Notes from the Toybox this month - Creative fun with Aqua Beads and a celebration of a hugely popular toy range's 30th anniversary!

Welcome to a new semi-regular review slot where we take a break from the books for a mo or two and look at some fabulous toys and games, stationery and other merchandise that kids can look forward to spending their hard earned pocket money on.

First off, we're getting crafty with a well established toy favourite, growing with a whole new range of sets to play with.

Got a steady hand? Aquabeads are always fun and we've been taking a look at one of the new starter sets coming soon. The new Aqua Beads Party Food Starter Set lets you make some tempting treats with standard coloured aqua beads and the new jewelled beads.

Make lollies, doughnuts, cupcakes and all sorts of other tempting treats just by dropping the coloured beads onto a template sheet, spraying with water, leaving them to set and then you're ready to play.

The sets are good but the new style water applicator (which you can just see off to the left of our headline photo) is a bit dribbly, we much prefer the old mister-style water bottle (which we thankfully still have from a set that Charlotte got for Christmas). Of course, once kids are a dab hand at making the designs in the sets, they can buy top-up packs of beads and start making their own designs too!

The tempting treats under construction
(note: new water applicator at bottom of pic is VERY dribbly compared to the old one!)

You can find Aqua Beads starter and complete sets in most toy stockists and online retailers.

Interestingly enough, one of the starter sets you can get for Aqua Beads is a Sylvanian Families set - Sylvaniamania (as it's popularly known) doesn't seem to be showing any signs of slowing down, and can you believe that Sylvanian Families toys are now 30 years old?

We were recently sent one of the toys (Freya - from the Chocolate Rabbit Family), which swiftly became Charlotte's favourite mascot during the summer holidays - going practically everywhere with her. The Sylvanian Families range is HUGE, so don't forget to check out their website and take a look at all the fantastic characters - and even join the Sylvanian Families Fan Club for more excellent fun.

As your kids are going back to school, check out some of the other related Sylvanian merchandise too, particularly if your little ones need new notepads, school bags and lunch kit!

Find out more on the Sylvanian Families website. 

Stay tuned for more toybox posts coming soon!