Each Bob The Builder set comes with a posable Bob the Builder figure, bricks, cement, and all the tools you need to build away. Children will have to watch out for the adults taking over this fun and educational toy.

Instructions are included to teach you how to build anything from walls to more advanced structures or you can just build whatever pops into your imagination. The bricks are reusable, so you can create new structures over and over again. You have to mix up play ‘cement’ to use to stick your bricks together and you spread it on with the included trowel. This cement isn’t real so is totally safe and sticks the bricks together long enough for you to get bored with your creation – you then just soak it in water and the cement dissolves.

Two sets are currently available – a 30 brick set costing around £10 or a 50 brick set for £15.

If you want more bricks and mortar, both are available to buy separately for about £5.

This Bob The Builder toy comes with:

•  30/50 real clay bricks
•  Cement
•  Wooden trowel
•  Wipe clean play mat
•  Base board
•  Mixing bowl
•  Cloth
•  Building plans
•  8 cm articulated Bob the Builder figure

What we liked …

• The included instructions are for a clock tower which was pretty straight forward.
• Mixing the cement was easy.
• It encourages your child to think about how buildings are constructed.
• The instructions teach show you how bricks are laid in real life which is a good skill to know.
• This is not just a stacking bricks game.
• The possibilities for building different structures are endless.
• Hands-on children will have great fun with this set.
• The real feel of the bricks makes a nice change from plastic.
• Although the majority of the bricks are rectangular, like normal bricks, there are also some more interesting shapes included to play about with.
• Girls loved this just as much as boys.
• It sounds too easy to “just soak in water and use again” but amazingly it does what it says on the tin.
• Everything you need is included other than water.

What we didn’t like ….

• The amount of cement given is only sufficient for two sessions.
• There are only enough bricks to make the clock tower. If you want to create a house or other structure buy the larger set of 50 bricks or even the extra set of bricks.
• It is quite fiddly so is probably more suitable to older children.  The Bob The Builder branding may put older children off using it but it would probably be more up their street. 7+ seems a better age range.
• It requires adult help and supervision, especially for younger children.
• The metal trowel is made of metal and would be safer if rounded off or made of plastic.
• The instructions would have been better if they had shown two or three different designs.
• The clock face would have been better in plastic not cardboard, as after one use it was rather soggy.
• Bob was the only character included.

Overall …

This is a brilliantly different item from the Bob The Builder toys range that offers a fun twist on the old block stacking sets. Children will love this even more than Bob The Builder Lego due to the theme of fun and mess and even adults will become addicted. If you are stuck wondering what are the top Christmas presents this year, this would be top of my list for children aged over 7 years old.