Friday, August 2, 2019

Review: Thomas & Friends™ TrackMaster™ Boat and Sea Set

27 July 2019 - Vern @ 4yo

I cut down on product reviews a lot.
Main reason is that I just don't have the time to blog about it. #stilllotsofbacklogblogposts
But then I was pretty happy when the agency representative of Thomas & Friends™ in Malaysia contacted me to do a review.
Why? Because all 3 kids of mine are big fans of Thomas & Friends™!


FIRST IMPRESSIONS AND PRODUCT

I received the Thomas & Friends™ Trackmaster™ Boat & Sea Set sometime in a big and sturdy brown box.

Upon opening it, the whole box set was inside.
I'm glad they used the brown box to cushion it during delivery so the whole original box was in pristine condition.
 

This is the front and back of how the Thomas & Friends™ Trackmaster™ Boat & Sea Set looks like.
The front has clear images and words of the name of the set.
It also states that it is a motirized action set.

Behind it shows the already assembled set, together with a kid, so parents can roughly gauge the size of the set.
 

The highlight of the set, which is Thomas the Tank Engine and the rolling boat is strapped firmly on the corner of the set so the kid kinda get to have a peek on what it is. 


As my 3+yo Vern was turning 4yo soon on the 14th July, I kept the set hidden and only gave it to him on his birthday as his birthday present. :)
This is him with his 4 birthday presents together with his Thomas & Friends™ Trackmaster™ Boat & Sea Set!



FIXING AND TRYING OUT THE SET

As I mentioned, all my 3 kids are fans of Thomas & Friends™ and so all 3 were also excited to help their brother to fix the set.

I like how everytime we fix a Thomas & Friends™ railway set, my kids get to learn a lot from it.
They would read the instructions together and try to fix it up together.
  

Watch how the big brother Shern let his small brother Vern to help to fix the tracks.




And look at how all three of them were grinning happily when they managed to get it right!


And this is how the whole thing looks like when it is all done.

The star of the set, Thomas the Tank Engine on the Rolling Boat.


WHAT DO WE THINK ABOUT IT?

First let me tell you all what is this set all about.
This Boat and Sea set is a unique concept launched by Fisher-Price based on this new sea theme. 
This set consists of a motorized Thomas the Tank Engine, a Rolling Boat, "Water Tracks" to be used by the boat, and the usual railway tracks and two docks.

What I like is that the Rolling Boat is powered to sail from one dock to the next dock. And like how the original ship sails in the ocean, this Rolling Boat also runs on the to and fro concept. 

During play, my kids experience how Thomas the Tank Engine will move from its railway tracks on land onto the floor of the ship and help the Rolling Boat to power to sail across the oceans to different places.

Look at the short clip on how it works. 
Love how happy Vern was and how in awe he was with it!


After awhile, Shern and Khye who is 10yo and almost 7yo got bored with it. They only got excited while helping to fix the set.
So I guess this set is more suitable for younger kids from probably 3-6+yo.

But Vern on the other hand was fixated with it for quite some time. 
He did not get bored watching the train goes round and round.
I guess he did not get bored because he had a play in it as he needs to transfer the Rolling Boat from one dock to the other.

But me on the other hand prefers to buy my kids non-motorized toys. Because I want them to roll the trains on the tracks themselves to improve their motor skills and to let their imagination runs wild while making up stories as they play.

But maybe because I don't buy them motorized toys, Vern is very fascinated with it and was exclaiming "wahhhh...whoah...as he watches the train goes round the tracks and onto the boat and the water tracks! :)

See how Vern is still playing with all his Thomas & Friends™ sets!
He already has the Thomas & Friends™ Take-n-Play Tidmouth Shet Set, the Take-n-Play Sodor Search and Rescue Centre, the Take-n-Play Rescue From Misty Island Set passed me down from his brothers.
And now he has the TrackMaster™ Boat and Sea Set to add on to his Thomas & Friends™ sets!





TO PURCHASE

Thomas & Friends™ TrackMaster™ Boat and Sea Set can be found in all major malls and Toys 'R' Us nationwide.
For more information, please view www.facebook.com/sea.thomasandfriends 



* Disclosure: I received the Thomas & Friends™ TrackMaster™ Boat and Sea Set mentioned above for review purpose, but no monetary incentive was received. All text and opinions are of my own and represents my honest opinion of the product(s).

