play – BurritoBuzz

Li’l Woodzeez {Toy Review}

Published on January 20, 2017January 20, 2017 by Casey SehmLeave a comment

My four year old is heading into my favorite stage of childhood. When I was her age, I really got into imaginative play. I was obsessed with my Little Tikes dollhouse and would play for hours on end every day. While my daughter has a few dolls and dollhouses, her favorite dolls aren’t dolls at all. They’re actually squirrels, skunks, and owls. They’re one of many animal families from the world of Li’l Woodzeez. I, I mean my daughter, was lucky enough to receive these awesome animal dolls to review and we both could not love them more!

Li’l Woodzeez is designed and manufactured by Battat, a family-owned business that’s been in business for almost 120 years and has been operating in North America for the last 45+ years. Home of so many award-winning toys, all Battat toys have an educational value, whether it’s didactic, nurturing, or collecting and creating worlds for children. This amazing company is also a proud supporter of the WE Villages program, an organization that is admired for its integrity and initiatives to make the world a better place for kids. You can find all of their exceptional and high quality toy brands here! Check out this video to see Li’l Woodzeez animal families and play sets in action:

We received our Li’l Woodzeez package about a week and a half before Christmas and my daughter was positive Santa had sent it for her! When we opened it, her eyes lit up when she saw the utterly adorable animal families that we were sent. They are all so cute! Each family of 4 came with a little book that told a story about each family which my daughter loves, we read them often. She also loved learning each of their first names (each family has an adorable last name as well, like the Whiffpuff Skunk family and the Whooswhoo Owl family). She loves that each family has a little baby that wears a diaper, she loves acting like their mama! The animals have whiskers too, and are really life-like with their velvety little bodies, these are quality critters!

We were also sent the incredible Honeysuckle Sweets & Treats Food Truck. I was blown away by this truck and all of it’s storage, it even has a trap door in the floor! It’s also packed with so many accessories and tiny little foods to play with, 89 pieces in all! From little tacos and slices of pizza, to little bottles of water and fries, to spatulas and plates. But when I say tiny, these things are tiny! You have be careful with little ones. My ten month old can’t be around when my oldest plays with her Li’l Woodzeez, there is just too much of a risk with her putting a piece in her mouth and choking. But that doesn’t prevent her big sister from having fun! We usually play together in the playroom during nap time. It gives us one on one time, and gives me the opportunity to relive my childhood with my big girl! **Not for children under 3 years.**

If your child has a favorite animal, I can almost guarantee that it has a Li’l Woodzeez family! There are literally so many animal families, it’s hard to decide which to add to our collection! Check them all out here to find your little one’s favorite! Once you decide on a family (or two), head over here to pick out a house for them to call home and here to add some accessories in the mix, like an airplane or one of many themed play sets. The detail that is put into these toys is unbelievable. You and your little one will not be disappointed by the craftsmanship, I can promise you that. My daughter already has a long list of what families, accessories, and houses she wants next! The complete Li’l Woodzeez collection is available at your local Target store or online!

image1-7 — The Honeysuckle Sweets & Treats Food Truck is a multi-award winner for good reason!

Don’t forget to follow Li’l Woodzeez Instagram for new releases and updates!

– Casey

**Burrito Buzz received this product at low or no cost for the purpose of review or testing. No compensation for a positive review was provided. All product reviews are based 100% off of our personal experiences with a product and we never guarantee a positive review.**

Malia’s House from Build & Imagine {Review}

Published on November 20, 2016November 19, 2016 by Casey SehmLeave a comment

Being the mom of a 4 year old and a new baby, my oldest spends way too much time on the iPad or in front of the TV. I know, I know. It’s not good and you’re supposed to limit screen time, but when I’m busy with the baby (it was much worse when she was first born), you have to do what you can to survive. I know she’s not the only one that’s constantly staring at a screen (TVs, tablets, smartphones, and computers are everywhere) and I know it’s hard to pull them away. But when you find a toy that does just that, gets them off of the tablet, away from the TV, and actually using their little brains to learn and play, you have to share it. I was recently given the opportunity to review an an absolutely amazing toy from Build & Imagine called Malia’s House and I can’t stress enough how awesome this product is. My daughter is obsessed and has been for about a week and a half now.

