Parent Panel Review - IKEA LÖMSK Swivel Chair and MALA Art Equipment

Product: LÖMSK Swivel Chair

Price:  £45.96

Available from: IKEA

Initial Reaction: It is very big! I didn’t expect it to be so large.  My Other Half put it together and it didn’t take very long it’s quite straight forward.

Pros:

• Really sturdy even though it swivels
• Durable
• Easy to clean
• Extra wide base so it doesn't tip over

Cons:

• It’s big and we have a small house
• It’s a bit hard on the bottom; you need to put a cushion in there.

Value for money? If you are looking for a long term chair for your toddler then it is good value

Overall Reaction:  BG really loves this chair. Its spins and she can hide in it what more does a toddler want. !

by New Mummy

Product: Mala art equipment

Price: Easel – 15.31, Paint/draw storage 7.14, Brushes (set of 6) 2.03, Felt tip pen/stamp 1.01, drawing paper roll – 3.05, Chalks 1.01, Whiteboard pens 2.03, Water colours 5.10 (prices taken from website 15 January 2011)

Available from: IKEA

Suitable from: 3 years   

Initial Reaction: My children immediately wanted to get involved with the brightly coloured art equipment when it was set up and donned their aprons eagerly.

Pros:

• Easy to set up, hardly any assembly required (just the paint/draw storage needed a few screws).
• Good quality products.
• Having the paper on a roll really useful and easy for ripping off, pulling more off and starting again
• My 20 month old loved the brightly coloured felt tip pens with a nib on one end and a printer stamp on the other, eg heart, dolphin etc. He loves “dotting”.
• Paints arrive in all the primary colours plus black and white. Good for preschoolers learning about mixing colours to make other colours.
• Chalk and blackboard excellent for no mess no fuss playing, clearing and starting again.

Cons:

• Easel takes up quite a bit of space although folds flat for storage
• I guess I have to mention the resulting mess that follows but what do you expect and it is contained.

Value for money? Definitely! I probably wouldn’t bother with the paint/draw storage as not essential with the easel as well. However, saying that the storage is good if using the paper on the kitchen table however, in which case you don’t need the easel.

Overall Reaction:  We had a fun hour painting and drawing with the Ikea art equipment, particularly my 4 year old who is gradually getting a longer attention span! As children get older can see how they would get the hang of ripping the paper off themselves and pulling it through to make lots of lovely creations. The lightweight yet sturdy easel could be used in the garden in the summer, keeping paint splodges out of the house.

By Louise

IKEA recently produced a Playreport which was the world’s largest study of play and children’s development. They spoke to 8,000 parents and 3,000 children aged 7-12 from over 25 countries.

They wanted to research the state of play around the world and they believe that everyone should play a little more. As part of this they have produced a Facebook page called ‘make the world play more’ to help parents exchange thoughts around play and development.

 If you go on the Facebook page there is a free app called Toy Stories which allows children with their parents to  to create their own book with illustrations! 

 IKEA are also running a competition called Your Fridge Door – where you can upload a photo of your child’s artwork and each week a winner will be chosen and they will win the MALA set we were given for a review

NM X