The Perfect Game

My boys and their dad love nothing more than to spend time together playing games, be it on the xbox or the computers, over the years they have spent much enjoyable father and son time bonding over building castles and house, creating roller coasters and train tracks, exploring mystical worlds and absorbing history - they have even been farmers - (yes there really is a farm simulation game) I love the fact that technology has advanced so much over the years and games now really are works of arts and capture everyones imagination, and I do allow my boys (all three of them!) to spend probably too long joining forces building cities and completing missions in the latest games.

We mainly have PC's for our gaming, but we also have an Xbox, and when we heard about the new Wii U I was intrigued to see what improvements could be made to a traditional gaming systems, the Wii U really does look amazing, its innovative controller really will change the way you can get involved with games, and it will most definitely be something my boys will be eager to try out. 

So when I was told about a fantastic competition to Win a Wii U, I knew it would be something I couldn't let slip by, the competition being run by GAME, is to describe your idea of a #PerfectGAME and so I will now pass my blog over to my other half as he describes a game he is sure would be a hit combining all the favourite games he and our sons have enjoyed over the past few years.

 So this is our entry to the Perfect GAME competition for the chance to win a Wii U from GAME


The pictures are for illustration purposes only and not pictures from the actual game. (I am not a game developer just trying to express my vision) These are to help get a better picture of the concept.


------------------------------- My Perfect Game---------------------------

Hi there, you, like me, might have been wondering for a long time. What time of game could possibly be made that hasn't already been done in some form or another which is totally new. I mean we have third person adventure games (Lara croft style), overhead strategy games( age of empires style), sports games (Fifa/athletics style) and the big old first person shooter (no need for examples there). The thing is people have tried to create something new from these platforms or tried to make a new platform like cooking mama to get over the limits or these standard platforms. Interactive games, where you can scribe on a tablet or move things around, but in truth, there still, although different, boring.

What I have devised as a Perfect game. You will have to try to imagine the detail that I wish to portray and not just overlook it hopefully as just another game.

Firstly I do prefer medieval type games. Saying that please don't immediately switch off and believe I’m some kind of World of Warcraft nerd that is asking for yet another role-playing game. It is far better than that from my point of view as it is creative like the Sims, Minecraft etc. This concept combines many variations of game styles from many years of playing games and wishing they could make one "Perfect game" which is how I realised it.

“A game where you shape the future and make the choices what to do”

I have compiled a recipe for the perfect game and it is as follows:

Firstly looking at

Minecraft and how that has done in the gaming world we can see that customisation is an important thing to have in any game. These games which allow free placement of objects and true customisation for your characters do exceptionally well. Similar games like the Sims which are creative also keep there selling price high due to this and re-playability.

Secondly and this is where the medieval part comes in. 

 

Stronghold

The game seen here is a medieval world where you start with a Stronghold building for you, the lord to start from. This is where you live, your home. You can then attract villages to your settlement via offering food as an incentive or low taxes plus other means. You place the relevant buildings and the happy peasants will take on the roles for those said buildings/workstations if there is enough peasants available to fill the roles.

As seen here in this illustration the peasants are working away for the lord.

The free placement of buildings and resource gathering equipment like sawmills is another good point to this game.

The fact that you place walls anywhere within reason you like and decide a place for towers of various styles with a variety of gatehouses is a exceptional idea.

This way you can create what you feel is your choice of layout to better serve as defence. You can freely move characters around your newly created world and command them to run atop walls and keep lookout etc.

Thirdly this is another great but limited game for what we need but still has its part in the Perfect games world and it is called

Mount and Blade. In this game you move around a overhead map clicking where you want to go until you meet a village, town or castle. This is the part which we are using for the Perfect game, we are not interested in overhead map figures or little icons for characters. We will require this style to the right for our Perfect game.

Mount and blade has a great way of bringing you close up in battle and making you feel like you are truly involved. The graphics are great and very much in the line of thought we are needing for our Perfect game.

