FunLockets Secret Journal Review
DISCLOSURE -THIS ITEM WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE THE REVIEWER’S OWN.
Reviewed by Jo Hardy
As an adult I have become aware of the benefits of journaling as a way of practising mindfulness and this toy would be the perfect thing for introducing young children to journaling, a screen free activity that keeps children focused and in the moment.
The outside of the journal is very sturdy pink plastic, it has a few glittery stickers on the front but there’s room for more to personalise it, inside there are various compartments some can be opened easily and others need a special key. Inside the compartments there are a host of surprises (over 30). Notebook, pencil, eraser, the cutest stickers I’ve ever seen, and as this is the glitter edition there are lots of glitter stickers too. They are all quite tiny but they have to be to fit into the compartments.
There’s lots of problem solving skills needed for this toy, first one was where do we find the first key, you can look at the illustrations on the box for help but we thought it was more fun to try and figure it out for ourselves (that’s me and our six year old). We eventually found the first key, (it took a while) unlocked the journal, opened up the purple heart to reveal our first surprise a crystal teddy bear charm. All journals have a charm but you don’t know which one you are going to get, the charm will clip onto a rucksack or belt loop but we decided to clip ours onto the spine of the journal.
Inside the journal we have four compartments that open by lifting a flap, and three compartments that need a key, first key was found by lifting one of the flaps then by matching up the key to the shape of the lock. We opened one of the doors to find some little trinket surprises and a key for another door which we opened to find more little surprises and another key for the last door which revealed more little surprises. Our six year old got completely engrossed in it and became oblivious to everything else around her.
The biggest challenge was when we came to put everything back, we had to think hard about which key to put into each compartment. After we had done it once together I sat back and let her do it again on her own it was a great lesson for her, making one or two false moves but figuring it out in the end.
The thought of having this journal that only she could get into was very appealing and she has already thought of some other things she might keep in it, a recently lost tooth was one of them.
Take extra care when opening the compartments with a card front, they can tear.
Suitable for ages 6 and up the journal is an ideal size to fit in a rucksack or on a bookshelf it doesn’t need any batteries and new sheets to add to the note pad can be downloaded.
Priced at £18.99 this product would be a great birthday or Christmas gift.
Rating: 5/5 We both agreed on a rating.
RRP: £18.99
Available to buy from Symths Toys here / Amazon here