I’m a little late with this review. We received the February Toddibox last month and only got to open it just this week. The kids (and adults) have been taking turns falling ill and I have absolutely zero energy left ever since my SAHM gig started. Finally it seems, that we are more settled this week .

The big box came with individually packed activities, similar to the Lollibox I reviewed in December. Objectives and instructions were clearly printed out and slotted in ziplock bags, similar to the Lollibox. The difference between the Toddibox and the Lollibox is that the former is pretty generous with their activity packs. It also comes with a story book related to the Valentine’s Day theme to promote parent-child bonding through reading.

I was overwhelmed when I opened it because this meant I had to look through every single pack, read what’s in store and decide if it’s age appropriate for Ben and Becks. It was a good thing I opened it before they did, so they wouldn’t go crazy opening ziplock after ziplock and go, “Shall we do this, Mama? And this? And this?”

I personally found the instructions in the Toddibox a little more vague than the instructions in the Lollibox. The ones in the Lollibox were much more detailed and had clear step-by-step instructions complete with illustrations.

Activities in the Toddibox came in four categories – Ten Fingers, Tempo and Beat, Thinking Tots and Test Tube. I naturally gravitated towards the Ten Fingers packs to see how I can occupy my tots with craft activities, being not very crafty myself.

I selected the ‘Family Link’ activity for Ben and Becks. I began the activity as suggested by telling the children about the family members in the house, and that we are all linked together by our love for one another. I got them to cut out the paper people and hearts provided in the pack, had them personalise each member in the household. They also stuck eyes onto the people and coloured them when the glue dried up.

There was a fair bit of cutting and I ended up having to cut the paper people for the project because it was difficult for Ben and Becks to cut out its shape with precision. There was also no glue provided so I had to go get white glue from my own stash for the buttons. I also wished there were more than 5 paper people to cut out, because we have a helper and we’ve told the children she’s family too.

The final product now hangs proudly on my front door.

On another occasion, the kids got to try ‘Walking in my shoes’. The activity requires the kids to trace the shape of each family member’s foot and make shoe lace holes with the soles that we’ve cut out. This may even be an opportunity to teach older kids how to tie shoe laces or sequencing by getting them to arrange the different soles in ascending order. But because dad wasn’t home for them to trace his foot and the baby was taking his morning nap, I decided to modify the activity a little to tie in with what I’m covering this week for our homelearning. So I got them to trace each other’s left and right foot, had them cut them out and label their soles ‘R’ and ‘L’. We’re making an ‘All about me’ scrapbook in line with this week’s bible verse from Psalm 139:14 (I am fearfully and wonderfully made), so this gets to go into their scrapbook! I also got them to ink their fingerprints and study the lines to see how special their prints were (which lasted five seconds).

There are so many activities to try and we’ve only done two this week. I’ll be working with the kids on our family tree soon, as well as getting them to do some CSI work studying family members’ fingerprints. The box is certainly value for money, and I am sure one box, with its 8 activities, would keep the kids busy the whole month.

I thought I’d put a review of these two activities up first because I have a giveaway for you – next month’s Toddibox!

If you would like to win next month’s Toddibox (theme on Music), simply leave a comment to say who you like to win this for and why. The giveaway ends 18 March 2013.

More details:

• Toddibox is designed and created by a team of trained educators. The Toddibox’s multi-disciplinary activities are designed to help a child (from ages 3 to 6) relate to the real world and develop his confidence.
• A Toddibox is priced at SGD$39.95; or SGD$239 for six months subscription (including a stationery pack); or SGD$440 for 12 months subscription (including a stationery pack and a free month).

UPDATE: We picked a winner randomly! Congrats Ganesan Arsheitha, Toddibox will be in touch with you shortly!