There is castles as I mentioned in this game but unlike Stronghold, they are like practically every game, pre-made and fixed buildings (yawn boring). As seen here

Plus remember with this game, all navigating around is done with a tiny character to resemble you, So between battles the game seems very uninteresting and it doesn’t get any better until you reach another landmark. (as I said pretty much like every game pre-made fixed “same old” buildings)

Forth in our recipe for the Perfect game is

Battlezone II

See, I haven't only played medieval games all my life and wished to be a lord of the manner, I've just played so many games and concluded that the missing link is a perfect game which combines many concepts.

Anyway back to the point! What is the idea here to include battle-zone 2 into the mix? Well it has a great user interface for placing buildings and objects from first person view. Based on the fact the game is a first person shooter crossed with a simulator style flight. It is needed in part of the recipe.

See here the great interface to allow unique placement of your buildings/structures.

Take this modular idea for placing pre-made buildings or building parts and you might start to see what I’m getting round to.

OK how to put together the Perfect game from the ingredients above

OK where the concept comes from is above, but we need to imagine the Perfect game by mixing all these ideas together to create the game.

You start out with your custom made male/female character with your Stronghold main building, but it's first person and not an overhead strategy at all. Like this

(of course this a real photo but you get the idea)

You now want to place hovels to give your peasants somewhere to live. This would be done by moving in first person to the location and using the battle-zone 2 interface style or similar to place the building of choice to that location. Now feel free to have a look around and check out the inside and around the building to see if you are happy with it. To make it easier to program the buildings can be defined variations. it's the placement and orientation that is the key here.

Now we need the resources to allow for the production of bows, arrows, buildings etc. So we need to place some sawmills or woodcutters stations in the same way.

In the past it would be like this overhead and not really interactive.

Now more like this where you place it near trees then enter it at ground level and watch the peasants work around you

If all the buildings for example falconers, bakers, blacksmiths, archery ranges, pole-turners, apple farms, crops and the list goes on, were placed and interactive where you could go and physically help the peasants to speed up the process on each building wow many games in itself.

Stables yes every lord and knight needs a horse.

 You can enter the stables like any other building but with this example you can name and customise your horse. Maybe give it an armour upgrade.

Why not take to the saddle and go for ride around your village/town and see how everyone’s getting on.

Or visit the Archery range where you train up archers. If you feel like it try competing against others online or other lords in game to get the highest score.

Of course if baking bread, Fletcher, fishing or archery isn't your thing you could always go over to see how bobs doing at the stocks.

I mean there might be some flogging needed and if your that way in mind you might want to go help out the torturers with there tasks.

Hand over the cane you haven’t got the technique right I say.

The photo to the right would be my point of view looking from 1^st person down to the area from a window for example. I insist that it is not a point and click type you live at ground level in the world.

Anyway enough!

We want to hear about how to defend this beautiful village you've just got set up and running. Yes building some damn walls before somebody pillages us. (pretty much as would have happened in real life).

Now like I said before Stronghold has this concept to build your own walls to keep out enemies or animals but not in first person like this.

Imagine looking upon your soldiers at ground level and joining in to aid them. We are not god we don’t want to look over the world we want to be part of it. I am a great believer in and my motto is “I want to live the game, not play it”.

I put this wall here, and no online multi-player enemy lord is coming into my town without a fight. I mean I only just finished getting the peasants happy making our food and supplies and already someone’s here, trying to tear it all down again. Well not on my watch matey!!

Here is an example of a modular gatehouse to add anywhere I like to my wall for my entrance. Saying that I might add five or six and a few more towers.

Try getting in here without my permission. I might even stand watch on it personally and send some arrows your way if you dare approach.

So the story went.........

Well you see, I had just set up my first village and was ever so proud of it.

I build it atop the highest hill I could find for better view

In the photo above I have moved down the hill to take a photo of my hard work.

I figured Building a moat across the river to the east would make it much harder to penetrate and thought I was invincible.

