****THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED******

Munchkin Inc., the award-winning international baby brand, has teamed up with Playpennies to offer 2 lucky readers the chance to win a selection of exciting new baby bath goodies worth over £50!

The prize bundle includes all of the new bath time products from Munchkin including some classic and handy favourites, so your little ones are sure to make a splash during bath time! You could win the brand new Wonder Waterway, Float and Stack Buddies, Splash Along Mermaid, Tug Along Boat, Bath Fun Monster Truck, as well as the award-winning Lazy Buoys and parents favourite Corner Bath Organiser.

What’s more, each item from Munchkin has been designed to excite and delight children whilst making parents lives easier and more enjoyable.

For more information and to view the full range, visit www.munchkin.com.

How To Enter:

Standing a chance to win one of these tasty prizes is easy! Just answer the simple question below and then follow the instructions.

Question: Which Munchkin item would you most like to win for your tiny tot?

• Leave a comment in the thread below with answer (1 entry)

For bonus entries to the competition:

• Subscribe to the PlayPennies daily email update (1 entry)
• Tweet a link to this contest and leave your twitter link below (1 bonus entry)

Rules:

1. Contest ends on 14th February 2013
2. Open to UK residents only
3. One type of entry per household
4. Must complete email verification when subscribing
5. Must include a valid email address if commenting
6. Admin’s decision is final in all cases

*** Competition is now closed, winners will be added to this thread soon! ***

Munchkin are the award winning international baby brand that have created all sorts of cool and funky products for babies and kids. They have teamed up with PlayPennies to offer two lucky readers the chance to win a selection of fantastic cleaning goodies worth over £50 each!

These scrummy bundles from Munchkin will help you keep everything in your kitchen spick and span. The prize bundle includes all of the fantastic cleaning products from Munchkin such as the brightly coloured and innovative microwave steriliser bags, the deluxe bottle brush, the sprout drying rack, the flexible dishwasher basket and so much more.

As prizes go, each of these Munchkin packs is worth over £50 and are utterly brilliant for the time-strapped parent. Every one of these items has been designed to delight children while making your life easier and more enjoyable. The full collection of Munchkin products includes colourful and clever bathing, feeding and care products. You can see them all on the Munchkin site here!

So how can YOU win one of these awesome prizes?

How To Enter:

Standing a chance to win one of these gorgeous sets is simple.

Question: Visit the Munchkin site and tell us which product you would love to have and why.

• Leave a comment in the thread below with answer (1 entry)

For bonus entries to the competition:

• Subscribe to the PlayPennies daily email update (1 entry)
• Tweet a link to this contest and leave your twitter link below (1 bonus entry)

Rules:

1. Contest ends on 7th October 2012

2. Open to UK residents only

3. One type of entry per household

4. Must complete email verification when subscribing

5. Must include a valid email address if commenting

6. Admin’s decision is final in all cases

Munchkin recently sent us a range of teething products to review for them. While it’s a little premature for my almost 12 week old, and a little old for my 2 year old, we’ve still had a bit of play with them and look at them and my two year old has given them a gnaw – she has to try out everything that’s meant for her baby sister!

The first item we received was a Twisty Figure 8 Teethter Toy (£2.95), which is a twistable teether toy with sound, texture and colour. Aimed at babies six months and older – I have no idea why! – they suggest that the toy will develop motor and sensory skills while providing something to grasp and chew on.  It is an easy to twist and hold on to item, with the actual width of the bits you hold on to being small enough for baby hands.

The surface of the teether has multiple different textures, adding to the visual and sensory stimulation. There are smooth surfaces, ridged, bubbly, round and others that I don’t know the right descriptive word for.  There are also a variety of colours – yellow, orange, pink, blue and purple – which may not mean much to them at first, but is still visually stimulating.

There are also beads in the clear coloured bits, so that it makes a rattle sound when its shaken. Additionally, the teether is BPA and PVC free.

I really don’t understand the age limit on it though. There’s nothing on it that can come loose and there’s nothing that I can see being a better or worse for a teeny tiny baby than a six month old. The only difference perhaps that an older baby would get more fun out of twisting and shaping the Figure 8.

We also received the Twisty Barbell Teether Toy (£3.59).  The Twisty Barbell is also BPA and PVC free and it has two big balls on the end, hence the barbell name. I can see why this would be more appropriate for a six month plus baby as it would probably be easier to get their mouths around the circumference of the barbell. The thought of that might frighten some parents, but I think you have to see it in person to understand that there’s not much chance of even the most adventurous child managing to choke on this toy.

It has six textures and sounds – the sounds being the rattley beads again – and the slightly rubbery feeling star barbells. Further to that it has three rings in the centre that also have different patterns and feel different, and will probably be awesome for gnawing sore gums on – even if you cant quite bite down on the balls.  The bar itself that holds it all together  is twisty and each of the three parts is a different colour and texture.

