A New Favorite Toy and a Giveaway

This giveaway is closed.
Mommyto3cuties is one of the winners.
Spell Out Loud is the other winner.
Congrats!

Thanks to all who entered!

About a week ago, my children found a huge box on our front porch. I was not expecting anything, so I could not imagine what was inside. We proceeded to take the box inside and open it up. As we lifted the flaps of the box, my girls immediately started to jump up and down and scream. "Zhu Zhu Pets!", they both screamed. I started to ask, "What in the world are Zuu Zuu Pets?". Then I remembered ~ a while back I had applied to review these toys with my children. I had completely forgotten. I explained to my children that the company had sent us these toys because they want to know what kids think about them. Needless to say, they were thrilled!


If you are like me, and have not seen or heard of Zhu Zhu Pets, here is the company description:

Zhu Zhu Pets are the world’s first innovative, realistic, interactive, plush, and artificially intelligent hamsters that talk and move around in their own playsets. Zhu Zhu Pets include two play modes: nurturing mode where the hamsters coo and purr, and adventure mode where the hamsters explore their habitat with intelligent audio and mechanical responses to various habitat stimuli. Over a dozen add-ons can be purchased to build an ever-evolving hamsterworld for your hamsters to play in and explore. Zhu Zhu Pets are the newest craze among kids and expected to be the most popular toy of the year!

You can also see the commercial here.

As the girls unpacked the box, they could not stop giggling. They were so excited and could not wait to play with everything. My lovely husband put everything together, and my children got busy testing. Here is what they thought about each item they received:

• Hamster Fun House - This is like the main house for the hamsters.
  
• Hamster Wheel and Tunnel - The hamsters really run on the wheel, and they go fast!
  
• Surfboard and Sleep Dome - It is so funny to see the hamsters ride the surfboard. When our hamsters are tired they go to sleep in the sleep dome.
• Hamster Car and Garage - The hamster car is fun and easy to do.
  
• Spiral Slide and Ramp - The spiral slide is like the one at our school, so it is funny to see a hamster go down one.
  
• Go Go Adventure Ball - Sometimes the ball did not work good, but when it did it looked like a real hamster was inside.
• Zhu Zhu Pet Hamsters - They are so cute. They make little noises and zoom all around. When they run into something, they turn around and go the other way.
  
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As you can see and read, these toys were a hit. I appreciated the fact that all three of my children (girls - 8, 6, and boy - 3) were equally engaged. It is really hard to find toys or games that are fun for all of them, but Zhu Zhu Pets kept them entertained. It was great to see all of my children playing together cooperatively and having such a good time.


I also liked that the pieces are easy to assemble and use. The only thing that was remotely tricky was the Go Go Adventure Ball. There is a little plastic piece that comes with the ball. This plastic piece has to be put on the bottom of the hamster before you put him into the ball. Without this piece the hamster cannot run correctly inside the ball. My three year old had a bit of trouble putting the piece on. However, my girls were able to do it perfectly and helped him.

As much as we liked these hamsters, I do have one bit of advice. Before your children begin playing with the hamsters, please explain to them that they should NOT place them on their heads (or anyone else's) while the hamster is "going". Otherwise, your child may end up like this:


Yes, the hamster got stuck in my daughter's hair. My son thought he was being funny and placed the hamster on her head while the wheels were turning and her hair got wrapped all around the wheels. This was a nightmare to get out. Consider yourself warned!

For this giveaway, two lucky people will win two Zhu Zhu Pets each. To enter: Leave us a comment about which Zhu Zhu Pet toy you think your child would like best.




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Please leave a separate comment for each extra entry. The winner will be randomly chosen on Monday, September 28 and contacted by email. Prizes will only be shipped to US addresses.

Good Luck!