Saturday, May 25, 2019

Khye's 6yo SOLAR SYSTEM Birthday Cake

Khye's 6yo SOLAR SYSTEM Birthday Cake - 2 September 2018


I just realized I forgot to blog about Khye's birthday last year! (Ooopss...coz I whisked off to Iceland straight after his birthday was over!)
Khye celebrated his 6yo birthday last September.

So here it is.....the first part of his birthday celebration.
Let's start off with his cake.

He wanted a Solar System-themed party and so I had the planets and the sun cake toppers all printed out.

I ordered Chocolate Indulgence cake from Secret Recipe.
I told them I wanted it plain.


I put on the planet toppers and the yellow sun.
Added the number '6' gold candle.
Added some stars on the sides of the cake.
Simple cake deco.



Then I felt it was a little off as it was missing Khye's name.
So I added in 'Yiu-Khye' on the yellow sun.
Ahhhh....it was much better, much more complete, don't you all think so?


Ta da.....an awesome One-of-a-kind SOLAR SYSTEM Birthday Cake for Khye!




Click below to get inspirations from all the birthday cakes I've decorated for my kids' birthdays!

(Click to view Shern's 1st2nd3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th7th8th & 9th birthday cakes)
(Click to view Khye's 1st2nd3rd4th & 5th birthday cakes)
(Click to view 
Vern's 1st, 2nd & 3rd birthday cake)

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Khye's Reading Journey @ 6yo

Khye @ 6yo @ 23 Jan 2019


Just wanna share how Khye started his reading journey.

Khye loves books since young. But then we would need to read to him which I sometimes couldn’t do it all the time (esp when I’m attending to Vern or doing housework etc).
So I was really happy and glad when he joined his brother Shern and started reading independently at about 5yo last year.

What we do always is to let him choose whatever books he likes to read.
As long as it is not a book using bad language etc we are fine with it.
So Khye started off with comic books.

He started off by reading Dog Man series and Hilo. He loves them as they are funny and silly (my boys love silly stuff!) and that was how he learned to read full books independently.
He read all the books in this Dog Man series.
 


He also loves Usborn’s Lift the Flap books of Questions and Answers about How Things Work and Why and such.
This series i super like and super encourage coz he gets to broaden his general knowledge.



Then he moved on to read the Captain Underpants series.....all about a superhero who wears only an underpants (I told you my 5yo likes silly stories haha). These books are semi-comic books with some pages of comics and some words.
He finished reading all the books in this series.



Then about 1/2 year ago at 5.5yo he started reading the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. He started to resonate with Greg on his struggles to fit into middle school. I’m not sure if he gets all the jokes but well....he laughed when he reads it so i guess so. 😏
And yes, he finished the whole Wimpy Kid series too.



Then at 6yo he started Geronimo Stilton books. Those paper backs thin ones.
There are hundreds of titles in the various series that he is still devouring them one by one even until today.




Recently, he started reading the hard cover Geronimo Stilton’s Kingdom of Fantasy series. These has more words and is about 300+ pages per book.
It takes him only 2-3 days to finish one book (after school until dinner time 😅)


He also reads random books on topics he likes....like book about Space or about Minecraft 😌
 


Or these Time for Kids X Why Z series which we got from Big Bad Wolf. He loves them. Not too many words and easy to read.




Shern on the other hand finished reading all of these books and is reading other books as well. He reads even more than Khye.

I’m really glad my kids love reading.
It really helps when they get to choose what they want to read.
What we can do is to buy/borrow books for them so the books are easily accessible to them.

What we do at home is no screentime on weekdays/school days.
They can do whatever they like after on schooldays after finishing their homework, as long as no screentime (which means no tv, computer or phone).

They can play with their toys or boardgames or draw/paint or even just laze around.
But more often they choose to read (when screentime is not allowed).
And once they started reading, they are very engrossed into their book....lost in their own little adventure.

It’s a good hobby and one I enjoyed most when I was a little girl. So I am glad I am passing this hobby of mine to my kids.
May they also love reading as much as I do even to adulthood!


P/s - This post is not to boast or anything.
But I hope this post can help some of you there to choose books for your little ones to encourage them to read (that is if your little ones love silly stories like Captain Underpants like my 2 boys 😬😌)


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