Bernard Bee Trunki

I bet you've read a thousand reviews on Trunkis.

I know, they're 'old news', everyone and their dog has/wants one and there's a lot of different designs to choose from. I picked Moo's Bumble Bee Trunki up from Boots when they had a third off of them a couple of months ago. I bought it with our holiday in mind and also for over-nighting with relatives (the imminent arrival of her brother included). It sat in her bedroom for a couple of months before it saw any use...but by gum when it saw use, it saw use.

I chose the bumble bee because Moo is obsessed with the colour yellow. I had only three to choose from (pink, blue and yellow) when I went in to the shop to buy and while she loves pink equally, I was thinking ahead to the second child and a few more years use that I could get out of it. The thought did cross my mind, what if it didn't last that long but that wasn't an immediate concern, despite I remember when they featured on Dragons Den and one of the dragons (Theo?) managed to pull the strap off easily.

The Trunki survived a stop over in Dover and it's trip in the car from Eastbourne to Paris without a single hitch and it did its job beautifully. On our first night I packed it with overnight essentials for the three of us as we were staying in a hotel closer to Disneyland. It weighed a tonne but as it was spending all of the first day in the car, I wasn't too concerned and besides, it had wheels! It would be fine...

When we arrived at the hotel, the lift was out of order. We had to climb up a couple of flights of stairs, the Trunki had to be carried by the shoulder strap. I wish I had taken a photo of it, packed as it was; 3x pyjamas, 3x outfits and one very full wash bag stuffed with three people's worth of toiletries, it was fit to burst but the claps at the side held fantastically (even if my cardigan was making a desperate bid for freedom out of the top). The shoulder strap held really well, I remember worrying when my husband swung it onto his shoulder, that it might snap (Dragons Den...) but no...

The next afternoon we had to make our way back to our campsite on the train after having stored our Trunki in a locker at the park. It received much of the same over-stuffed, swinging and shoulder carrying as it had the day before, this time on French public transport and the walk from the station to our caravan. All in all, I think my husband carried it on his shoulder for well over an hour, weighing more than our two-year-old. I have had adult suitcases that have survived less traumatising adventures and cost me more pennies. 

I was so, so impressed with how the Trunki faired against a bit of a battering and the weight of it's contents. As a suitcase designed for small children, you wouldn't think that it would be able to cope with the demands of luggage that even full-size cases would strain under. Here are my pros and cons...

Pros.

- Quite roomy for pint-sized people things, plenty of room for clothes, shoes, a toy and a couple of books.

- Brightly coloured so difficult to lose and attractive.

- Locking mechanism surprisingly strong.

- Shoulder strap incredibly strong.

- Has the ride-on feature it's well known for that works well with small children.

- Lightweight when empty and compact for easy storage at our destination.

Cons.

- The wheels aren't fantastic on corners so if you have an overly enthusiastic child, older child or you're just plain daft like me, it's likely to tip if you're wheeling it quickly around a corner if there's no child sat on top.

- The locks on the sides of the case sometimes turned too far with the key provided and were then not secure or not unlocked fully. It was also difficult at times to tell whether they were locked or unlocked.

So yes, I'm most definitely a Trunki fan now and would certainly recommend the, if you're holidaying with a toddler.

You can buy Trunki cases and other products from a variety of shops like Amazon, John Lewis and Boots as well as the Trunki store. The Trunki we have is Bernard Bee and currently costs £31.08 from Amazon.

Clare

Please note that I purchased our Trunki with my own money and was not compensated for this post in any way.

Trunki PaddlePak Party

How great was the rain on the weekend? I was incredibly thankful for it for many reasons, the main one being that I'd woken up with a really bad back and could barely move (so naturally my husband decided it was the day to mount the television onto the wall)! This meant I couldn't really take Moo out anywhere. Since I've been on maternity leave she's gotten into the habit of doing something out every day and so the first thing she asks when she wakes up is 'where are we going today?'

With the rain so bad and my back feeling like I'd had a run in with a bull dozen, we stayed inside and what other excuse than to try the Trunki app for iPad and iPhone?

The app's free to download and based on their television commercial (that was made with Aardman, the people behind Wallace and Gromit) to promote their new 'Paddle Pak' range. The first thing that struck me was the fantastic colours, I don't pay a huge amount of attention to advertising campaigns if I'm honest because my mantra is always research when making a purchase. The colours on the app are bright, bold and whimsical featuring a variety of sea-life characters to play as (the characters correspond with the PaddlePaks that are currently available to buy). The game is recommended for children aged 3-6 years and the basic idea is you select a character and then must gobble up various items of beachwear to complete the level.

It downloaded quickly onto my iPad and away we went! I decided I would play first so that Moo (who is not quite three but competent on other popular pre-school apps) could watch me do it. The app didn't offer to show me how to play the first time, however and so as it started up I didn't quite know what it was I was supposed to be doing. I pressed my finger to the screen and moved it around thinking that it would follow my touch but it didn't. I managed to complete the first level (find 5 snorkels) but it took an embarrassing amount of time and left me feeling a bit frustrated and disappointed. Moo was delighted by the colours, sounds and movements by this stage and begging for a turn. I quickly went back to the home screen and checked in the settings and sure enough there was a tutorial telling me how to play; press the screen to make the character swim up, release for them to swim down.

So I went and tried again and yes, that made much more sense and it was working though I will admit, I'm twenty-six and it was a little on the tricky side. A wonderful thing about this game is that there are no penalties, so if you accidentally swallow a pair of swimming trunks as opposed to the sunglasses you're supposed to be chomping on, you are not then penalised for doing so which is great for the younger end of the age recommendation.

As Moo started to play, I could see that the touch and release aspect of the games control was a little 'beyond' her, but like I said, she's not three until early October so for her to have some basic issues with controls such as those, I wasn't concerned. The colours and sounds were enough to keep her playing and entertained, and even though it took her longer than perhaps it should to achieve her goal, she was happy and having fun. 

All in all I found this to be a wonderful little app, here are my pros and cons:

Pros.

- No penalties which keeps children engaged rather than frustrating them.

- Graphics are beautiful.

- Promotes counting in groups of five.

- Promotes memory and picture recognition.

- For an app based on a product, the advertising of said product is not in your face and I really like that! It's there, but it's subtle and won't have your children begging and pleading for you to buy the, the whole range.

- Promotes hand eye co-ordination.

- It's free!! I've paid for apps inferior in quality.

Cons.

- It didn't volunteer to tell me how to play, I had to look for myself. Not sure if that's standard though or if perhaps mine just had a glitch? You never can tell with technology!

- The controls are a little tricky, but it comes with practise.

If you have an iPhone or an iPad, I would definitely recommend downloading this app for those odd moments when you really need to ring the gas company, or you want to keep them quiet for twenty minutes on public transport, or just for a rainy day game to play together like we did!

The app is available for download from the App Store by searching 'Trunki'.

Clare

Please note that I received no compensation for this post, all views and experiences are my own.