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Product Reviews

There are so many products out there that you could buy for your out of school club, but which ones really offer value for money? And which ones will the children play with over and over again? In this section we review products that have been rigorously 'road tested' by real, live(ly) children and which have passed our informal criteria for play value, durability and value for money.

Products

Android tablets
Older boys who think they are too 'cool' to play and who see craft activities as too 'girlie', can sometimes be difficult to entertain. But we recently bought a couple of cheapie Android tablets for our club and found that even the cool gang were impressed.

Play Parachutes
We all know that play parachutes are great for organised 'parachute games', and perfect for ice-breaker activities, but left to their own devices the children at our club found a surprising number of other uses for them.

Instant Photo Printers
Instant photo printers are small, cheap, portable and so easy to use that most adults can operate them without the assistance of a child. You can quickly record EYFS observations, preserve Lego constructions for posterity, and send children home with photos of what they've been getting up to.

TC Kids
If you have a member of staff who is doing their Playwork qualification you will know that you need to find inventive ways to inform children about staying healthy and staying safe. TC Kids (Take Care Kids) is a really useful board game which gets across a whole range of health and safety messages in a fun package.

Photo Posters
With many out of school clubs being pack-away settings, we're always looking for ideas for personalising a club's space. So we were delighted to come across photo posters from Pixum: for a very reasonable price you can have your own photos printed out as big posters.

Tuff Trays
If you have a nursery or pre-school background, you have probably already come across tuff trays, but they also have many uses for primary-aged children in a play setting. In addition, you can still set them up for typical messy activities and tick off a load of observations for your EYFS children.

Busker's Guides
The playwork gurus at Common Threads have produced a whole series of Busker's Guides on a range of topics very close to the heart of anyone working with children, covering inclusion, behaviour, risk, participation, and more. These guides are short, easy-to-read, and very thought provoking and we recommend them to you whole-heartedly!

EggBods
These cute and chunky wind-up toys were very popular with the children at our club. They particularly enjoyed swapping their heads over to create silly new play characters but they also had a lot of fun winding them up and letting them 'fight' or race each other.


PlayGarden's Camping Resource Kit
We're in the mood for outdoor play this month. We've had our trusty testing team playing with this attractive set of high-quality camping resources from PlayGarden, which kept all ages occupied and stimulated some great problem-solving and cooperative play.

We love Rolobox
We all know how much fun children can have with an empty cardboard box, well the fun just got better. We discovered Rolobox, a little kit that allows you to add wheels to your box to turn it into a truck, wagon or bus, and even enables you to connect boxes together, providing loads of imaginative play for very little outlay.

We love cookery cards
These sets of laminated recipe cards from NATLL are perfect for using with the children at your club during cooking sessions. Children will find the clear instructions easy to follow and the additional information with each recipe helps to reinforce healthy eating and health and safety messages.

We love games packs
The Games Pack for Extended Schools from NATLL is an invaluable resource for all out of school clubs, providing a library of every type of game you can think of. Plus the games can be supplemented by downloading many more off the NATLL website.


We love digital sand-timers
For about a year now I have been hunting for an affordable sand-timer which will time at least 20 minutes, so I was very excited when I finally tracked one down. We have found so many uses for it at our club, from making sure everyone gets a fair turn on the Wii, to timing biscuits in the oven and helping set expectations about when an activity is drawing to an end.

We love Xyron sticker makers
With the Xyron sticker maker you can create laminated labels for your storage boxes and coat pegs, permanent stickers for craft activities, repositional stickers for birthday and merit badges, and customised magnets for registration boards - perfect for 101 uses at an out of school club.

We love Storage
Storage is a big issue for most out of school clubs, especially if you don't have your own space and need to pack everything away at the end of each session. We have taken a look at some good storage solutions available in different price ranges.

We love Skipping
More of an game than a product, skipping is an excellent activity for children, promoting fitness, coordination and communication skills. We review some good sources of skipping equipment, teaching resources, and workshops for children and play leaders.

We love Shrinkles
You are probably already familiar with the pre-printed Shrinkles (also known as Shrinkies and Shrink Art) which children simply colour in and cut out. But by making use of the different kinds of blank sheets and accessories now available you can tailor craft activities to any seasonal theme, and to any age or ability level.

We love funky fountains
The Funky Fountain will give the children at your club hours of squirty, squealy, fun. Pour the water in the top, take out a peg, and dodge out of the way of the stream of water that squirts out the side. So simple, it's brilliant. An ideal ingredient for an afternoon of water play at your club.

We love digital photo frames
Using a digital photo frame to display pictures from your club enables you to: inform parents about their children's activities, personalise your setting, display the children's artwork and show the Ofsted inspector the range of activities at the club—all in one package.

We love kite kits
Making kites and running around outside trying to get them to fly are perfect activities for an out of school club, combining a craft activity (that is not perceived as being too 'girlie') with physical play. These kite kits ensure that you have everything you need to make loads of easy-to-fly kites.

We love resistance parachutes
Here is an outdoor game which is guaranteed to wear out all those fizzing balls of energy (otherwise known as children) at your club. The parachute will only open properly if you run fast, so the children just - keep - running!

We love blanket caves
All children love making dens and can often amuse themselves for hours with piles of blankets and cushions. The blanket cave is a clever idea which enables children to easily construct an impressive tent-like den both indoors and outside.

We love rolling rings
When the active boys at the club are hurtling around with just a bit too much vigour, and it's too cold and wet to go outside, we've sometimes day-dreamed about a child-sized hamster wheel in which they could burn off all their energy safely. Then we spotted these ...

We love Fimo modelling clay
Fimo polymer modelling clay is a great modelling material for out of school clubs: it is brightly coloured, easy to use, bakes quickly at a low temperature, and you only use a small amount at a time!

We love cardboard castles
These great play houses come in the shape of castles, palaces, space rockets and igloos, and are all made of cardboard which means that they are very affordable, easy to move around and simple to pack away for easy storage.

We love Magic Whiteboards™
This fantastic product means that you can put up artwork and displays, stick up signs and noticeboards, and even let children draw on the walls—all without upsetting the caretaker of your club venue.

We love gym balls
Who would have guessed that children could get so much fun from a gym ball? They are cheap, bright, versatile, and wildly popular with the children whenever we bring them out.

We love Tub Trugs®
Every out of school club should have a selection of these large, soft, brightly coloured and endlessly versatile plastic buckets.


More product reviews are added regularly. If you use a fantastic product at your club that you think others should know about, please tell us about it or post it on the Members' Forum.

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