AD/Gifted. In 2001 Sir David Attenborough brought us the Blue Planet series. 16 years later in 2017 Blue Planet II hit our screens and it has been credited with highlighting the serious problem of plastics in our oceans and the environmental impact we humans are causing. Blue Planet II was essential viewing for our family, it’s a series which young and old can learn so much from.

After watching and loving Blue Planet II, we made a point of visiting lots of aquariums to find out more about aquatic life. My 8 year old is really quite knowledgeable about marine life, and a lot of that is due to the work of Sir David Attenborough and his Blue Planet team.

This month sees the launch of the BBC Earth Plush range from Posh Paws. This is a collection of Blue Planet II and Planet Earth II plush toys. They have been made with premium plush fabrics and they are spectacularly detailed. They’re really soft and huggable and we adore them!

The range of BBC Earth plushes includes:

• 7″ Elephant, Panda, Tiger, Polar Bear, Penguin and Sea Turtle
• 10″ Blue Planet II characters – Polar Bear, Sea Otter, Shark, Sea Turtle, Octopus and Penguin
• 10″ Planet Earth II characters – Tiger, Elephant, Lion, Sloth, Panda and Grizzly Bear

We were sent the Blue Planet II Sea Turtle, Octopus and Penguin to give a home to. The 10″ plush toys are £16.99 each and are so lovely.

First things first, lets take a look at the packaging. As you can imagine, plastic is kept to a minimum. The toys are mounted on a recyclable cardboard base. It’s impressive that the packaging is almost all recyclable and very in keeping with the ethos of the BBC Earth brand.

There’s also a “Love me for life” tag, reminding people that these aren’t throwaway toys, they’re for life and if you no longer want them you can pass them on to someone who will love them again.

The plushes themselves are suitable from birth, very soft, squishy and cuddly. Each has the BBC Earth logo sewn onto them, a badge of authenticity if you will. Each creature has its own tag with interesting information about that animal. There’s also a QR code you can scan to be shown clips from Blue Planet II or Planet Earth II.

My favourite (because I do love an octopus) is the octopus. It’s got 8 legs which are slightly springy. They’ve been sewn in such a way that you can stretch them out and they spring back. The detail is terrific, the shell on the sea turtle, whilst soft, has a really detailed shell pattern, the eyes and facial features are really lifelike too. The penguin is adorable, he was my son’s favourite. He cuddled him all night and he likes everything about him.

I think these BBC Earth plushes are fantastic. It’s really nice to see such good quality, true to life soft toys. They would make a great gift for an animal lover, young or old and scanning the QR code is such a good way of learning more about the cuddly creature in your care.

The BBC Earth Blue Planet Plush Toys are available from Waterstones and other retailers.