The weather has been absolutely glorious in Northern Ireland this October, to make up for the horrid summer, they say :-), so I was absolutely thrilled when Emma was offered the opportunity to review this brilliant sandpit from Wickey, a great German company, of which I had not heard before, to my shame!

The communication with the brand was swift and extremely professional, from the very beginning, and the wooden sandpit flip, measuring 110x125cm, was send out as soon as we agreed on the review terms and arrived within two days, by courier, all the way from Germany and smelling wonderfully of pine and forest adventures!

Alex was a bit reluctant when he realised that it hadn’t come assembled and had to be put together manually but with a bit of encouragement, he proceeded, all to Emma’s delight and excitement! The instructions were clear and simple to follow, the wood cut perfectly and packed helpfully and before we knew it, we had a beautiful sandpit sitting in our back garden and a deliriously excited young girl, ready to try it out!

As we hadn’t bought the sand for it, Emma was happy to get a blankie out and her dollies and they had an al fresco picnic as soon as the last nail and hinge were in!

As you can appreciate from the picture above, the sandpit (retailing usually on the company’s website at £74.95 but on sale at the moment for £56.95) is a great size, very sturdy and would serve for a number of years as a reliable family toy.

Emma has been so proudly telling all her friends who have been visiting since about her “play bench” that we decided to use it as such until the spring and even beyond. These last couple of weeks, it has been a pleasure watching Emma itching to get home, change from her uniform and run outside for a bit of fresh air and playtime.

Here she is, “teaching” her good pupils about autumn and pumpkins and seasonal changes :-).

If you think your back garden and family could benefit from a sandpit, here is where you can find the brilliant ones from Wickey. The company is running a supersale at the moment, on sandpits, climbing frames, swings and wooden beds, do stop by and have a little look for yourselves! I guarantee you’ll be tempted!

Our verdict: the professionalism of the PR team, the quick delivery, the more than reasonable price and the great quality of the wood make this into a product we would recommend highly time and time again!

Jumping to our second review item but staying with the seasonal theme, “My Big Book of Monster Fun” is the first book we had the joy to receive as part of Parragon Book Buddy program we joined this September as bloggers. The book couldn’t have been more appropriate a read, now, with Halloween approaching at fast pace!

Emma started working on it as soon as we received it in the post, as the book cover is attractive, with bright colours and friendly monsters invitingly coaxing the young reader to sit down for a bit of fun. The book came with us that Saturday and kept Emma busy during our car journey.

The book promises 180 pages of fun and it does deliver it fully, offering something for every taste. From adorable stories with Scaredy Boo monsters who are afraid of the dark to solving monstrous mathematical problems to colouring in pages in theme with the October celebrations, the book is a must have for the Halloween week. It is also a fun way to make children feel involved in a safe and fun way into what can be quite a daunting holiday, especially for small children.

The book retails at £6.31 plus delivery on Amazon at the moment.

The last product we loved reviewing this month has been Naturelly, a lovely new drink made of natural fruit juice and jelly(hence the abbreviated name, obviously!).

As any health conscious mother out there, I am always on the lookout for foods that are healthy yet tasty and nutritious for Emma.

I was immediately impressed when I heard about Naturelly. With only 7 grams of fruit sugar and 37 calories per 100 grams, the pouches are the snack I would choose for Emma any day, over sugary treats loaded with artificial sugars and colouring.

Emma loved the taste of the summer fruit pouches in particular and gave them overall, a big thumbs up:

Naturelly was only launched last month so it hasn’t reached the big stores yet but if you would love to give it a go, you can order them online.

What are your Halloween week plans and have we convinced you to include any of the lovely products above in your celebrations?