Thames And Kosmos Creatto Kitty Cat Review

Reviewed by Helen O

The Creatto Kitty Cat arrived within a couple of days and was well packaged in an outer cardboard box, so upon opening the item was pristine and packaging was fully recyclable. My first impression of this product was that it was really attractively and well packaged. As with other Thames & Kosmos products it was easy to see exactly what you are getting in the kit – in this case 66 pieces from which to make 4 different types of 3D illuminating figurines, with 40 LED lights. You can make a cat, a teddy, a house shelf and a pocachi (although I looked on Amazon to find the product and they had the last 2 model ideas listed as a mouse house and a squirrel, which makes a bit more sense!). You can also use your imagination to build your own creation and are encouraged to think outside the box and express yourself.

The pack contains an instruction manual, which is pictures only, rather than any words. Fortunately there is a QR Code which takes you to an online video, which makes everything a lot easier to understand. My husband constructed the Kitty with our niece, who’s coming up to 9 years old, who needed quite a bit of support to build it. They took about an hour to put the Kitty together, so it was long enough to keep her occupied, but not too long, so she got bored and distracted. Once it was built, she was excited to get the lights inside and light up Kitty Cat.

The figures are constructed out of pink and purple plastic chips and connectors, although these need to be popped out of plastic frames. At the end, you are left with a lot of excess plastic, which can’t be recycled, which isn’t great in the current climate crisis. I wonder if there would be an option for the chips and connectors to be popped out in the factory and for the excess plastic to be melted back down are re-used? I’m not sure if this is a possibility, would be nice to see a better use for this excess.

I like the fact that you can make several different figures and are encouraged to play around with the pieces, to create your own individual design. The figures can be used for imaginative play or can just be used as a funky display in a bedroom.

The kit requires 2 x AA batteries for the LED lights, which aren’t included in the pack, but other than that everything else is included.

The cost of Creatto Kitty Cat is RRP £22, which I think is good value for money, considering the build possibilities and the fact that you can keep re-building and also contains LED lights . I think that the kit would be a great Christmas or birthday gift idea. In fact, at the time of reviewing the product was on sale at Amazon for £11.97, which I think is really good value.

Our niece really enjoyed doing this activity and was really pleased with the end result and couldn’t wait to display it in her bedroom. Next time we see her, we’re planning on trying out one of the other designs together. I think the kit is great, my main issue is the excess plastic which seemed a waste.

Thames & Kosmos also offer several other similar packs, such as Creatto Mousse, which seems to be in blue and green plastic and Creatto Safari, which seems to be orange and yellow. Both offer an alternative to the pink and purple of Creatto Kitty, depending on your child’s bedroom decor, if you want to use it for display purposes. Or as the same pieces are used in all of the Creatto kits, you could combine the packs and go multi-coloured. The possibilities are endless! Please note, I have only tried the Kitty kit though, none of the others.

Rating: 4 out of 5

RRP: £22

Buy direct from https://www.thamesandkosmos.co.uk/product/creatto-starlight-kitty/ or I found it on sale at the time of my review for £11.97 at Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Creatto-Katze/dp/B07PL9PXXF