Houston we have lift off...!

Cosmic Rocket kit.... now we're talking some serious fun!

Our kids are a wee bit on the small side for this kit, which basically means I got to have all the fun while they watched from the sidelines, and made the appropriate sound effects.

To construct the rocket was very easy, you have a launch pad, the rocket itself, some plastic fins to slide onto the rocket, a small measuring spoon and that's it.

Raiding the pantry I dug out my bottle of vinegar, and tin of baking soda, as the instructions mentioned. After reading some very important safety instructions first, (which was really all about using some common sense), I was ready to load the rocket for our first launch.

Place 4gms of baking soda into the launch pad (4 spoonfuls of the little spoon included in the kit). Then you need to measure out 30 mls (2 tablespoons) of vinegar. I put the vinegar into a jug first, then carried everything outside. Important tip #1: don't launch this rocket inside, it will damage your ceiling.

Not really sure what to expect from our first launch I followed the instructions to the letter. Pour the vinegar into the rocket chamber, then with the rocket tilted on it's side so the vinegar doesn't run out, attach the launch pad to the rocket. Important tip #2: don't shake the rocket as the instructions say, as this sets off the reaction between the vinegar and baking soda too quickly and it explodes in your hands, and you get covered...

After several false starts, and dry offs, I attached the launch pad to the rocket, tipped it upside down then placed it right side up on the grass, then I backed away quickly..... a few seconds later and.... we had lift off!... Important tip #3: be prepared to dive into the shrubs on rocket retrieval missions... as you'll probably find your kids won't volunteer for that one!

This rocket launches to some surprising heights, our third launch I thought would land on the roof of our two story house, but luckily it didn't.

Each launch we did of this rocket sent our kids into raptures.... with gleeful shouts of "again, again, again..."...

All in all, this kit is very cool! Take a look at one of our successful launch missions..

Book-in-a-Box kits need I say more...

'Be the author and illustrator of your own book and best of all, you don't need a degree in art to do it!' Well, that sold us right there...

My daughter instantly fell in love with this kit. It comes with everything you could possibly need to create fantastic books. We just had to try this one out straight away.

After admiring the can itself, and thinking of all it's other uses once we've made all the books, we got down to business.

This kit comes with 3 little boxes for the accordion books, a house-shaped fold-up paper to make a long book, which you could cut up to make several short books. The house shape even has a door on the first page and windows, so your little artist can draw all the rooms in your house.

Scissors are included, along with a glue stick, a black marker, and some great quality colouring pencils. You get enough paper to fold up into 3 books for the boxes, plus some plastic windows to put on the front of the box to help you decorate it. You can place all sorts of pictures, photos, or small trinkets and keepsakes in these plastic pockets to tie in with your book.

My daughter (5yrs) set right to work. I sat beside her and went through the idea sheet that comes along with the kit, and she decided to do a book on 'How My Family Celebrate'. She chose to base her book on her 5th birthday party we had for her earlier on this year.

I helped her fold the paper accordion style, showed her how it would eventually go into the box and she started with her creation. The first page gets glued onto the lid of the box, and the last page gets glued onto the bottom of the box. Lift the lid and the book folds out to reveal a wonderful keepsake to be treasured. It then folds nicely back into the box.

The idea sheet has some wonderful ideas to get the creative juices running. My daughter is so proud of this book, she is eager to continue with her next one.

These kits have been made in the US by Eye Can Art and have already won multiple toy awards. They come with full instructions, and we are so very excited to have them in New Zealand. They are available now exclusively through The Crafti Bug.

So lets get some fantastic books going out there, and I'd love to see some photos of finished products.

'Honey I Shrunk the Bugs...'

Shrinkles are their name, and shrinking is their game. The box says they shrink down to 7 times their size, and 7 times their thickness, and they do! How it works, I've got no idea, but they are super cool to watch.

This bumper box comes with a large number of bugs to colour in. You even get the colouring in pencils to colour with, although normal colouring in pencils work just as well.

Simply colour in the bugs and cut around the dotted line, it's important to make sure you leave the required border around the bug, otherwise you may loose some of the picture upon shrinking. You can make these into lots of different things, from key rings, badges, magnets, pencil toppers, rings, and more. If you are wanting to make them into key rings, you must punch a hole (using a hole punch) into the design before shrinking, otherwise there is no way you'll get a hole in it afterwards.

This is where the adults come into it (if you haven't already picked up a coloured pencil and coloured some of the designs as well). You'll need to heat your oven to 175 degrees C. It doesn't really matter what function you have it on, I used fan bake. Once it is up to temp, lay the design onto a flat tray on top of a piece of tinfoil, and place it into the oven, watch the magic happen!

Within a minute it curls and folds in on itself, and then when it has flattened right out again, it's done. Take it out of the oven, it'll be really pliable at this point which is what it needs to be, lay it on a flat surface (kitchen bench), and place a book or a placemat on top of it. This will flatten it completely, and it'll set hard. With these wiggly eyed bugs, now is the time to add the eyes, they have adhesive backs so just peel the backing off and stick em on.

Viola!, they have shrunk to 7 times their original size, and 7 times as thick, it's magic!

The bumper boxes come with everything you need to make a variety of different shrinkles. It even comes with a blank sheet of shrinkles plastic to trace or draw your own pictures and designs, draw them on, colour them in, shrink them down.

The party packs come with one design, and only one accessory, ie: a key ring, magnet strip, bagde pin etc. The party packs also don't come with any colouring pencils, but we just used the ones my kids already have.

So have fun and get your kids shrinking this summer.