I went up to check on my men at the wall to see that I had positioned them correctly and there view was good.

I used my (Wii U pad as a) spyglass and could not believe what I saw coming over the hill afar.

 

They brought Trebuchet, and catapult, we were doomed!

.

Twas not long till they overran our town and all was lost.

Or so they thought....

Whilst it appeared they might have an advantage I had secretly popped into the assassins guild to borrow some equipment.

I figured that it was not long till some other tried to assault our walls. So I took it upon myself as the lord to personally try to assassinate the enemies leader.

So I took an 

outfit (not that I needed it but it looked good) 

and a couple of poison daggers.

Whilst the enemies lord thought he stood a chance to bring down my walls I had managed to sneak right up to his without detection. 

 

I swiftly took his life.

Once word reached his men they quickly fled the battle and were never seen again.

So now you probably think yeah yeah its just like assassins Creed but nay. It is not like that as a whole game, just a simple idea that is one of many possibilities in the Perfect game. In an overhead game like Stronghold or age of empires, you may have an assassins guild/building to train them for use, but what the concept was here to prove in the last story, is that although building an army of pike men to stand atop your wall, or even invade the enemy land is good. Assassins Creed style play could easily be incorporated into the game, simply by allowing you to enter the buildings as I said earlier. I just happened to take up the idea to pinch an outfit and a couple of daggers, as that was the way it seemed to pan out for the best chance of winning. I hadn't made a reasonable amount to peasants into fighters yet. Of course I might train up a load of knights and breed some horses and take the battle to them in future. Or I might build a few catapults myself but its all up to the player/lord at that given time to decide. Each building has its benefits not only to deploy people from but to use there facilities in some way also.

What is this game all about

1^st person or 3^rd person optional creative strategy game

Re-playability a new concept that can be replayed and does not have an ending

(in free-build).

Free placement building, walls and gatehouses

Custom characters and horses

Interactive village/town that you create as you like it

Possibility to upload certain graphics to alter textures (posters etc.)

Online multi-player

Offline campaign

Free build head to head mode against up to 4 CPU players

peaceful mode where you make a village/town and live.

Combine similar building to Minecraft, the graphics of games like Assassins Creed or Dragons Dogma, the detail of civilian life in Stronghold and the playability and originality of this concept and its a game for all. This games creativity level will draw in all types of players from builders to shooters to RPG to Sim gamers. As I might have said at some other point games like the Sims and Minecraft attract many more players than a stiff genre of game with a fixed point. They also hold there price for years are playable over and over with many opportunities for updates. So fundamentally it is a medieval style game. Yes and minecraft is fundamentally a mining game but if the concept is good enough it attracts everyone.

Optional idea

Rather than in world placement in real time via blueprint method as shown in the battlefront 2 example. If you do not own a WiiU to utilise the method below. There could be an option to switch to overhead for building and back to 1^st person to play it.

WiiU optional idea for building and placement

The same as above but on the controller/tablet it would have a map and overhead view of the world to allow you to place walls and builds without the need of a special UI in game on the main screen. This way you can still place the walls and buildings as before but would be more familiar to players of these types of games. Many other uses for this technology for example interactive buildings where each one has a job to be done with the tablet. As mentioned before used as a spyglass (binoculars). Even a sight for your bow and arrow but this is all optional extras and just icing on the cake.

Hope you can visualise the perfectGAME concept I have devised, please note the images used within my post are not my personal creations, but are screenshots from current games available to try to help you visualise the concept adding together all the best bits from games we love.

my Gran

This is my Gran - Granny Grunt as we fondly call her, my mothers mother.

The Gran you couldn't help but love, the one who was always smiling and happy to get out the crayons and colouring books. The one who showered her Grandchildren with as much affection as she could.

My Gran is the one who taught me to be compassionate, to give to charity, to savour memories. Filling her cabinet with the token gifts we gave her from school fairs giving them as much pride of places as the expensive ornaments in her china cabinet, the creative one teaching me to cross stitch and always with a handmade card to present to us on our birthdays.

