Thomas The Tank Engine Pool

Thomas The Tank Engine Paddling Pool







comments

Advantages: it's thomas, can be used with balls too

Disadvantages: its size

As you all probably know by now I am absolutely Thomas the Tank mad FOR my twin boys so when I seen this advertised on the Early Learning Centre website how could I resist? It didn't cross my mind at the time that I probably would have no room for it or it would be a five minute wonder. But to this day I don't regret buying it, despite the hefty size.

I bought it as a 1st Birthday Present for my twin boys, I was doing a little tea party and thought it would be brilliant fun for my boys and the 4 other boys who were joining them.

You can buy it instore or online at www.elc.co.uk and it costs at the moment £40, I bought it though when it was offer last year for just £25. It says its a paddling pool, which yes it can be used as a paddling pool but as my boys birthday is in November I thought it best to use it as a ball pool. Which of course resulted in my paying more money to provide some fun to this as I had to buy balls. The plastic balls don't come cheap either probably £5 for a bag of 100! Sounds alot, but it's not when you see the size of this pool. 3 Bags I've bought and you can still see the bottom of the pool!

It's not too easy to blow up either, I seriously advise against trying to blow it up by mouth and buying a cheap foot pump. That's what I did which was so much easier as your brain doesn't feel as if it's about to explode and it's alot quicker. I say cheap, but it was still extra money I had to spend, although I did only pay £5 for a small foot pump.

Each side of the pool as it's own hole to pump it up. Once blown up it is shaped like Thomas the Tank himself. With a roof over the back and big smiley Thomas face at the front. Fantastic for any Thomas fun, no many Thomas fan's actually. As I've said it is quite a big pool, and at my boys small tea party there were 6 kids sitting and playing in it comfortably with room to spare.

I love the pool as it did provide alot of fun, and still does, it has helped my boys learn to climb and just play silly for a bit, throwing themselves around the pool and just enjoying such a spacious and large toy which isn't your everyday thing. At the same time though it's not a practical pool, not easy to store. Once out of its box, which it comes flatpacked in it's very hard to fold it up as neat as what it was to store back in. It's also not easy to store if you are intending on leaving it up as it is rather big. Luckily I have a large spare room which is where I keep my boys bigger toys. They havn't used it in the summer yet as an actual pool but I'm sure they will love it just as much. One downside to mine was it did 'rip' easily. It wasn't played with roughly at all, and none of the kids had shoes on but the tiniest hole was formed on the 1 side which I have had to keep taping up to prevent the air from coming out.

I reccomend this pool if you are looking to do a pool party maybe for children, it is suitable for children from aged 2-8 it says on the ELC website, but my boys were just 1 when they had it and they loved it. The only way I would see it as a danger is if it was to deflate and collapse, but it does take a good few hours to deflate so you would notice it to be able to prevent such a danger. I only reccomend it if you have somewhere to store it such as a shed or garage as it's not the usual 'house toy'. It does definitely provide alot of fun and excitement and it's one of them things which can keep a group of children entertained. If you maybe havn't got the room to store it I would suggest searching for a smaller pool which is a bit more practical.

Summary: a lovely pool perfect for a summers day and a group of children, quite big though

Thomas The Tank Engine Pool





Thomas The Tank Engine Paddling Pool