I remember when Thomas & Friends used to be Thomas The Tank Engine and my Nan would tell you that it was my favourite programme to watch on TV when I was a little girl. The scene that always sticks with me is in the opening scene where Thomas goes under the bridge and there’s a boy standing on the bridge next to his bike watching him go through. It’s safe to say that Thomas is still a big hit all these years on and we’ve had our fair share of Thomas & Friends episodes recorded as well as various toys.
As the two older boys outgrew it, it was replaced with various other programmes but Milo is now getting to the stage where he’s finding his interests and his personality is really shining through – and I think he does quite like our friend Thomas. Trends UK recently sent us a couple of Thomas & Friends themed toys and I was keen to see if Milo would take a liking to them.
First of all let me say that the two older boys have been trying to play with these themselves non-stop – clearly you never really outgrow anything.
Smart Tablet
This cute, colourful and fully interactive kids’ tablet has 6 activities for little ones to do. Starting at the top if you press the buttons you’ll hear the name of the destination, and if you press the same button again you’ll get more information.
The second row is the numbers 1-5, incredibly basic but perfect for pre-school learners who are probably just getting into the swing of counting. If you press the number twice, it’ll also tell you the name of the shape. A little 2-in-1 right there.
The third row is the word ‘train’, all in lower case, and you press once for the phonetic pronunciation and again for the name of the letter. Toby and Teddy particularly enjoyed helping Milo with this one since Toby is almost a pro at the alphabet and Ted’s just beginning to learn the letters in reception.
The fourth row is simply five of the characters from Thomas & Friends and when you press on them you’ll hear their names. If you press a second time you’ll hear more information about the character.
The fifth row is five trains, all in different colours. To find out the colour, just press the train. Easy!
The sixth row runs vertically down the right hand side of the tablet. When you press these buttons at the end of each row you’ll get to test your knowledge of that particular section. This bit is probably a little young for Milo yet but it’s a good option to have for older children.
Lastly, there’s a Thomas image in the bottom left hand corner which, when you press it, will ask a question. You choose the answer using the rest of the smart tablet features and if you’re right, he’ll tell you. If you’re not, you’ll get the chance to choose again!
This is particularly good for those who are probably in nursery and even though Milo is only just 1 he does seem to have a bit of fun just pressing the buttons and hearing a voice. It helps that the older boys want to get involved too and they’ll often just play along with it themselves as Milo can lose interest in it quite quickly. They particularly enjoy the quiz!
I would say that it’s very light so probably wouldn’t withstand being thrown around an awful lot and the ‘screen’ is a little crinkly and flimsy feeling, but that’s the only negative I could find about it to be honest. It’d be great to pop in your bag for a little distraction or if you’re travelling in the car.
It’s perfectly reasonable in price at £17.99 from Amazon (price correct at time of posting) and it’s great to encourage numbers, sequences and colours amongst other things. I like that if you watch Thomas & Friends on television there’s that recognition between what’s on TV and what’s in front of them.
Thomas & Friends Flip & Learn Phone
What is it about phones that babies are obsessed with? The bright colours? The camera? It can’t be the buttons since everything is more or less touch screen these days. Whatever it is, if you need 5 minutes of peace you can guarantee you’ll get it by handing this little toy over.
Milo’s eyes lit up when we gave him his own phone. He’s often after mine and gets a bit cross if I take it away. The Thomas & Friends Flip & Learn Phone is a flip phone, something that’s a novelty in itself and it’s chunky yet perfect for smaller hands.
It has a huge, stand out logo on the front which makes it easily recognisable amongst the mass of toys on the floor. Once you flip it open the back screen lights up, which is pretty cool, and you’re met with a block of vibrant, multi-coloured number buttons which are perfect for number and colour recognition, as well as a few others that include one for the camera and one for a quiz.
There are responses from Thomas, or his Sodor friends when “talking” on the phone which helps to encourage listening (hey, we can dream, right?). There are games if you use the quiz button and Teddy’s favourite, when Milo isn’t playing with it, is to take a picture with it – even though it doesn’t really take a picture.
When you close the phone, it pretends to ring twice and if left it will play a little Thomas & Friends ditty and say “goodbye” to let you know it’s turned itself off.
One thing I would say is that perhaps this is for slightly older children as they do need to be able to understand the quiz questions. However, it’s nice for them just to have a ‘bash’ at it sometimes. The backlit screen, even though pretty cool as I said above, isn’t that bright but then it’s an easy, stocking filler type toy and I don’t think you can expect a full on beam of light for the price. Similar to the tablet, it’s great to throw in the changing bag for a little distraction if they need it and it’s light enough to pretty much take anywhere. It’s currently a modest £10.99 in John Lewis.
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*These products were sent to me in return for a review. All views and opinions are my own.