My Gran was the one who through my childhood would encourage a love for collecting, her infectious love for all things quirky and her hoarding nature mirrored my own, she was the one who was always buying me badges and telling me stories when she sorted out nik naks to give me, much to my own mothers disapproval when I followed in her footsteps and wanted to keep everything from bottle tops to paper wrappers, contradicting my mums minimalist personality.

My Gran was the one who would encourage me to place my small change in collectors pots outside of supermarkets and sponsor Tigers, I would never get to see, as birthday gifts, while my mother flustered and complained when I skipped upto the buskers to give up my pocket money so freely.

My Gran was the one who would secretly laugh as she filled our jacket potatoes with red sauce and draped over cheese slices as a snack, making huge trifle's and encouraging us to always clear our plates before she filled our beakers with juice.

My Gran, so full of life, so happy and smiley.

That picture was taken 5 years ago. My Gran and my Son.

Oh how life changes, how time can be so cruel.

The past couple of years have brought heartache and loss to my Grans life, and now she is no longer the smiley happy lady we used to know, her health hinders her ability to do the things she once enjoyed and her sparkle is fading. Her physical health is a hinder, but her mental health is a bigger barrier.

It is heart wrenching to see her struggle with her thoughts as she tries to grasp the reality of the moment, it pains me to see family ague over her care needs and it is unsettling to know the future is not going to hold the same sort of moments that so strongly base my memories.

Old age creeps up quickly and dementia is a hard illness to come to terms with, not only for the person suffering but for the whole family involved. The difference in the past year is obvious, but the amount of love and respect I hold for my gran will never change.

SponsoredVideo - Natwest Pigs by Kids Final 3

You may remember a few weeks ago I told you about the Natwest competition to find the new Pig mascot, Natwest invited children all over the country to design a pig which will be made into a real PiggyBank and become the new face of Natwest savings.

Over 2000 children joined in sending in their photos of the pigs they had designed coloured and painted, and the team at Natwest, which included Cliff Wright the illustrator of the famous Harry Potter books, have picked out three finalists, who you can see in this amazing video.


 

I think you'll agree they are all great and the three children have all done a fantastic job but who is your favourite?

Pigby, Norman or StewTan?

Natwest have ran this competition so professionally and well, but everyone knows that taking the time to cast a vote is often last on peoples minds, however I do feel these three children have all done such a wonderful job we should show our support and I hope that everyone takes a minute to watch the video and cast their vote, it is a  really simply process and in doing so your helping to give input into the future iconic PiggyBank character!

So who are you going to choose? Click on this link : Cast your vote and then select your favourite Pig!

Voting ends on Sunday 9th December so hurry over their right now to give your support to your favourite piggy and then share with your family and ask them to do the same!

This post was Sponsored by Natwest

Dogs - smelly? unhygienic?

We are animal lovers here, and our pets are as much part of the family as anyone else, our home is very much their home we have Fudgy the guinea pig, Billy the budgie and of course Jackson - our beautiful  2 year old Boxer dog, who is such a huge part of the family.

He is the first one the children say good morning too and the last one they hug before they go to bed, he sleeps at the foot of Chloe bed whenever he gets the chance, and if we go out without him, he waits patiently by the window until we return. He really is an all round perfect dog and we wouldn't want to be without him.

 But having pets is not easy, they are alot of work, they are mucky things with their hair and dirt getting everywhere, and even tho Jackson is short haired and looks the image of perfection the amount of hairs he looses every single day is huge, and he manages to make more muddy footprints around the house than I like to think about. In fact its not surprising really when 2,000 people were surveyed in September 2012 two thirds said they thought dogs were smelly and unhygienic!

