Having seen the advert for Fab Effex by Spin Master and being impressed by it, I was quite excited to get the chance to review it via Blog Match. If you haven't seen the advert yourself it is a new craft material which can bend, twist and stick. It is also mouldable and re-usable.
Although Poppy is a bit young at 3 years instead of the required 6+ we decided to have a go as she loves everything to do with arts and crafts. She also has a Cousin who is 8, who we decided we would pass it on to if it was too hard for her.
Poppy was thrilled to be sent to be sent the Make 'N' Play Animal Kit which retails for £9.99.
We quickly got to work laying everything out for each animal so we could follow the step by step instructions. The instructions were straightforward enough and easy to follow with pictures to illustrate. Unfortunately we did not have all the right bits in the right colours to make any of animals as per instructions. There was extra material so we did our best to compromise but for a three year old everything is black and white and she was a little upset that her animals did not look quite like the ones on the pack.
She wanted to try the lion first but we had to stop as we really did not have half of the required shapes. We found the first shape we tried which was supposed to cover the whole of the lower body did not stretch enough to cover it. I tried pulling it and moving it for her but decided that perhaps we did not have the right shape after all.
Next we tried the butterfly and the fish. These were much more successful. To use fab effex you need to peel the back of the material and stick. It has a kind of gummy, gluey, sticky backing to it and we found it stuck pretty well. It was also easy to peel off and re-stick in the right place too.
As you can see from the photos she had to concentrate very hard because it was quite difficult for a three year old to do it but she did it with a bit of help and was very proud of the outcomes:
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| Getting started |
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| Quite difficult but very determined |
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| "Yeeehh look what I made" |
I think the good thing about this toy is that you can be as inventive as you like, decorating your possessions, rooms and books. It is very easy to cut, bend and stick. I think older ones would have great fun with it.
The worse thing is that the shapes and colours do not match the instructions. It might have been just our kit but if not they really should address it.
Don't just take my word for it though, for other reviews please check here.
There are a variety of packs available including a variety pack, refill packs, Make 'N' Play Animals and Dress 'N' Design Dolls. They are available from Smyths Toys, Argos and Amazon
Karen x
