Friday, July 25, 2014

Once You Shop, You Can't Stop: Shopkins {Review & Giveaway}

Shopkins logo
Why is it that things that are smaller are always so much cuter than their larger counterparts?

Hold up a pair of my shoes and they're nothing special. But a miniature pair for a baby? Behold the cuteness! And has anyone ever successfully not awwwww'd at seeing a puppy? Plus, c'mon. An itty bitty little decorated cake would definitely pass as cuter than a large one (although I'd eat either, of course).

In the world of toys, the introduction of a new brand that takes its creative, colorful and fun products on a very small-scale manages to thrill kids in the same way. A race car is a race car until it is adorably tiny. And pretend food is pretend food until it is turned into miniscule characters that are perfect for imagining and playing. Then it is Shopkins!

shopkins toys

Newly released from Moose Toys (creators of Trash Pack, Glitzi Globes, Gelarti and many more), Shopkins are a collection of 148 grocery store-themed characters that are perfect for playing, collecting, sharing and trading.

From fruits & vegetables to health & beauty to frozen foods, there is a category of Shopkins to represent just about every aspect, aisle and item offered at your local supermarket. Combine that uniqueness with their sweet little faces and cute little hands and feet and it really isn't a wonder that these have been a hit ever since they arrived and we were able to share them with our friends.

Shopkins

With all of these charming little guys waiting to play, it was time for a Shopkins Summer Playdate!

Seeing as Shopkins need no introductions or instructions, we were able to easily set up our Shopkins Small Mart and Shopkins Fruit & Veg Stand before our friends arrived...

Shopkins Small Mart
 Shopkins Fruit & Veg

...at which time the girls wasted no time in opening many of the other packs and starting to play. Unsurprisingly, the kids all loved them!

Shopkins sets

Creativity is truly encouraged with Shopkins, as there really is no limit to what the girls did and played with these little characters. Whether displayed, checkout out and sold at one of the playsets, sent sliding down the delivery chute, pushed around in the shopping cart, neatly bagged to be brought home, "juiced" into crazy concoctions ("Have you ever tried donut-yogurt juice? Yum!"), or much, much more, everyone was able to throw out their imaginative ideas and contribute in a fun way!

As well as promoting and facilitating group play, however, I noticed that Shopkins are easily played with individually as well and can also be enhanced with all sorts of other toys. One of our guests brought over Barbie to do some shopping, two sat down later with a bin of Little People and included them in a variety of tales, a group of Shopkins made a trip to our dollhouse... there was endless ingenuity and inspiration!

Shopkins playsets

Along with simply playing with Shopkins, the addition of a Collector's Guide makes it even more fun when it comes to amassing them. As each pack was opened, the little characters were compared to the guide to find out the humorous names (e.g. Bread Head, Lolli Poppins, Polly Polish and Cool Cube) and how common, rare or ultra rare they were.

Shopkins collections

In the weeks that have followed since our playdate, my daughters have still been just as excited each time they have opened a new package of Shopkins to see which ones are inside. In the 12-pack, 10 of the Shopkins are seen through the plastic but two are hidden completely from view to heighten the anticipation!

Shopkins review

Available now in 12-packs, 5-packs, playsets and accessories, Shopkins are sold at Target, Toys 'R' Us or on Amazon at very affordable prices (approximately $9.99 to $19.99). These are definitely original, gender neutral, very collectible and a lot of fun!

Find out much more about this great line of toys on Facebook and by visiting ShopkinsWorld.com, where you'll not only find miniature cuteness, but a whole Party Pack of invitations, cupcake wrappers, gift tags, place cards and more so that you can throw your own awesome Shopkins Summer Playdate!

Shopkins party

Plus, thanks to the generosity of Moose Toys, one person will be on their way to seeing just how much joy and imagination Shopkins can provide, because...

One lucky person will win a Shopkins Small Mart Playset, a Bakery or Fruit & Veg Stand Playset and a 12-Pack of Shopkins (total ARV $45)!

Shopkins giveaway


A big thank you to Moose Toys for providing Shopkins products for me to review and host a playdate as well as three Shopkins products for one lucky giveaway winner. The opinions shared are my own and honest and if you really need to see more, click here to see how I roll.

2 comments:

Barbara said...

Granddaughters love to play shopping. They would love this.

Unknown said...

Playing is learning for children and this would be perfect for my little sunshine ♥ so creative