Little Tikes Eco 'Go Green' Playhouse review

If you are anything like me, then you dream of being able to open the back door on a summer morning and let the children run around until they get hungry / thirsty / tired.  I want to drink a cup of tea with my feet up whilst they run around wearing themselves out, exercising their imaginations and making the most of whatever outdoor space we have available.

Realistically with four under six this may stay a dream, but the children were sent the Little Tikes Eco Playhouse and it has certainly allowed me more time to sit and drink tea than before.  The playhouse is everything you would expect from a Little Tikes garden toy - strong, well built, easy to assemble and colourful, as well as having some interesting features to help children learn as they play.

It took two men around an hour to build after coming flatpacked in a huge box but was easy enough with just a little drilling.

The boys are no strangers to recycling and love collecting their rubbish for Grandma who takes part in several recycling schemes beyond the standard blue and red bins.  The house has two recycling bins that can be removed and emptied and they have naturally sorted their rubbish as they play.

You may have noticed what looks like a solar panel on the roof - it actually is a solar panel, powering a light inside the house! There is also a gutter along one side that feeds down to make a working tap inside.  

The brown area to the right is for growing flowers in, although we haven't yet started on this project.  The area is quite shallow so our plans to grow tomatoes were thwarted but we will be giving flowers a go very soon.

I love the eco side of this playhouse, it is refreshing alongside all their battery operated toys and technology.  The simplicity of a playhouse allows them so much freedom and they have used it in so many ways for so many purposes.

I am hoping that the magic lasts all summer and I know that this is a house that will last our family for years as the younger two grow into it even more.  It is an investment that will hopefully yield ours of tea drinking with my feet up on a chair enjoying some sunshine. 

Thank you to Little Tikes for sending us this wonderful house, it has had many hours of play and I think we will have many hours more.  All thoughts and opinions are completely my own.

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Little Tikes Playmat review

Cora has quite a few toys - the wonders of being a fourth baby, but her absolute favourite so far is her Little Tikes playmat.  She loves lying on her back batting and chewing the toys that dangle from it and staring at the toucan on the top.

We started her on the playmat at only a few weeks old and whilst she couldn't reach the toys, she was fascinated with the bird.  There is a switch on the back that makes it move over the arch and it was brilliant watching her tracking it.  The mat seems to be growing with her as she develops and the bar moves down to make it the perfect height for tummy time too.  As she gets a bit stronger, we will sit her up so that she can play with the toys that way too.

The mat comes with a selection of toys including a mirror - but that is rarely hanging on the bar as her youngest big brother has taken quite a fancy to it and comes and removes it for her.  All the toys can be taken off and rearranged and you can add anything else too.

One feature that we haven't used much is the vibrating bar.  Under the mat there is a bar that can vibrate to calm the baby and it is operated by a simple switch.  Cora wasn't overly bothered or comforted by it, but I know some babies really respond well to this.

This is a really great mat and I would completely recommend it.  Cora will happily play for ages lying there and the boys love rearranging the toys for her (and pinching them).  It grows well with her and comes with a booster pillow for when baby starts off doing tummy time too. We love that Little Tikes now have a baby range as it is the same quality we know and expect from the brand. 

As well as playmats, Little Tikes have a whole range of baby products from simple rattles to activity gyms for children of all ages.

Disclaimer : Collaborative post

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Team Honk Dover

Later this week, you will find myself, the boys and some other bloggers and parents doing one section of the Team Honk relay from Lands End to John O'Groats.  Bloggers are pulling together to raise money for Sports Relief and I am part of a small team organising the Dover to Gravesend leg.

Not ones to make it easy for ourselves, we shall be picking up the baton from Dover castle and bringing it down to the Thanet coast for a Toddle along the seafront from Ramsgate round to Broadstairs, before driving it onto Gravesend to pass to Mari for her bike ride.

Sally from FadedSeasideMama and I have been planning and eating cake (well mostly eating cake) for a few weeks and are looking forward to the challenge of getting a group of toddlers around the coast and the folks at Little Tikes have kindly sent us some Cozy Coupes to make the journey a bit more exciting!

We are still relying on as much support as possible though so if you want to join us on the toddle, if you are a company wanting to help out or if you have a few spare pennies to sponsor us then please do!  Our fundraising page is HERE and we would appreciate any help in getting to our target and making a difference in so many people's lives.



The first ever Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Games take place from Friday 21st to Sunday 23rd March 2014. The public can join the fun and games by running, swimming or cycling their way to raising cash at over a thousand venues around the country, including the landmark events at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

As one of the biggest fundraising events, Sport Relief brings the entire nation together to get active raise cash and change lives. The money raised by the public is spent by Comic Relief to help transform the lives of some of the poorest and most disadvantaged people both at home in the UK and across the world.

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Little Tikes Playdate

At the end of November the boys and I were invited along to a playdate hosted by Little Tikes.  It was a chance to get together with other blogger friends, let the little ones play with some lovely new toys, and have a chat about the different stages of playing, learning anf interacting.

My boys obviously play very differently.  Dylan is all about the imagination and loves cooking in his little kitchen and serving me pretend coffee and cake throughout the day.  Archie on the other hand prefers to chew his toys, and press buttons of course! The Little Tikes range has different toys for the four distinct personalities; little learners, little movers, little builders and explorers and little grown ups. 

It was lovely to be able to sit back and just watch them and with such lovely toys on offer we were able to do just that.  In fact, the boys barely wanted to stop for lunch, they were having so much fun playing!  There were toys set up for each group and something for everyone.

The most popular toy with both the boys was the pirate water table and we ended up with some very wet trousers and dungarees once they had finished splashing!  It offered opportunities for everyone, from exploring different textures for the littlest ones, to washing up boats for those little grown ups.

It was interesting to see that stereotypes make no difference to how the children play either, with Dylan heading straight for the princess cozy coupe as soon as we arrived.

We had a lovely time at the playdate catching up with other bloggers and their children and the day was made even better when Father Christmas turned up to give the children some lovely gifts!

Disclaimer:  We were invited along to this play date by the folks at Little Tikes who paid for our travel and sent us home with some lovely goodies,  All thoughts and opinions are completely my own though and the children were utterly enraptured by the colourful toys.

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