Half Term Entertainment for the whole family

We are really lucky to be part of the the TalkTalk family bloggers  programme this year, and we have been putting all the features of the YouView box through a Thorough testing.

As I mentioned in our previous review, the great thing about the TalkTalk YouView box is the ability to pick and choose your own TV packages, making it really easy to customise your TV viewing options and build an affordable package to suit your families needs.

The different boost options are all great and we have really enjoyed watching programs from the kids boost and the Movies boost, but ontop of the huge selection of TV channels  there is also a BoxOffice where you can purchase the latest blockbuster movies, giving you even more choice. The BoxOffice really does make a great half term entertainment options for the whole family.

Individual movies are priced  £4.50 for HD movies or £3.50 for standard streaming making it an affordable way to watch the latest films without leaving your living room.

This half term there are loads of films to entertain the children including Star Wars Clone Wars (which my boys have already earmarked) and Epic.

We picked out Epic to watch the other day, and all three children really enjoyed the film, with the colourful characters and captivating story set in a mysterious land in the trees, this film is a really great family movie. It follows the story of a young girl called Mary Katherine, or M.K  whose father has been researching  a world full of tiny leafmen protecting the forest.

The story progresses as M.K realises that her father was not crazy after all, and she is transported into the tiny world which is in danger after the death of their Queen, and she goes on an adventure to restore peace by protecting a pod which contains new life.

The characters in the film are a colourful bunch from the friendly snails and slugs to the more mysterious and dark creatures called Boggans who are lead by the evil Mandrake.

The story is fairly easy to follow and all the children enjoyed the movie, the bad guys were not too scary and there was enough humour to keep things light hearted. The ending saw M.K returned to her normal size and pick up the relationship with her father.

We really enjoyed watching Epic and using the TalkTalk boxoffice made it a really easy experience, one which we will use again. After purchasing the film you can watch it for 48 hours, which represents great value for money compared to a cinema entrance fee. 

The choice of films is great with the top movies, many of which become available on the same day as DVD releases, for adults this half term there is also a great variety of horror movies available with titles include Night of the Living Dead, I know what you did last summer, Zombieland, Fright Night 2, Jennifer's Body, Hide and Seek, The Pact and Warm Bodies. 

TalkTalk are also running a few promotion this half term, for the children selected movies are reduced saving you 50p per title, and for the Adults there is a special Halloween offer of '3 movies for £3 for 3 days' starting on the 31st October on the selected titles: Jennifer's Body, Hide and Seek and Zombieland. This promotion saves customers £4.50

If you are already a TalkTalk customer then  be sure to check out the great selection of films and enjoy a nice cosy duvet day - which is just what we plan on doing alot this week as we all recover from coughs and colds. Or if you are looking for a great phone Tv and broadband package then take a look at the various package options from TalkTalk


Disclaimer: We have received free Phone, Broadband and standard TV  package for 18 months for the purpose of this review (we do however pay for additional boosts and extras) - all views and opinions are r my own.

HotWheels 10 in 1 super set Review

When we were asked if we would like to take a look at the Hot Wheels 10 in 1 super track set we jumped at the chance, we have reviewed the Hotwheels wall track sets and the Ballistiks sets before, but with my eldest never really loving toy cars we missed out on the standard floor track kits, but Mikey really does like the HotWheels sets we have and I was interested to see what the Super Set included and if it would prove to be good value for money.

The 10 in 1 super set comes in a nice sized box which has a recommended age of 5 and over, and really is a deluxe kit having everything you need to create 10 different track layouts. Priced at around £50 this is an expensive set but has plenty of play value to it.

Whats included in the box

1 hotwheels car
2 motorised booster packs
34 track pieces -  (21ft of track including 2 loops.)
11 universal connectors
3 loop base connectors
2 motorised boosters
Instruction Leaflet

The Instruction Leaflet is easy to follow and shows you all 10 layout designs you can create.

The motorised boosters take 2 x D batteries each, which are not included, so it is worth noting that  you need 4 x D batteries in order for the set to function correctly.

The Boosters have an on/off switch on them, and track connectors built in, once the track is connected and the booster turned on the rollers spin, this does make a bit of noise but nothing too over powering, and the boosters really do add alot of fun.

When a car rolls through the boost it propels the car along the track at top speed powering it through the loops, you really do need the boosters to work to get full enjoyment of this kit as it is not easy to push the cars fast enough to get through the loops by hand.

Setting up the Track

The track pieces fit together easily using the universal connector pieces. These simply slide into the track and connect two sections together, they slide in with minimal effort and pull apart again so you can rearrange the circuit as many times as you please.

The Curved sections have built in connections and these are slightly more fiddly to connect together.

Following the instructions is simple enough but does take a little bit of time, older children would be able to mange this themselves, where as younger children may need abit of assistance.

Once set up the track is huge and takes up alot of floor space, so this is worth bearing in mind if you are purchasing this as a gift.

It works fine on carpet or hard flooring, you can use books or tape to steady the track if needs be, we did notice that on occasions the loops would disconnect from the base holder slightly after a car has been boosted round, but this didn't take from the enjoyment of the track set.

Overall Opinion

We really like the HotWheels Super set, although it does need a large floor space it has proved popular with Mikey, the electric power boost really add to the play value and enable you to set cars racing around the track together, the ease of connecting the track means Mikey can rearrange sections himself and change the design which brings extra enjoyment to the set, and because the pieces come apart so easily you can disconnect the track after play and store in a box for another time.

With only one car included you may find yourself wanting to buy more cars, but other than that this is a great all included HotWheels set and would be a perfect starter set if you have no other HotWheels sets and I feel it is good value for money, the quality is very good and overall it gets a big thumbs up from us.

HotWheels 10 in 1 Super set can be purchased from all good toy retailers such as Toys R us or Asda

here is our video review:





If you are a hotwheels collector then you might like to take a look at The Collectionary - a website which brings together collectors and offers a great place to buy and sell Hotwheels.