Now here's an excellent present for a Christmas Stocking. This Plasticine Mega Pack is £8.50 at Tesco Direct, reduced from £20.

• Click here for your Plasticine Mega Pack at Tesco Direct

Plasticine is fun on its own, and also great for making accessories for other games and toys. Like rocks and plants for toy train sets, or to go with a Lego set.

It was a favourite of mine when I was a kid too. What I really liked about plasticine is that unlike Play Doh, it doesn't dry out. Also, it is harder so you can make proper models with it.

However, it can get mucky and won't necessarily last forever. Especially if it is used to help accessorise other games! Replenishing their plasticine stock is an excellent use of the good old Christmas stocking. And this is a huge pack, at a good price.

This Plasticine mega pack contains 20 different colours of placticine plus loads of cool accessories, allowing your offspring to make hundreds of cool models. Placticine will never dry out so you can use it over and over again. Plasticine is suitable for children in the age range of 3 years and upwards, although I think they get the best use out of it if they're 5 or older.

Thanks to mummybones at HUKD!

The rampant consumerism at this time of the year can really get you down. Well it gets me down at any rate. I've been looking increasingly over the last few years at alternatives that aren't going to cost the Earth, literally.

Wrapping paper is one key item that I resent spending money on. OK, so it isn't exactly a huge expense. You can pick up a couple of cheap rolls of paper for less than a quid. It will be really thin, mind, and rip easily. But still it is fairly cheap, especially when you consider it is simply going to get ripped right off.

But it is all such a waste. Then there are the Christmas cards. And decorations.

So what else can you do? Here's some ideas, a few of which you and the kids can have fun doing together if you like. It also teaches them about recycling, and ways they can make good use of everything.

Click here to read more...

There's lots of toys on sale at the moment, and rest assured they'll all be full price in the week before Christmas. Or most of them anyway. This is a very pink toy, but if you've got a Hello Kitty fan in the house you'll be used to that. John Lewis has reduced the price of the Hello Kitty Roller Disco from £29.95 to £15.

• Click here for your Hello Kitty Roller Disco at John Lewis

With this playset, your little one can treat their Hello Kitty dolls to an amazing roller disco where they can dance the night away. The set comes with 4 Hello Kitty figurines, sweet machine and shop, skate hire shop, as well as tables and chairs where they can enjoy a milkshake.

If the dolls fancy going for a dance in their magnetic skates, the dance floor flashes and lights up, while the disco ball revolves to set a proper party scene.

This is also a handy toy for taking about with you, useful if you're doing any visiting or travelling over the Christmas break. The disco folds up into a handy carry case so you can take Hello Kitty with you wherever you go.

Thanks to mkb_1980 at HUKD!

I've bought a lot of toys from Smyths over the years. They offer prices that are pretty good, easily on par with Toys R Us. If you're looking to buy a number of items, or a single expensive item, then it is worth checking the Smyths' website until Tuesday, as they're offering free NEXT DAY delivery on orders over £29. Yes that's right, you could order that day, get it the next, and never have to leave your warm, cosy living room. You might be able to tell that I just love free delivery offers.

• Click here for free next day delivery at Smyths Toys

There are exclusions however. It may not apply to a big item, so best to check if you're looking to get something like a bike. It is also only available on mainland Great Britain, so sadly no use if you're in Northern Ireland.

You also need to place your order before 5pm to get it the next day.

Special offers on the site at the moment include the Little Tykes Cooking Sounds Kitchen, at £29.99. It is normally £59.99.

The Fireman Sam Supreme Playset is down from £59.99 to £39.99. This is a 21 piece playset, with figures and vehicles, a collapsing roof and floor.

And then there's Magic Rattle Pooh, reduced from £29.99 to £19.99. This Winnie the Pooh toy comes with a child size rattle. When baby shakes the rattle at Pooh, Pooh will start to rock around on his bottom and the bee on his hand will dance. When baby stops rattling Pooh stops rocking.

Thanks to Carol123 at HUKD!

This would make a nice Christmas present or stocking filler for a little one. I always liked singing with my son when he was a toddler (and too little to realise how out of tune mummy was). I never knew that many songs though. The First Songs Library Sing-along Books are £3.99 including delivery at Play.com. The normal RRP is £12.99.

• Click here for your Sing-along Books at Play.com

The First Songs Library Sing-along Books are a collection of three illustrated books. These contain 50 of our favourite nursery rhymes, lullabies and sing-along songs. Well favourite according to the makers of these books, so I guess that means the most well known. I know so little of these songs, I was a bit surprised there were fifty of them!

The website says that children will love to sing along to the musical versions on the specially-recorded audio CD. In my experience that's usually true. Especially older babies and toddlers. Not all of them like those little playgroups where you do sing songs though. My son didn't, and the lad I used to babysit wasn't fond of them either. Something like this to sing at home is ideal then.

Thanks to MissGem at HUKD!

Use this The Body Shop promotional code to get 50% off pots of pots of body butter. I remember seeing this code pop up around this time last year, or something like it. And I bagged about four tubs at a bargain price. With a lovely box, some tissue paper, and a few other items they made some really lovely and thoughtful presents for my friends.

Click here to get your The Body Shop Winter Essentials for half price

• Discount: 50%
• Applies to: Winter Essentials
• Promotional code: WINTER
• Expires: 12th December 2011

To use this code, go to the Shopping Basket page and enter it in the Promotional Code box. It will be applied to your order automatically. I tested it out on the Almond Nail & Cuticle Oil, which cost £7. The code took this down to £3.50. Delivery is £3.99 on the site.

