CAT Toys!

I rarely say yes to toy reviews these days so when I do it’s for something very social that I couldn’t resist. It was one of these yes days when I agreed to have a play with and report back on our thoughts for the new range of CAT toys – I knew they’d be a hit with Raffie and I wanted to see how he played with them; would he use the trucks for their primary purpose or go beyond?

I think they’re lovely, hardy toys to have and my kids, Florence as well as the boys, have always have made a beeline for such when we’ve been at friends houses so I knew Raffie would be keen, he’s rather into anything with wheels at the moment but his main games involve the Octonauts and under the sea adventures with ALL of his toys so I wondered how and if he would incorporate the trucks.

This new collection of Power Hauler Vehicles, Mini Crew Vehicles and Little Machines Packs looked very exciting and he was wide eyed as soon as he saw them taking them into the garden to use them as they are intended. To shovel, push, load and dump and he used the stones outside our back door to do this for ages.

I think as a parent I ultimately like this range of toys because it’s perfect for playing outside, the big trucks especially, and Raffie has really enjoyed loading them up with the stones from the borders and simply tipping them out again. He also gets to turn the sounds on by pushing a button and operates other parts with a lever which is promotion of honing his fine motor skills beautifully while he plays. Being outside is a bonus and thank goodness the weather is on the turn for the better so that we CAN be in the garden!

I do wonder however, if sometimes toys like this are a little prescriptive but often times and as with any story, we do need a starting point. Just a single sentence to begin the tale that we can run with is sometimes needed and Raffie has done just this incorporating traditional play using memories of watching working trucks and diggers on a local house build site BUT he has also made up his own games which have absolutely nothing to do with building and has been racing them against each other as well as using them to rescue sea creatures (and the smaller trucks) with his much loved Octonauts Gups.

The bigger trucks are brilliant outside with their huge rubber wheels and these are the ones Raffie has been filling with stones and mud. They also have the sound effects to make them more realistic. The smaller ones from the Mimi Crew Vehicles and Little Machines Packs are also great for outdoor play but they are similarly sized to Raffie’s other cars so inside the house he has been playing with them on his regular road map rug and playing similar games but in a quieter and calmer way without the sound effects!

They’d be great on a tuff spot for all kinds of messy and sensory play – these trucks would be excellent rolled over sand, in shaving foam and mud and you could use rice for loading and dumping! Raffie is very keen on them all and took most of them (including one of the bigger trucks from the Power Hauler Vehicles range) to bed last night – which is fine except he comes in with us at the beginning of the night and then again when he wakes up bringing all his bed time toys with him…

A brilliant range perfect for spring and summer outdoor play as well as playing inside the house. Raff is very into anything with wheels and the huge ones on these really please him. A lovely little range of toys which is all available in store at Tesco now as well as other retailers like George.com, The Entertainer and the range can be found in its entirety at Amazon.

We were gifted the toys as part of a collaboration with CAT Toys.