Build & Imagine StoryWalls are like building blocks meets dollhouse meets dress-up meets dolls for kids 4-8 years old. StoryWalls are magnetic playsets that contain colorfully illustrated scenes that can kids can build and decorate with magnetic accessories (like paperdolls) over and over again. They’re called StoryWalls because it’s like building a 3-D storybook setting, then jumping right into play! Each set include dolls to dress up, illustrated building panels that attach magnetically that create endless play! Dozens of magnetic accessories are also included to make your scene uniquely yours. With everything being magnetic, changing things up to create a new story is quick and easy! See Build & Imagine’s products in action below:

When we received Malia’s House, I honestly thought my daughter would play around with it for half an hour tops, as she seems to move on from activity to activity rather quickly (she takes after her father and can’t sit still for too long). So when I tell you she played at the kitchen table from 11AM until bathtime at 7PM (and did not watch the iPad once the entire time), I was completely and happily surprised. She absolutely loves Maila’s House! She loves building Malia and her friend Skylar a new house and creating different storylines for them based on the magnetic walls and adding decor. They’ll go to the beach together and forget the sunscreen, or they’ll plant fruits and veggies in the garden while drinking lemonade or put out the fire the cat started in the kitchen (these are actual storylines she has come up with). Her imagination literally runs wild and I love it! A four year old that wants to sit and play for hours on end and not want to look at a screen is priceless to me.

I give Malia’s House 5 out of 5 stars and I would recommend any one of the engaging playsets from Build & Imagine to anyone looking for a toy that’s different from the norm for their daughter or son. The panels are durable, even for the roughest of child, and easy for little hands to build with. And there are so many sets to choose from, check them all out here! With sets starting at $24.99 and an expansion packs starting at $8.99, there’s something for everyone’s budget!

Be sure to follow Build & Imagine on Facebook and Twitter!

– Casey

PlaSmart Smart Mat {Review}

Published on June 27, 2016June 27, 2016 by Closed AccountLeave a comment

My 16 month old son loves his cars. Maybe almost as much as I loved playing cars with my younger brother when I was little. My brother and I had a cool car mat with streets and shops that we would play on for hours at a time. Though, it was located in his room instead of mine, which I still call bullshit on. As an adult, I hate real cars and how much they take from my bank account, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still love a good few hours of playing Hot Wheels with my son. I was thrilled that PlaSmart was sending BurritoBuzz some products, because I was really anxious to get one of their Smart Mats!

We set the Happyville Smart Mat up in our playroom and while my son doesn’t quite get the idea of the roads yet, he truly loves driving his cars on it. The mat is pretty large at 80 x 57 x 0.2 inches, which is way larger than the carpet one that I had when I was young.

It is lightweight, at only 2lbs and the base is made from EVA foam.

The graphics are phenomenal, and the ease of cleaning this mat makes it a great purchase (which I found out after my asshole cat decided to barf on it). The pattern does repeat three times, but most children won’t care or even notice.

This does take a few days to flatten out fully and it also needs to air out. The smell of paint/ink/chemicals when first opening this was extreme and made me a little wary but did go away within a day or two.

While I love the material and texture of the mat, it does damage very easily. My son has put several gouges into the mat already and if you have any pets with claws, you’re doomed and a carpet mat would probably be better for you. Still, toys endure wear and most things look like they’ve been abused after a toddler has played with them.

There is also another variation, the Traintown Smart Mat, that BurritoBuzz mom, Casey, received. She also agreed that it needed to air out for a day or two and the graphics are pretty awesome. Her little one likes to play with trains, so her little collection of trains were perfect to play with on her new mat. The graphics are printed three times on the train mat as well, but little Stella doesn’t mind. In fact she liked that mommy and daddy could both have the same “pink house” as she did.

Even with those few cons, I still think this mat is a great addition to our playroom. My son plays on this daily. The Happyville mat will run you around $25 and the Traintown mat is about $30, a pretty modest price for a car and train mat like this!

You can buy yours here:
Plasmart Happyville Smart Mat

Plasmart Traintown Smart Mat