 Jackson is a big dog - he is in fact huge, despite the hairs, he also slobbers a lot, and  his big flubbers, which lets face it are the reason boxers are so cute, are somewhat unpractical. When he drinks, water sprays everywhere and as such the area his water bowl and food is kept in the kitchen, is somewhat grimy, the corner that is dedicated to him is in constant need of wiping. Then on top of this, he has boundless energy - again its another trait that boxers are renowned for, and so he loves to run around in the garden, we have gravel instead of the lawn to accommodate him, as the grass was just a mud hole, and the constant muddy feet was becoming unrelentless, but even now, with just paving slabs and a gravel area, he comes in with muddy paw prints trailing through the house on a daily basis - especially through the winter when the floor is damp.

Then there is the walks in the fields, Jackson loves nothing more than to go for a run, but he gets hot quickly and so finds the nearest muddy puddle to take a rest in to cool off - which means full on laying down in the mud! much to my horror, and so he always comes home filthy.

So what do us pet owners do about this? do we just accept these points as part and parcel of dog ownership? Put up with the dirt and germs that tag along to our much loved four legged friends? Reside ourselves to having a slightly mucky home because we choose to share our lives with the joy and friendship of a dog?

Or is there something to make living with a pet a cleaner more comfortable experience. When you want to have a dog as part of your family you want to know that having them taking residence on your childrens bed to listen to their stories is not going to leave a trail of muck and germs behind.

For us dog loving families, Byotrol technology, used in Petface pet care products, think they have the answer to the smelly animal worries faced by lots of pet owners.

Byotrol is a revolutionary hygiene technology range, which delivers long lasting protection. Kills 99.9% of germs, yet it is harmless to everyone and completely safe for your animals - and children. Making this range of products a perfect solution for cleaning those areas your dog eats and sleeps.

We were sent a selection of grooming products to try out, including some dog shampoo, dog face wipes and disinfectant spray.

All products smell really fresh and have the ability to keep on working protecting against germs and odours for upto 24hours after they have dried.

The face wipes, are essentially baby wipes for pets, they are thick strong wipes which you can use to rub down your pet when a full bath is not needed, wipe their face after they have ate a gravy filled meal, or clean their paws after a run around the garden, quick and easy to use these are great, Jackson didn't mind me wiping his face with them, although it advices to be careful around the eyes,  they have caused no sensitivity issues and do smell nice, the pack states they are great at removing loose hairs, although they didn't seem to pick out many hairs from Jackson as I wiped him over, but they were ideal for cleaning off any mud, and they smell nice which is always an added bonus, and so handy for quickly wiping up the hairs which rest around the edge of the room!

The Disinfectant spray has a cotton fresh fragrance which is not too over powering, ideal for cleaning around the food bowls and the floor directly by the door, also perfect for Fudgy the Guinea pigs pen and the budgies cage too, you simply spray on and wipe over with no need to rinse afterwards as it is completely harmless to animals.

The spray boosts to kill 99.9% of virus and bacteria including those which can lead to kennel cough and parvo, and keeps working for upto 24 hours after dry, so these products are really great for that peace of mind to know you are not bringing in nasty germs each time you've been out for a walk. In a 500ml bottle it is sure to last a good while as well.

All these products can be found in Pets at home or Sainsburys so if you are a animal loving family keep your eyes out - they may just be the thing you are looking for to make your family more clean and fresh!

If you want to find out more information and join in with a fun animal loving community be sure to check out PetProud on facebook which has over 8'500 animal loving fans, sharing hints and tips on how to keep your dog clean, fresh, healthy and happy!

You can also read more about Byotrol technology and all the products in the range here : Byotrol - The Hygiene Revolution

and you can find the PetFace range online at Pets at Home

Why not make up a PetCare hamper for an animal lover you know this Christmas - because healthy happy pets make Happy owners!

Disclosure - we were sent a selection of petface products to try out- but all our thoughts in this post are our own, we do think they are great and a perfect way to keep Jackson smelling as good as he looks!

Super Competition for your Super Hero!

There are a few things which my boys love, and dressing up is one of them, so when I was told that Rubies had a fantastic Marvels Superheros competition running at the moment promoting the great range of Avengers Costumes for children, I thought it would be perfect for my boys to join in with!

