Evening guys, here’s hoping everyone is remaining sane, we are almost at the end of the summer and the kids will soon return to school. Whoop whoop!
Today I will be talking about our newest review over here at Lamb & Bear. I don’t know who was more excited for this package to be delivered, honestly childlike me would have been obsessed with this!
So wait no further, let me introduce to you the Smoby Supermarket! Ah, raise your hands if you were one of those kids, that labeled everything and was regimented in shop pretend play! That’s ME! Even now, when I play with the kids, I will still use my correct pin when using the pretend card machine, I know what you’re thinking – I must be a laugh riot during play.
So, lets begin… I’m sure if you look around your house you will find a toy produced by Smoby, and you will know how well made and realistic it is in your children’s play, whether it be a kitchen and accessories or workbench and tool belt. Our expectations were high with this new arrival to match previous products, and we were not disappointed. Okay this big old box, comes with the parts to make your supermarket till, shelves and trolly, it was quite time consuming to put together, with a lot of stickers needed. For anyone who has followed our reviews, you may remember how much I detest stickers! Don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t as fiddly as say a lego set, but still guys come on, get rid of the stickers.
Okay so following the instructions with impatient children could be the reason for most of my frustration, but once complete, you should be faced with the cutest shop corner, featuring shelves for produce, weighing scales, cash register, promo deals and opening sign, credit card machine and scanner, all served with a trolley on the side!
Our little ones were obsessed. Isn’t it nice when children play quietly, taking it in turns, handling things gently….
Wait. That never happens.
Each kid was super keen on being the shop worker; do they not know the customer is always right? So I was forced to be a customer whilst they stocked shelves and put through my shopping on the calculator till! Don’t you worry I got to be a shopkeeper eventually, and I took my time!
You are stocked with cardboard products like longlife milk and cereal, plastic fruit, cakes and cans of coke, each with their own little barcode that registers in the scanner. I was in my element. I especially love the receipt aspect where a credit card can be inserted and a receipt pulled out of the card machine. The kids eventually grew tired of me bossing at them to tidy up the shelves and exiled me to the living room.
They were besotted and it is now a firm favourite in the house, not just for our little ones but also friends who come over for garden playdates; the whole thing can be transported as it really light, so we enjoyed the August sunshine and pretended to expand the franchise with a farmers market.
Here’s what the kids had to say:
Arabella: “Really, really good just cos it is so, so cool. The cans are like so real, I love the cans.”
Sonny: I think a bit of the pear that had pips in it but it actually doesn’t. It’s a real nice toy.
That sounds like a ten out of ten!
Now this is where my only gripe is with this product, it feels like it’s coming up short; the microphone is just a plastic pretend piece, the screen is just a sticker, the buttons don’t make noises as you are inputting, the pretend money is only printed on one side, the till doesn’t have compartments, and overall the plastic is flimsy.
Okay so this doesn’t bother children at all, they dont notice these small details, but for me it’s a big misstep, especially as it isn’t a cheap toy. Both the kids have had their fair share of pretend toys over the years, and I can’t help but compare it to these, and for that reason I wouldn’t purchase it at full price, currently retailing at £74.99. However it does seem like the sort of toy that little ones would enjoy years to come, so for the longevity of it, I can weigh up the cost to play ratio. I’m sure it will be a huge hit for toddlers to children, to slightly quirky adults who never got that dream post office as a kid!
And guess what! It’s currently on sale at Very for only £59.99, so if you like the sound of the Smoby Supermarket grab while it’s on sale!
Please let us know if your little one loves pretend play as much as our whole family does here at Lamb and Bear, and if the smoby supermarket is on that shopping list for Christmas – don’t deny that you haven’t been spying that December date creeping up on you!
Stevie & Alex
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* We were sent this product free of charge for the purpose of this review. As always, all words and opinions are honest and our own.
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