apps Archives - HodgePodgeDays

A brand new range of toys from the makers of the popular kids app – Animal Jam has recently been launched, you might have seen the adverts for Animal Jam on TV already. If you’ve not heard of Animal Jam yet, then be prepared to know everything about it by Christmas!

Animal Jam is the number one online social game for kids and it was created in association with National Geographic. The app is free to play and has over 45 million registered users around the world – three million of them  in the UK.

Created in partnership with National Geographic, Animal Jam combines role playing and anthropology to make an exciting educational game for kids. Players can collect fun facts in their journey books, learn about animal conservation and talk to real scientists.

Animal Jam

These toys will be instantly recognisable for fans of the app. Animal Jam has been brought to life with this brand new collection of toys. They are collectable and all come with exclusive codes to unlock  content and other special  features  inside the online game.

We were sent a selection of the collectable toys to try out, here’s a little run down of what we tried and what we liked…

The Animal Jam Adopt a Pet (Series 1)

These are little pets which come with their own kennel (or dens as they are known in Animal Jam). Each kennel is home to a collectable pet and two accessories. You can customize your pet with accessories and stack the kennels to display your pets. There are 96 of these to collect and they cost just £2.49 which makes it a great pocket money treat. The boy really loved his kennel and out of everything he enjoyed playing with this tiny toy the most. A hit!

Animal Jam

ANIMAL JAM – Friends with Pet

The Friends with Pet costs £4.99, you get a 3 inch figure, a 1 inch friend and three interchangeable accessories. I think this is a great value set, it looks like it should cost more than it does and it would make a great party present for a little Animal Jam fan. We got the Posh Raccoon and Pet Kitty and they are very sweet.

ANIMAL JAM – Light Up Friends with Ring

Another great party present is the Light Up Friends with Ring. These are collectable 3” animal figures and have secret patterns, two interchangeable accessories and a light-up ring. These sets cost £7.99, we were sent the Lucky Lynx and the real hit for the small boy was the light up ring.

ANIMAL JAM Plush characters

These cute plushes cost £7.99 and are 7 inches tall. There are several plush characters to choose from – Panda, Koala, Bunny & Monkey. We were sent the purple Koala and he is  super-soft and very huggable.

Animal Jam

Since we received these toys the small boy has suddenly seen Animal jam everywhere, we’ve downloaded the app and used the codes which came with the toys to unlock parts of the app. It’s fair to say that this had opened up a new line of interest for him, which is great.

The app is free and the accompanying toys are nicely priced, not too expensive and great for either pocket money (or stocking filler) treats, as well as being good options for birthday party presents for classmates etc. They are suitable for ages 5+ and would be a great little gift for any Animal Jam fan this Christmas.

We were sent these toys for review purposes. All images and opinions are our own.

Since we discovered Toot the Tiny Tugboat on Channel 5, the small boy has embraced life on the ocean wave and now wants to forge a career as a harbour master, or similar. It was with some joy that I was given the chance to try out the Toot the Tiny Tugboat app. I’m always on the look out for apps and games which my four year old will enjoy playing, especially ones with a hint of learning about them, so I was keen to see if the Toot the Tiny Tugboat app would fit the bill.

The Toot the Tiny Tugboat app is aimed at pre-school age children, so it perfect for my four year old. It is designed to help little ones improve their sea-faring skills as they help guide Toot around the harbour to meet his friends, play some fun games and collect some rewards along the way.

Toot the Tiny Tugboat app

The app is lovely and colourful, with simple but striking graphics. Players can explore Toot’s Harbour using the easy controls. There is music (with options to mute if it all gets too much for you) from the series as well as seaside sound effects such as the sound of seagulls and waves crashing and lapping against the harbour walls.

The app has a few games to play with, you can explore the harbour, play I Spy (our favourite) where you use some special binoculars to spot characters from the show who are dotted all over the harbour and there’s a towing game where you can help tow the boats in and around the harbour using the control buttons. This game is a bit more difficult than the I Spy game but enjoyable once you get the hang of it.

Toot the Tiny Tugboat app

I really liked the I Spy game the best, which is just as well because we played it over and over. It changes every time and it’s a good way to explore the harbour and learn more about the characters. The towing game took a little more to get the hang of, testing our understanding of left a bit, right a bit and following the green line an and out of the harbour.

It’s a lovely, simple app. Currently priced at £2.99 it has no in-app purchases, which is something I always look for because we’ve all heard those horror stories. It’s available from the Apple store. It’s a sweet app which he had played with each day and is great for keeping little ones entertained for a few minutes when you need them to sit still for a short while. Our love affair with Toot the Tiny Tugboat continues!

For more information about Toot the Tiny Tugboat, visit the Toot website.

Note: We were given the app free of charge fore review purposes, all opinions and app screenshots are my own.