The Competition is to win an action packed day fit for any budding superhero, with activities such as go karting, climbing walls and Avenger themed fun and games.

The winner and ten friends will receive a special invitation to the ultimate Marvel themed day out. They’ll be kitted out in the latest Rubie’s Marvel costumes and will spend the day at a local kids activity centre. In between tackling the exciting activities, the team will refuel with an Avengers themed party feast and will be entertained by a special party host. The day will be topped off with all party members taking home an exclusive Avengers party bag. 

Launched by Rubie’s, one of the UK and Europe’s leading fancy dress costume manufacturers, the Avengers Academy competition has been created to share kids’ love for their favourite superheroes. In addition to the winning prize, the first fifty entrants will also receive a free copy of the latest Marvel movie, Avengers Assemble, on DVD or Blu-Ray.

To enter you simply have to dress up as your favourite Avenger Super hero - so thats either Spiderman, Iron man, Hulk, Thor or Captain America, snap a photo and enter on the Rubies website.

You can buy costumes directly from Rubies or you can use ones you currently own, or even make your own there is no restrictions apart from the deadline which is this Friday 7th December so be quick!

My boys are big Avenger fans, our Spiderman Costume has had so much wear and tear, it was my eldest sons favourite outfit and then became Mikeys all time favourite outfit too and still gets worn, even tho it is abit on the small side now.

We were however invited to try out the Thor costume, which Mikey was thrilled to receive. Thor, for those not familiar with super heros, is a character based on the God Thor of Norse Mythology, or God of Thunder, and as such he can summon elements of the storm, wind, rain and lightning,  by whirling his hammer he can destroy entire buildings, it is therefore easy to understand why the character  has become very popular inspiring imaginations in children for years, with a film based on the character in 2011, then the Avengers film released in 2012 and a new Thor film planned for 2013 this is a character which is going to be popular for a very long time.

The Rubies Marvel Thor costume consists of a red cape and detailed jumpsuit, which has all the instantly recognisable Thor characteristics.

Mikey has been wearing his costume for the past week nearly non stop and it has not snagged or ripped or pulled in anyway, the quality is great, he even choose to wear it to the non uniform day at school, and it withstood a day of running jumping and playing with no trouble at all, it is stretchy enough to wear over other clothes, and comfy enough to wear alone, although Mikey does like to wear a Top under it as the metal detail on the arms is abit scratchy.

Overall this is a great costume and one which I'm sure all super hero fans would love.

If you have a budding hero then be sure to take a photo and enter it into the competition, and take a look around the Rubies Marvel Heors range to find some ideas for perfect Christmas presents!

 

Disclosure : We were sent a thor costume to keep in return for us helping promote this fantastic competition, but all other thoughts are our own.

Poundland Christmas Review

Our Second Challenge as Poundland Ambassadors was to spend £20 in store and stock up on Christmas Essentials!

I Love Christmas, but once again I have left the organising and buying of presents and decorations till now, and with the first day of Advent upon us, this challenge has given me a nudge which I needed to get into the Christmas spirt and buying mode!

With three children it is always a case of budgeting to make sure money goes as far as it possibly can, and poundland has such a great selection it really does make Christmas shopping easy.

If you remember in October we had the Halloween Challenge which was to spend £20 on Halloween goodies, which we really enjoyed, this time the challenge was to find items that fit into several Christmas categories such as stocking fillers for children, party ware, table ware, tree decorations and so on.

Now I read the challenge and then rushed out on Friday with my vouchers in my hand eager to go and see what I could find, but I made a couple of blogger boo boo! firstly I forgot to take my camera to the store with me so unfortunately I haven't got any photos of the fantastic range to show you, and I forgot to write down the set themes I was supposed to pick items for, I also didn't plan my shopping spree before hand - I should have searched Poundlands website which shows you their range of products!

