Magic Maths from Orchard Toys

We’ve been fans of Orchard Toys since Kieran was little. Kieran is coming up to eleven years old now and so while he’s outgrown the game a little he’s always happy to oblige his little brother when a new one arrives! His place as an official tester was temporarily taken over by Taylor’s friend B who was here for a play date on the day we received our review copy of the new math game Magic Maths.

B and Taylor are both in Year 1 of primary school (6yrs) and while initially their enthusiasm towards “Let’s play a maths game” wasn’t quite as energic as when I suggested pretending to be ninja unicorns they soon got caught up in it! In total, we played the game four times over two different sessions as they both asked if we could get it out to play with again. 

A sort of bingo-type game which involves solving sums, both loved showing off their math prowess, racing to work out harder sums with or without the aid of fingers (and toes)! I’m a keen advocate for learning through play and a game such as this which encourages children to work on their mental maths while enjoying time together, taking turns, sharing, congratulating each other and more is always going to get the thumbs up from me.

See more about the game and buy from the Orchard Toys website where you will find a wealth of other fun games geared towards learning and development. Perfect for KS1 age and for gift giving, we’re giving Magic Maths a solid 5/5* rating.

Perfect for KS1 age and for gift giving, we’re giving Magic Maths a solid 5/5* rating.

 

*I am an Orchard Toys Ambassador. What this means is that we are occasionally sent new games or jigsaws to test out and review. One of the rules of being an ambassador is that all reviews must be true and honest descriptions based on our own experiences and Orchard Toys have no editorial control over what we write. You may be sure that all review on Curly and Candid are based on our own experiences only. 

 

Orchard Toys Sticker Activity & ABC Books

OTActivityAnyone who knows us knows that we are HUGE Orchard Toys fans. We have a cupboard full of their jigsaws and games and as we enjoy a family game night every Saturday they are out at least once a week.

As part of the Orchard Toys blogging team we are lucking enough to have the opportunity to review new releases and this time around their new activity sticker books caught my eye.

These are especially pefect for Taylor who is 5yrs old and in Reception at school. He’s a keen learner and enjoys practicing his handwriting, numbers and more at home (especially when his big brother has homework to do as he likes to sit at the table with him and do some of his own).

The yellow fronted sticker ABC sticker colouring book speaks for itself. It offers the opportunity to practice letter formation, colour in and use stickers. What else could a five year old boy possibly want or need?

The red  Things to Do activity book especially has been a big hit. Taylor is very much into puzzles, games, spot the differences and more (he’s also a bit of a Where’s Wally champ too as it happens!) so this book has been, and continues to be enormous fun for him. We particularly like the fact that once you’ve finished a page that you could add a star to show you’d finished and done everything correctly. Taylor’s age group particulalry often enjoy stickers and “rewards” all the more.

Top Tip: Use pencil! We’ve now completed all of the writing pages in the ABC book and all of the puzzles in th activity book. Using a decent eraser means that the books are now as good as new and may be used again and again and again!

While there are stickers to uses throughout they add to the experience yet don’t overshadow the all-important pencil to paper activities which of course are aimed towards practicing literacy, numeracy, handwriting and more.

One of the reasons we keep coming back to Orchard Toys is that everything we’ve ever bought, been given or reviewed has been of the highest quality, has lasted ages, been great fun and has also been packed with educational benefits. These books are no different, are perfect for home, gifting and travel and at £3.99 each are incredible value. See these and the other recent new releases here.