2013 Christmas Gift Inspiration

Here we are with less than a week until Christmas, it still gives us some time to purchase those last minute Christmas gifts though. I thought now would be the perfect time to share some ideas that I have been accumulating over the past couple of months. All of which I have first-hand experience with and can offer my own personal experience against.

There are a number of different categories I would like to share my views across so let’s start with toddlers and toys.

For the majority of these selections you will be able to read a full review by clicking on the appropriate links. I hope this helps if you are looking

Toddlers and Dream Toys for Christmas 2013.

Each year there are new toys that compete to become the dream toys for Christmas. This year I have experienced one of the toys that are set to be incredibly popular this Christmas. The Furby Boom. Even I have been enjoying this virtual toy that now has it’s very own app. There are endless possibilities with this toy and I have noticed them on offer at Tesco for £54.99 rather than the RRP of £59.99. 

While on the topic of animatronic toys, the Emotion Sugar the Seal pet has been a big hit around our house. Retailing at £59.99 it is on the more expensive side and does not offer the same levels of play value as the Furby but if you scout around for some offers and maybe read our full review on this toy, you can help Santa decide if this is a yes or a no toy.

The next couple of sets are from Fisher-Price a brand I have always loved since becoming a Mummy. They have some new sets that are going to be incredibly popular this Christmas… Firstly the Thomas and Friends All Around Sodor is a toy for the train enthusiast. It’s electric and puffs around the tracks when the appropriate buttons are pressed. I liked how their were a number of phrases, and that Thomas’s eyes actually move around, and his mouth opens and closes as he talks to you. I found the track to be a great size and even liked the price of £39.99.

The Little People Animal Farm is the second Fisher-Price set, and I knew that this toy was going to be a hit before I had even introduced it to Leo. This play set is perfect for encouraging the imagination and gives so many different play options. It retails at £39.99 which can seem pretty hefty, but it is built to a solid standard and will survive toddler play.

Chocolates and Treats for Christmas 2013

Now we all know that we like to indulge at Christmas, chocolate and a few beverages seem to go hand in hand. Christmas is all about good company and amazing food, so it would be completely obscene to not share some tasty treats in the Christmas 2013 gift selections.

Hampers are always a great way to keep to your budget and bestow a rather great gift on those nearest and dearest to you. Lakeland have a fantastic selection of different hampers to cater for all of those different tastes this Christmas, and we can certainly vouch for their Chocoholics Hamper that retails at £39.99.

Or if you had a smaller budget and wanted to gift some luxury chocolate this year, look no further than Hotel Chocolat and their Christmas Goody Bag that offers a selection of all of their favourite treats for £18.00.

Sent With A Loving Kiss is a brand I hadn't heard of before, but after trying their Santa Baby Chocolate Slab (£21.99) I was really impressed. This chocolate is a great gift thanks to the memorable tin that you can have personalised with a message to the recipient. It will be enjoyed long after all of the tasty chocolate has been devoured. 

Board Games and Family Fun

I love the excuse to get silly at Christmas, pull out the board games and just enjoy everybody’s company. I find that each and every one getting involved in the festive fun brings something new to the table.

Dobble is a fun and exciting game that is going to get my entire family around the table this year, each card has a series of different illustrations on and the trick of the game is to find the matching illustration on the next card. It's not as easy as it sounds though you see... Each picture is in a different size and position on each individual card, so you have to keep your eyes pealed in order to win the card!

Can you  locate the next illustration before your opponents? Or will you be like me and suddenly blinded by all of the other illustrations?

I am exceptionally slow when it comes to looking at each of the Dobble cards, but I intend to improve over the Christmas holidays. There will be lot's of opportunity! Dobble retails for £12.99 and would make a super stocking filler. 

 Not all of this year’s games are based on the traditional board game. This year I have seen a new type of game that is set to be increasingly popular in our digital age. iPieces are board games that you play with your iPad. Yes it is all true. 

Your iPad doubles up as the play mat and you use the pieces in the indivdual packs as your counters or game pieces to play the game. My favourite game is the iPieces Air Hockey, but there are so many different titles now available to play. They are really handy to travel with as they fit in a compact box that doesn't take up much room at all. 

There are titles for both kids and adults alike:

- Peppa Pig

- Fireman Sam

- Colour Slam

The prices vary and start from around £9.00. 

Technology for Christmas

Now I don't usually delve into technology. I use it in my day to day routine and as long as it does as I need it too, then I am a happy lady. When it comes to Christmas though, technology is under every Christmas tree. Since the arrival of the tablet, we have all hopped on the band wagon and there is now a nice selection from different brands which of course provides us with flexibility within the price brackets. 

