Lip Balm Lab - National Science Week

National Science and Engineering Week was 15th-24th March this year and it was a great way to inspire the children (and adults) of today to have a career in these areas -  both of which are very important to our economy. We didn't get to attend any events in relation to this unfortunately but we have however had fun with Interplay's Wild Science Lip Balm Lab at home instead!

This kit is ideal for tweens and Minxy thoroughly enjoyed creating her own make-up products. She got a real sense of achievement and discovered how exciting experiments can really be. She is very much into science already but for those that aren't keen this may encourage them to give it a go.

Contents

Soy Ester

Baby Oil

Vegetable Wax Beads

Fine Shimmer

Strawberry Flavouring

Oil Based Red Colouring

Lip Balm Storage Jar

Spoons

Stick

Beakers

Gloves

Microwave Heating Tray

Sample Tray

Colour Instructions

Interplay myStyle Craft - Shamballa Fire Jewellery

Interplay myStyle Craft kits are aimed at children aged 8+ and they are ideal for those who have an interest in creativity and fashion - just like Minxy.

We received the Shamballa Fire Jewellery set to review and it was really enjoyable designing and making bracelets, earrings and necklaces.

The set includes everything required to make 5 pieces of jewellery. The beads supplied come in a variety of colours and Minxy really loved how some were glittery and her favourite shades of pink.

• 2 Silver shamballa beads
• 6 Shamballa beads
• 20 Imitation glass pearls
• Plastic coated jewellery wire
• 8m of black cord
• Jump rings
• Clasp
• Clamshell clasps
• Ear hooks
• Safety pin
• Colour instruction booklet

The instructions supplied are well detailed with lots of imagery to guide you through the entire process. Minxy found the macramé knotting a bit difficult at first but soon got the hang of it with a little support.

She was really eager to make gifts for her friends and family and a few pieces for herself. The plastic container was great for storage of the items she had made and for those she was still creating.

All of the kits content was really good quality and the beads were heavy rather than hollow. I was impressed with the set and as the items take some time to make it will keep tweens to teens well entertained.

You can watch the advert here:

The Shamballa Fire Jewellery Set costs £12.99 which is good value, especially considering how much this style of jewellery currently retails at.

You can purchase your own set here:

*We received the Shamballa set for the purpose of this review. The opinions given are honest and our own*

Pirate Treasure Party

Think of treasure chests filled with gold coins, pretty beaded jewellery in gem covered trinkets and eye patches galore; that pretty much sums up an amazing craft afternoon we had recently. 

We hosted a Pirate and Treasure themed party using several craft kits from Interplay and we had a thoroughly enjoyable time - I've never known the children to concentrate so hard yet have so much fun being creative!

The craft boxes were superb as they contained everything you need to entertain 6 children, even down to the paint and brushes. The materials were good quality and the instructions were easy to follow, it literally is a party in a box and has definitely taken away the fear of throwing a party at home!

I sorted all of the contents out and separated them into different piles to make it easy for the children to begin. There were even some great game ideas included within the box for added fun!

To get into the spirit the Mini Mes dressed up as did all of our little guests...

We got stuck straight in decorating and constructing our hats, money boxes and more and the results were quite impressive. The guests ranged from 2 to 9 years of age and everyone seemed to have a lovely time and have something nice to head home with....

  

We also made some themed food...

These pirate ship pizzas are simply baguettes cut in half then cut lengthways, covered in tomato puree and cheese. They were baked until golden brown and then sails (wooden skewers with paper flags) were adored to transform them into boats.

The fun didn't stop there as once the guest left we made a pirate fishing game.

We made rods with wooden skewers, ribbon and magnets and then creates our fish from card adding a paper clip to each so that the magnet would pick then up. The Mini Mes took it in turns to see how many fish they could collect in 30 seconds while say in tan empty bath wearing their costumes.

A simple yet cheap and entertaining activity!

You can purchase your own Interplay craft kits here:

Interplay pirates

#HaveaCraftParty Twitter Party

 

I do love a good party and earlier this week we received a huge delivery to host our own!

 

The box contained:

 

 

6 Craft sets (4 as prizes and 2 to use during the party)

Invites

Stickers

Party plates, cups and balloons

Cakes, icing and cake toppers

Sweets and party bags

Recipe ideas

 

 

The invites have been given out and while I will have friends and their little ones over for a pirate and treasure themed craft party at my home, you can join in too on Twitter for the chance to win some prizes...

 

 

 

Don't forget to follow  @UKMumsTV, @Interplayukltd and @TheMiniMesandMe on Twitter (there are also other bloggers that will be hosting parties too).

I'm quite looking forward to entertaining guests and tweeting about the fun we are having, I've been involved with Twitter parties before but never been a host in this way. Hopefully my multitasking skills will come in handy!

For more information about the Twitter party and for your chance to win some craft goodies:

http://www.evolutioncomps.co.uk/craftparty

I hope to tweet you there!

 

 

 

Perfume Laboratory *Review*

I'm forever finding my perfumes and body sprays in Minxy's room so I was more than pleased when she received the Interplay Perfume Laboratory from the Wild Science range to review!

The kit provided her with everything that she needed to make some lovely scents, sublime slime and crystal pourri. With a colour booklet of instructions included it made it very easy for her to complete by herself (under my watchful eye).

The kit is suitable for children over 8 years of age and contains:

5 empty vials

2 stirring sticks

4 storage pouches

4 base perfume samples

Mixing jar with lid

Sodium Polyacrylate Crystals,

Graduated syringe

Mini measuring cup

Dish

5ml liquid colouring

Cotton wool balls

Tweezers

'Sublime Slime' powder

Sticky labels

Spoon

Each item has it's own place within the box keeping it tidy and organised.

Making the perfume

Minxy used the tweezers which are chunky and easy to hold to select a perfume sample before inserting it into the syringe. She used the measuring cup to gather 20ml of warm water, 5ml of which she sucked into the syringe, and then gave it a shake to combine the two. She squirted the perfume she had created into a vial and added a label. I think her pen pal may be receiving one soon! 

It is very simple to do and with rose, mint, eucalyptus and Jasmine samples there is a nice variety of scents to make. You can then use the perfumes to make the slime and pourri which are also quick and easy to do.

There are details on how to patch test to check for allergies although all the ingredients are very low allergen.

The set supports UK Science curricula including scientific enquiry, investigation skills, grouping and classifying materials and changing materials so it's educational yet fun too. It is a great set for a budding scientist and nice to have your own little perfumery at home with very little time or effort required to get results. Minxy really enjoyed using it.

You can purchase your own set from Amazon.

*We received the Perfume Laboratory for the purpose of this review. The opinions given are honest and our own*