But besides these minor points, when I went into my local poundland I was blown away by the lovely selection of decorations, gifts and wrapping, I completely forgot to stick to the challenge and I ended up spending more than the £20 we were supposed to - thats how much great stuff there is in poundland this year!

When I got home I loaded up the email and tried to sort out my haul into the categories, I have picked out just 20 items to show that you can get a bit of everything you need to have a great Christmas without breaking the bank.

The first thing we were asked to take a look at were the decorations, Tree decorations and General decorations, the choice is huge, with plenty of variety you will definitely find something to match any colour scheme, with frosty white tinsel tinted with blue, or the traditional red and green and many more!

I love the traditional feel of Greens and Red at Christmas so I picked out a red and green traditional holly garland, and two lovely nutcracker tree decorations. These lovely little wooden decorations have so much character.

For general decorations I picked a lovely Reindeer wreath and a fun 'Days till Christmas' chalkboard, which I know the children will love to update until it says only 1 day to go!

Then I took a look at Tableware and Treats, which are a must have for every Christmas party.
Poundland have a great selection of chocolate Santas, candy canes and traditional Christmas sweets such as After Eights which are a bargain price of 3 boxes for £2 (thats less than half the price of my local village shop!) and always popular with Grandparents!

I picked a Toblerone and a tube of Munchies which are perfect stocking fillers and always remind me of Christmas. As far as Table wear goes I selected a 2 pack of tableclothes and a large red plate, which will be used to place Santats Mince pie and Rudolphs carrot on, on Christmas eve, and a pack of 24 gold party plates for a Boxing day party.
It's amazing how dressing a table with a festive table cloth really makes the room look so much more Christmas spirited!

And if you are hosting a  Christmas Party, there are lots of themed Dress up items, I picked out a fun elf hat, a great accessories for all Christmas parties at work or at home, great value too at just a pound!

Then we were asked to pick out some stocking fillers for Children.

This was easy, as there is loads of choice, from cute cuddly toys, to books and DVD's, art kits, stickers and craft supplies and jigsaw puzzles!

I picked out a set of 4 animal puzzles, a cute funky monkey toy and a Penguin, and of course Poundland do a whole range of fun stockings too, so I also picked out a light up stocking with a snowman design.

But Christmas isn't all about the Children is it, and Poundland have loads of fantastic giftsets and gifts for adults  great scarves and keyrings, perfume and shower gel. Something for everyone!

For Adult stocking fillers I picked out a pink glittery scarf and a letter diamante Keychain.

Then thinking about all these great gifts you need some wrapping paper, there was a great range in my local poundland, high Quality shiny paper was £1 a roll, and the more traditional paper was 3 rolls for £1 thats a great price, and there are lots of different designs to pick from.

 I also picked up a giftbow and ribbon set which will compliment the papers perfectly and add that special finishing touch to my parcels this year!

Poundland also have some lovely Card packs, as well as individual cards, I picked out a glittery pack of 20 cards which will be perfect for my children to write for their school friends.

The final part of our Challenge was to pick out 2 piece of homeware, such as turkey roasting tins, tea towels and other practical items to make sure Christmas runs smoothly, now its not that there wasn't a great selection, but I simply forgot about this when I was in my local poundland so unfortunately I don't have any to show you, but I did instead find some great Childrens craft activities which either make fun activities on the run upto Christmas or great extra gifts on the day!

So thats it, 20 great items, loads of Christmas ideas and all in a one stop shop!

 Poundland also have a Great Pinterest Competition running at the moment where  you can win £250 voucher in time to do all your Christmas shopping!

If you want to be in with a chance to win this fantastic prize, then simply go to Pinterest and create a Pinterest Account, and Follow Poundland.

Then create a 'Poundland Christmas' board and visit the Poundland Website to find upto 20 items to pin to your board. Once you have done that submit your entry via the poundland website here Where you will also find the full terms and conditions.

You can also find most of the products I have mentioned in my review on my Poundland Christmas Pinterest board please do take a look here:  Sarahmumof3 Poundland Christmas