NUPSA Pirate Ship – Away mi hearties!
My kids love imaginative play, as I have discussed on my personal blog. When we were offered a soft build yourself pirate ship by Nupsa – we thought, why not? These would make great large rewards for kids, and would encourage a bit of active play….so here goes!
What is it?
The idea is a good one; interconnecting shapes that can be used to build a specific item, or you can use to let your kids imaginations go wild. There are a few different shapes, and they are supposed to go together to create your masterpieces.
Set-Up
As I said, the idea is good. Unfortunately, it seems as though there are a few minor flaws in the execution. The set we were sent had very skant instructions, some pieces missing, or in different colours to those pictured in the limited instructions. This meant that it took rather longer than hoped to build; upwards of two hours in fact.
The idea that the kids could be involved is commendable, but practically that’s not possible given the details provided with the the instructions. Disappointingly for a toy aimed at pre-preschoolers, there was also a spelling mistake on the box.
Age suitability
The finished article is definitely a suitable age for mine, and for the recommended range of 4+. However, due to the lack of instructions, it would not be sensible to leave the kids to this one. Adults are required for sanity sake. However, given the time taken to build the ship, perhaps not the sanity of the required adult…
Did the kids like it?
The kids seemed to like the idea more than the toy. They have played with it for around 30 minutes since it was constructed. Bearing in mind that it took a good two hours to build, I am not sure my accountant husband thinks too highly of this investment! ;-)
Did mummy like it?
As with the kids, I loved this concept; it felt a bit like an Ikea furniture kit for kids, without the queuing and the confusing instructions. Unfortunately, only one of those actually turned out to be true. I suspect that the company who came up with the idea have sourced manufacturing from outside the UK and perhaps both the packaging, which had spelling mistakes,and the instructions were developed with low cost at the top of the wish list. Despite this, it is retailing at 69.99 Euros which considering the issues with it does seem a little bit expensive.
Overall score 3/10
In order to be fair, because the concept is good, we are giving that 8/10. However, the execution has let this toy down so overall a total score of 3/10 seems reasonable.
Have you used one of these – is it something you like? Your thoughts much appreciated.
We were provided with the ship for the purposes of review, all opinions are our own.
Helen
Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine! Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time. KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10. It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania. Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on. Get in touch TODAY!