LYNN CRILLY – The Trouble Muncher Soft Toy 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 Laura B
Pack up your troubles… or so the song goes!
This product is a delightful soft toy type character called the ‘Trouble Muncher’ and they have been created by Lynn Crilly to support children and young adults with managing their worries.
Lyn is a counsellor whose life path changed when her teenage daughter became very unwell with Anorexia Nervosa and OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). Lyn has created and developed the ‘Trouble Muncher’ toy and app to encourage users to live their lives with a lot less worry. What a fantastic idea! Our family certainly would have benefitted from a ‘Trouble Muncher’ when our child was transitioning from Primary to Secondary School. When I reflect now, I realise that a resource such as this might have made life a whole lot easier for our super anxious 10-year-old.
The product was delivered by the Royal Mail and was well packaged in a postal bag, inside was a red drawstring bag containing the ‘Trouble Muncher’ soft character. This is ‘in essence’ a gorgeous soft toy, it is 46cm tall with blonde faux fur hair, and the character wears a red cotton baseball cap with the ‘TM’ logo embroidered on the front. There is a grey soft velour backpack on the reverse of the character, that opens and can be secured with Velcro, embroidered in the corner with TM POST, the backpack contains a little notepad labelled with ‘share your troubles’ for the user to write or draw their worries on and pop back inside to be munched away. The ‘Trouble Muncher’ character is dressed in a soft velour lime green top embroidered with ‘TM’ on the front and they are wearing royal blue velour trousers with a red cotton/canvas baseball style of shoe. The eyes, nose and mouth are embroidered onto their soft face. This is a quality resource that would help support all ages with their emotional health. There are instructions contained to support the use of the ‘Trouble Muncher’.
The ‘Trouble Muncher’ would be a valuable tool for families who are supporting an anxious child or young adult, for play-workers to use with individuals in Children’s NHS Hospital wards, Nursery settings, Primary and Secondary Schools, outpatient departments, therapists and youth clubs, etc… these are just a few areas that I believe that the ‘Trouble Muncher’ would make a difference when supporting the individual who may be struggling with their emotional health as a supportive resource/tool.
The process of using the ‘Trouble Muncher’ is ultimately to support the individual with communicating their troubles and living a life with fewer anxieties.
There is a warning recorded with the product stating that the ‘Trouble Muncher’ toy/app is not an alternative or replacement for any medical advice from your doctor or healthcare professional.
There is also an app available for IOS and Android devices. This was easy to download, access and use. The app takes you to a cartoon ‘Trouble Monster’ that munches the individual concerns or worries which can be recorded on the app. I loved the sound on the app as the ‘trouble’ is munched away.
It’s also possible to buy refill pads from the website to replenish the ‘Trouble Muncher’ backpack.
Lyn is active on social media and runs her website, her counselling business and a blog. There is a great deal of helpful information on the website.
In my opinion, this is a great tool and a valuable resource for parents as well as professionals, to support individuals with communication during challenging experiences and would make a great stocking filler this Christmas normalising that we all have worries at some time or another.
Rating: 5/5
Price – £10 (plus £3.99 P&P)
Available from lynncrilly.com.