Reviewed by
Roxie
Lalabox is a UK subscription box for children aged 3-7. Each month you receive a box full of interactive activities and games designed to develop various skills, inspire your child’s creativity and have lots of fun along the way. Most of the games can also be played without parental help which helps promote their independence. There is also a standard box available to purchase which doesn’t require subscribing and an online store full of educational resources available to purchase.
Penny was excited to dive into the massive crate and had fun rummaging around the pink shredded paper and packing peanuts to search for all the activities inside. Each box is made of recyclable cardboard and the loose-fill packing is biodegradable too, however, considering the size of the activities included this month, the size of the box was definitely a little excessive! Although an empty cardboard box can bring endless amounts of joy to a 4-year-old.
Inside we found some worksheets encouraging Penny to identify sequences of animals and a template to glue the shredded paper on to create a crazy hairstyle. There was a glue stick included, unfortunately, this wasn’t very sticky so we used our own. There was also a set of instructions on how to use each of the resources.
Penny was most excited by the Face Puzzle. Although the hair was not removable, it came with lots of other velcro facial expressions and parts that can be swapped around and attached to the felt background. Penny had lots of fun changing the eyebrows and making angry faces. This activity inspired an interesting chat about different feelings and how we can identify them.
Also inside was a finger painting pad stamp which Penny really enjoyed using to make lots of different shapes including a monster and a rainbow. There was also a set of footprints with instructions including “Name 5 animals”, “Name 5 superhero or princesses” and “Name 5 sports” and three colour mixing boards. They encouraged Penny to look at the world in a different way as she could hold them up to her eyes and mix different combinations together.
There was a set of four wooden balancing stones in various sizes and shapes designed to develop fine motor skills and concentration. I love how tactile and durable wooden toys are and this is an activity her little sister can also use to improver her co-ordination and patience. They are painted in nice and calming colours and will look lovely in her nursery. The final item is a Montessori Wooden Clock to help children to learn time to see the difference in hours, minutes and seconds. As Penny gets older this will definitely be a resource that will be incredibly helpful when teaching her how to tell the time.
By Mary 
