Summer Fun Gifts Guide 2014

Shopping Guides

Product reviews

Published on Sunday, 29 June 2014 12:10

Last Updated on 18 June 2014

Monica Costa

0 Comments

Summer fun does not need to be expensive. London Mums have put together gifts’ ideas including outdoor and indoor toys, fashion for mums and kids, and other little things that will serve the purpose of entertaining the children during the long school holidays.

FASHION – Summer Fashion for really cool kids

Cool Summer shoes for kids 

Check our article on the coolest kids’ shoes for this Summer.

RockABye-Baby

This new anti-stereotype brand created by mumpreneur Emma Parkes-McQueen has a refreshing attitude and a motto to match – don’t give into mainstream cute. Emma believes kids should be able to dress as individually as they think – scrap those stereotypes; crush those clichés. This bright and funky range of luxury cotton clothes for children up to the age of eight look fantastic, have a rock music theme and are even packed in 10-inch record sleeves. I recently met Emma at House of Fraser’s POP event and absolutely loved the quality of the cotton as well as the rock designs of the clothes.

The history of clothing is an endless read – from a 1918 trade publication stating that pink (the stronger colour) was right for boys and blue (the delicate and dainty option) was the one to dress girls in; to shops publishing charts about which colours were appropriate for which sex; jumping to 1940 when the colours were switched; and then the 1960s seeing a unisex comeback…
This great new brand simply focuses on cool – that’s unisex cool; across the board cool; appealing to all cool. It’s more than a brand. It’s a statement and one that is fun to get behind (and into). With an ethos that makes refreshing sense and a quality that is unrivalled, what’s not to love about this fresh new label!?

 

 

Art stuff for creative play

Smiggle have a very colourful range of pens and creative toys that remind me of the old good 70s stationary with a contemporary look.

www.smiggle.co.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Galt Toys have a creative kits to get kids entertained for hours in educational activities during the Summer Holidays. The Make Your Perfume kit is original and it is a dream set for anyone who is interested in fragrances and fashion. I particularly love this along with the Sewing Case that includes all material to make simple but attractive crafts.

 

Boys would particularly like the Shocking Rocket (£5.99) and the Robo Modelling (£10.99). With the Robo kit kids can make 4 Robo Crew wind-up characters plus a Max the Superdog model with soft, lightweight, air-drying clay. They just need to model the soft clay body around the wind-up mechanism then add the head, arms and features. The good thing about these models is that once they have made the robots they just need to wind up the mechanised bodies and watch the robots move.

With the Shocking Rocket kit kids can make a water-fuelled rocket, learn how to defy gravity and how rockets blast off into space and other shocking rocket facts. This is particularly suited to kids in year 2 and 3 who are learning the basic scientific concepts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ACTIVE TOYS

Playmobil Summer Fun range

The Summer range by Playmobil includes Turbo Hand-Launch Glider (£15.99), Parachutist Greg/Rick (£8.99), Power Rocket (£15.99). All toys come with a Playmobil figure. They are great for active make believe games especially loved by boys who like airplanes, rockets and flying objects. Be careful kids do not launch their aircraft indoor though 🙂 These toys are available to buy from the Playmobil Online Shop – Playmobil.co.uk, Toys R Us, John Lewis and other good toy shops.

 

GIRLY FUN

I have a soft spot for the Locksies, a new range of stylish dolls by Harumika aimed at girls aged five to nine that have a simple ‘style & lock’ design feature, which enables children to change their designs and customise their dolls outfits over and over again without any need for glue or scissors! It is a unique and fun way to learn how be a real fashion designer.  There are four stylish dolls to collect, Elli, Kari, Mikki or Rikki. Each doll comes with three pieces of fabric, two ribbons, hair accessories, a sticker sheet and a pair of shoes – perfect selection to create a catwalk look or a fun and colourful outfit. The extra refill kits are great to complement the basic doll’s equipment and essential for the long Summer holidays.

LOCKSIES DESIGNER DOLL ASSORTMENT – RRP £10.99
LOCKSIES DOLL FASHION REFILL KITS – RRP £4.99

Locksies is available from March in Toys R Us, The Entertainer, Smyths Toys Superstores, Toymaster (selected stores), Argos (online only), Asda (online only), Amazon.co.uk and Littlewoods.co.uk

 

TODDLERS’ FUN

HAPPYHOPPERZ (The space hopper re-designed for the 21st century)

Persuade children from as young as 12 months to get into the great outdoors and expend some energy with the HappyHopperz range of brightly coloured, inflatable animals. The HappyHopperz range take the Space Hoppers of the seventies to a whole new level and are created with ears and horns for children as young as 12 months to grip on to, and feet to steady the bounce. The range offers 16 styles to choose from so there’s an animal in there to suit just about every preference.  Available exclusively from www.hippychick.com

 

 PRACTICAL & USEFUL

 ZAP-IT!

Mozzies and little biting insects… they’re universally unpopular and guaranteed to put a dampener on things when you’re outside, with their dive-bombing and blood-sucking antics. So whether you’re back-packing through South America, honeymooning in Asia, out for a run or just barbecuing in your back garden – make sure you’re armed with Zap-It! Scratching a mosquito bite may bring short-lived relief but it also floods the bitten area with histamine causing swelling, incessant urges to scratch and a risk of damaging the skin’s surface, and therefore infection. Zap-It!  is a small but effective piezo (meaning to squeeze or press) device that generates a harmless and mild (no stronger than a gentle pinch) low electrical impulse created by crystals (this same technology is commonly used in clocks, lighters and guitar pickups) to deliver harmless little ‘zaps’ which stops the itching and urge to scratch in minutes. In a study carried out at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Dr Nigel Hill, the UK’s foremost specialist on biting insects, confirmed the therapeutic benefits of Zap-It! as being twofold: firstly by reducing histamine flow and therefore the itch, and secondly by stimulating the capillaries into flushing out toxins. Zap-It! can be used as and when required by all the family, but not on babies under 2 years of age. Each Zap-It! will relieve up to 1,000 bites – enough for many years of bites or itches! Zap-It! is available in different colours from selected health stores, pharmacies, garden centres, all Asda shops and Superdrug, and retails at £5.95. Zap-It! is also available online from Amazon or www.ecobrands.co.uk