I was recently sent the Toshiba Excite Pure to try out, now for me I have never actually used an Android operating system first hand. It has a decent sized 10 inch screen and I found it easy to use, but did miss it not having a back camera on occasion.

I found the battery life not to be pretty good, and that was after using it on and off throughout the day. I think the price of £249.99 provides a reasonably priced tablet that will be perfect for social networks, browsing the internet and streaming multimedia.

Disclaimer: I have received the above items for the purpose of this feature, but all views and opinions expressed are completely honest and my own. I have not been compensated for writing this post. These are items I wanted to share.

The Furby Boom Review - A Christmas 2013 Dream Toy

Do you remember the Furby? Back in the 90’s Furby took the world by storm, and it was soon on many children’s Christmas lists. I know it was firmly on mine. I remember it making the news when parents were lining up outside stores at god awful times just to try and get their hands on this coveted Christmas toy for their little ones.

There was a lot of mystery surrounding the Furby back then, and the urban legend that kept cropping up was that if you left your Furby among people, or by the television/radio then they would eventually pick up some English words. You see Furby’s speak Furbish first and foremost.

Furby was all the rage for a long time, but then he went quiet and I thought we had maybe heard the last of him… But boy was I wrong… Last Christmas he was back with new crazy designs and a whole new level of game play. Heck he even had his own App.

But just when I thought he couldn’t come on any further, they release the Furby Boom which has given Furby an even bigger depth of play value that I as a child from the 90’s wouldn’t have even considered back then.

Leo and I have been trying out a new Furby Boom from Argos and it is suffice to say that we have both been enjoying him. I wasn’t sure if Leo would get much out of Furby to start with but as soon as Furby was released from the captivity of his box, Leo loved him. In fact Leo then took him away and decided he couldn’t possibly share him with Mumma.

The Furby Boom marks a whole new generation of Furby… Depending upon how you treat him, you will shape how he turns out. He really does have a mind of his own. The better you treat him, the more English he will pick up. Yup these new 2013 models actually speak some English!

There is a lot of fun to be had with the Furby Boom even without the need to have a smart phone or tablet. You can feed Furby with your finger and he will let you know that he is enjoying it by nibbling and making very enthusiastic noises. Just be careful not to over feed him… You will know when you have as his eyes will start to flash and all of a sudden Furby’s voice completely changes! Instead of a cute little voice, you get a gruff older voice and a Furby who has a lot of wind!

Of course Leo thinks this is absolutely hilarious and spends a lot of his time deliberately over feeding his Furby for this very reason. You can tickle Furby, pull his tail (thus resulting in more wind!), talk to him, cover his eyes, make him dance… The list goes on.

Of course if you do have access to a tablet of some sort you can then unlock a completely new play experience that makes Furby even more animated. The Furby Boom App lets you feed, shower and groom Furby amongst many other things, you can even give him an X-Ray should the need for it arise. As you continue to use the App with Furby it will level you up and reward you with eggs that eventually hatch into Furblings! Yes… baby Furby’s!

The app allows you to keep a check on Furby’s over all needs, you can see if he’s hungry, in need of a shower or bored. Then of course you can combat any of these that need attention by means of the app. To use the app I find it best to put Furby down in front of it so that they can register the other is there. I think this is a nice touch for older kids who are playing, I have dabbled but not really spent a whole lot of time on the app.

In terms of the Furby Boom on his own, I can see so many improvements from the original Furby I once owned. The old eyes have been replaced with lights and computer animated eyes that can give off many different emotions depending on how Furby is feeling. His ears are now a soft plastic as are his feet and the overall quality of this toy is great.

I may have secretly been rather excited to have a play with this toy again, and I am sure many kids from the 90’s who once owned a Furby will be rather excited to see it back for their kids enjoyment.

A few things you may like to know before you DO buy one

You cannot turn Furby off – Nope once those batteries are inserted in Furby, he is alive. Don’t be alarmed though, if you pull Furby’s tail for 10 seconds he will send himself off to sleep.

They can accidently throw themselves off things – Now this is something we have tried hard to remember. Because Furby’s have the ability to dance and wiggle around so to speak… If they don’t go straight to sleep or the television wakes them up… they can  accidently topple off things. It’s always best to leave them somewhere that they can’t do this.

So for Christmas 2013 Furby is back and ready to play bigger, harder and better than ever before. I can certainly see why he is one of this year’s ever popular Dream Toys.

To pick up your very own Furby Boom Argos have a great selection of different and unique designs, some of which are exclusive to Argos. They are currently on offer at £54.99 with a saving of £5.00 to be had from the RRP of £59.99.

The Dream Toys for Christmas 2013 are available to buy at Argos.

Disclaimer: In collaboration with Argos