There are a large number of gorgeous sounding items in the Winter Essentials section. Something I've done for the last couple of years is to make up little gift baskets for some members of the family. I keep some of the packaging that comes through during the year - for example one item I bought around Mother's Day time came snuggled in pink shredded paper. Then I buy a few items when sales like this come up, and you can then put together a nice gift set much cheaper than you'd get in the shops (try covering little boxes in tissue paper and then wrap the whole lot up with cellophane).

Thanks to emz13x at HUKD!

It's the night before Christmas ... well thankfully it isn't! I'd be in a blind panic right now not having actually got half my presents. But that's the name of the gorgeous jigsaw puzzle that Jumbo Games sent me. I also got to try out its Fireman Sam Spin and Rescue Game.

One big problem about buying presents, especially for kids, is that you're never really sure what you're going to get. That why we're focussing on the top items that people generally like to buy for review this year. And what is more Christmassy than sitting around doing a jigsaw puzzle on Christmas eve?

How did these potential gifts work out? Well read on and see!

Click here to read more...

Use this Warehouse promotional code to get 25% off and free next day delivery. The best bit about this code is that it works on sale items too. Next day delivery normally costs £4.99. Very handy if you want to pick up some Christmas clobber for yourself, or a few Christmas present items for older children and family.

Click here to use your Warehouse promotional code

• Discount: 25%
• Promotional code: 25VC
• Expires: 11th December 2011

To use this code, go to the Shopping Bag page and enter it in the Promotional Code box. It will be applied to your order, right at the bottom of the totals column, after delivery is added.

I tested it out on this Sequin Striped T-Shirt, which was in the sale section - the site has up to 40% off party gear. Handy if you've got some Christmas parties to go to this year. It had been marked down from £55 to £35.

The code took a further £8.75 off the price, and also the standard delivery charge of £4.99, so the overall bill including delivery came to £26.25.

Thanks to djmetsandy at HUKD!

Cars, stunts, and a track that can get cars to jump over ten feet. I always end up feeling like I'm being sexist when I write these sorts of toys up, but while there's going to be girls and mums who love this (and I know I do) this is a toy for the boys. The S1 GX Racers Jump Track Set is down from £19.99 to £9.99 at The Hut.

• Click here for your stunt car racing set at The Hut

Whenever I watch my son and his friends play I am amazed at how long they'll spend to create something for that one second worth of satisfaction when it is utterly destroyed or a missile knocks something over. I can only imagine what they'll come up with given a car track set that sends cars flying through the air at up to 10feet.

My other half will love something like this too. I can imagine all sorts of daddy and son bonding sessions while I get to curl up on the sofa and read my Christmas book while drinking my Christmas glass of wine.

The jump ramp is fully adjustable by height and distance, comes with 7ft of track and the car can jump over 10 feet.

Special Features:

• 1 x Adjustable Jump Track with 7ft of track
• 1 x Speed Gyro
• 1 x GX Racer Car
• 1 x Rip Cord

Use this Disney Store online promotional code to get £10 off your order when you spend £50 or more. This is a particularly handy code at this time of the year, especially if you've got more than one child to buy for.  You'll also get free delivery, as there's no charge on orders over £30 until the end of  this Sunday. The code works on full price items, and doesn't work when your total contains items that are already discounted.

Click here to use your Disney Store online promotional code

• Discount: £10
• Minimum spend: £50
• Promotional code: DVDISNEY10
• Expires: 4th December 2011

To use this code, go to the Shopping Basket page and enter it in the box under Special Offers and Discounts. It will be applied automatically to your order.

I tested it out on a range of  items from my son's favourite movies. Specifically a Buzz Lightyear costume for £20, Disney Cars Deluxe Racer set for £20, and a couple of action figures. In total my basket came to £50.49. Delivery of £4.95 was deducted, and the £10 taken off, so in total including delivery the whole bill came to £40.49. Making it one of the few times where I didn't leave the Disney store, either in person or online, without feeling like my wallet had been violated.

Thanks to grumpyat3 at HUKD!

All I want for Christmas is ... Chances are a lot of kids are going to have a micro scooter on their list of Christmas gifts. My son has one, and I can't think what I'd do without it. When we're out it keeps him going in a straight line, it has a lot of entertainment value when at the park, and is perfect for day trips.

Invariably there's acres of walking to do where-ever we go. Just getting from the tube to the Natural History museum is a trek! So he doesn't get tuckered out too early, and for the trip home again at the end of the day when we're all tired, the micro scooter means I don't have a whiny child. He can stand on it, and it is effortless to pull along. Oh, and I can hang my bag on the handle too.

Even if it isn't for their main Christmas present list, Micro Scooters sell a number of accessories as well. Handy for stocking fillers and as smaller Christmas gifts.

So I was thrilled that we'd get a chance to review some of these. Always good to be able to pass on relevant and practical buying information for our parent readers. Sadly (for me) we don't get to keep this stuff, but you can read on to find out what we found heart wrenching to send back, and what we were more than happy to return.

Click here to read more...

Use this JoJo Maman Bebe promotional code to get 15% off your order, and free delivery.  The code does not, sadly, work with sale items or other special offers. It doesn't last long however. It is a good code to keep a note of as it doesn't expire for another five weeks, taking you right through the crucial pre-Christmas buying season.

Click here to use your  JoJo Maman Bebe promotional code

• Discount: 15% and free delivery
• Promotional code: MTF12
• Expires: 18th December 2011

To use your JoJo Maman Bebe promotional code, go to the My Basket page and enter it in the Promotional Code box. It is discounted automatically from each item in your basket. That is, 15% is deducted from each item in your basket.

Could be very handy if you're pregnant and want to pick up a party frock. I had a look and there's some lovely dresses on the site, that aren't too expensive. Such as this Beaded Evening Maternity Dress, priced at £49. The code took £7.35 off that total.

Thanks to sherry4283 at HUKD!