their hands, and modern features like laptops and dvds!

And, the best part, it is very compact. I expected a huge set up by the size of the box but I would say it is approx. 18 inches wide by 12 inches high!

This was purchased as a gift for my son. The price tag said $89.99. Expensive but seems to have already provided hours of play and fun. I'm not sure where the toy was purchased but I have seen it at Toys R' Us and Playmobil online - among others.


My only complaint about this was assembly. There were photo instructions without labeled pieces or bags. When I say bags I mean there were probably 12 different bags of pieces and when you started with step 1 you had to open several (4-5) bags to get the necessary pieces. Why not just have all the pieces for step 1 in the same bag?! That would be to simple huh?!


Anyway, we also had to look a lot at the box for pieces/parts that were not listed in the instructions at all. We figured it all out in the end but it did take me 2 1/2 hours to assemble. That was of course with my two boys needing to show me every piece. My advice would be to put it together when the kids are sleeping and it would go much faster!


*****For my boys, ages 2 and 5, this is not an age appropriate toy, however, they love it and play with it supervised on a daily basis. They have acquired many many toys that are not age appropriate. Some have worked out and some have not. If you have kids that still like to put things in their mouth I would recommend against this one. Some of the pieces are really really tiny. The box says for ages 7-12.*****

Pros - compact, interesting, provides hours of play and using imagination
Cons - assembly is lengthy, expensive