It is easy to hold on to, and easy to get a grip on as well as being very, very light, so not a problem for a little one .

The last goody we received is the Fun Ice Chewy Teether (£4.41). It is an easy-to-grasp hand shaped teether with a hole in the centre for little fingers to hold on to. It is slightly more expensive than the others, which is strange because it does less, but then it is suitable from birth.

I particularly like this one as when my eldest was a baby, she began showing the signs of teething at 12 weeks already and none of the teethers we had at that stage were big enough to fit in her mouth. When the first two teeth popped through at 4 months, she couldn’t even get the teething ring into her mouth! With this the baby would be able to chew on a ‘finger’ which I think is ideal.  This particular one also goes in the fridge, so it will have a nice cooling effect on the gums.  (And, by the way, it can be used to just help keep them cool in the hot weather too!)

The Good

I like that they’re BPA and PVC free – something I basically take for granted in the products I buy these days, but still good.

I think they’re really, really well priced. If you consider how long kids teethe for, and how horrible it can be, if these can bring relief that’s fantastic.

I also like that they’re a toy too – perfect for on the go when you don’t want to carry a myriad of stuff with you.

Also, we don’t use a pacifier, but we have a pacifier clip and these all fit on the ‘other’ end, so if she drops it from her sling (a pram would be the same) it doesn’t actually fall on the ground

The Bad

I can’t think of a single bad thing to say here.

The Verdict

I don’t think these do anything you couldn’t achieve with a frozen cloth, but they’re so much nicer than chewing on a wet rag. They are well made, fun and vibrant in appearance and not at all a bad price. I like them and would definitely recommend them or give them to friends as gifts.

When Tamsin first mentioned the Munchkin Snack Catcher to me, a cross between the Munchkins from the Wizard of Oz and the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang stalking lunchtime snacks leapt into my mind!

A little bit of an insight, for you, into the weirdness that can be my mind but a quick google revealed that the Munchkin Snack Catcher is actually a rather nifty little pot for putting snacks in.

"Big deal," I hear you say, "I have loads of little snack pots in the cupboard!"

I'm sure, but I bet you've also lost some of those snacks to the kitchen floor, the car carpet, and any other surface that will happily accept food when those pots get dropped or knocked over.

*Drum roll* Enter....the Munchkin Snack Catcher!

We gave a snack catcher to one of our father son duos to road test, quite literally, for us.

"What is it?" asked four-year-old Edward, when he was presented with what looks like a toddler training cup with a strange looking lid on it.

"It's a snack catcher!" replied Simon, Edward's dad.

"A snack catcher? What's a snack catcher?" Edward questioned.

"It's a pot to put snacks in, you can reach in and get them out but if the pot gets dropped or knocked over, the snacks will stay inside," explained Simon.

"Can I have some snacks now and test it?" came the reply along with a cheeky grin; you've got to love canny four-year-olds!

The snack of choice for this first trial run was apricots. Edward took his Munchkin Snack Catcher, ran off and proceeded to 'accidently' fall over numerous times, sending it rolling across the floor - all apricots remained in the pot, round one to the snack catcher!

I know Edward pretty well, I should do - he's my youngest, and he's not one to be beaten.  He soon discovered that the only way to 'beat' the snack catcher was to turn it upside down and BANG it on the table.  Round two to Edward (sort of).

The next test was conducted on the road.

"I cut up some apple and put it in the pot and we went off on car trip," Simon told me, "Edward was happy dipping in and out of it during the journey and then wanted to take it with him into Tesco! So he wandered around the shop eating his apple without spilling any." Round three to the Munchkin Snack Catcher!

Sometimes with these things though, the novelty value can wear off pretty quickly, so what happened the morning after?

"The next morning Edward was asking for his breakfast fruit in the pot!" reported Simon; a definite win if something is still the 'item of the moment' the following day.

The lid is made from soft plastic with five 'slits' in it which push apart easily when little fingers reach inside to pull their snacks out. It also makes it very difficult, if not impossible, for wasps and flies to get into and trample all over, this earns it a lot of brownie points as far as I'm concerned.

Simon did have one piece of constructive criticism though,  regarding the design (Edward's snack catcher was dark blue with an orange lid), "the content isn't easily visible so you have to remember when using it with fruit etc, to empty it during the day or it would be easy to forget and then kids dip into it later, not realising that it had gone a bit skanky."

All of Munchkin's products are BPA free - BPA stands for bisphenol A which is a compound used to make a lot of plastic items, and concerns have been raised about its safety and the effects, due to exposure, on fetuses, infants, and young children.

And finally...

Snack Catchers are available in Asda or Wilkinsons stores and retail for £3.49, and the overall consensus of opinion from Simon and Edward is that the Munchkin Snack Catcher is easy and fun to use and also easy to clean.

It gets a very definite thumbs up from them both and a thumbs down from all the dogs owned by various family members, who will be going slightly hungrier from now on.