Christmas Comes Early with My First Scalextric!

It’s October now, which means we’re a little bit closer to that very special time of year. I feel like it’s a lot more acceptable to start talking about it after September is over, and it’s the month that I start to think about picking up the odd present for Ava, so that I can spread it all out over the next few months and not end up in a massive rush once December is here.

Yes, there are only 11 weeks until Christmas! I know that time will absolutely fly by, so I want to start thinking about what I’d like to get for Ava this year and I haven’t really got a clue yet. She has so much stuff so I really want to get her things that don’t just add to the pile of toys we have and instead will be more useful or fun things that we can do together.

I absolutely love Christmas, and I adore seeing how excited Ava gets now. Once you have kids that wonderful Christmas magic is reignited as you see it through their eyes, and experience their pure joy.

For me, it’s all the little bits of the day that make it so special. Being woken up excitedly by my sleepy daughter and her telling me Santa has been, watching her delighted face as she opens her presents, sitting around with my family after our Christmas dinner and playing games. I remember us all last year, sat together in my house, playing a new game that some friends had bought Ava, and laughing so much.

It’s not often that all of my family get together anymore, and it just makes me so happy when we do. The day always flies by and there’s always so much preparing beforehand, but it’s such a happy day and one I always look forward to so much.

For us, Christmas came early this week when we were sent a special present for Ava and us to enjoy!

Ava was very excited to find out what I had been setting up for us to play together, and her reaction upon seeing the ‘My First Scalextric’ was perfect! She was so excited to get playing!

The ‘My First Scalextric‘ is a brilliant idea for some family fun at Christmastime. It’s so easy to set up and put together, even I could do it (and did!) and it didn’t take long at all. Even better – it doesn’t need batteries (it’s mains operated), which I always forget to buy before Christmas Day! It’s the perfect introduction to Scalextric but fun for all ages at the same time.

It has two rally cars in red and yellow and adjustable power hand-controllers that match the colours of the chevrons on the circuit.

We did have a bit of trouble with our set at first and couldn’t get the cars to keep going for long, but it was just a case of making sure all parts of the tracks were really well clicked together and as straight as possible at the joins. After that we played with it non-stop for hours and had loads of fun!

My First Scalextric is designed for younger kids and built to withstand the cars taking the odd bump or tumble off the track! They are fitted with extra strong magnets to reduce the chances of that happening, and it didn’t take long for Ava to get used to how strongly to press on the control and then her car barely came off. She is actually much better at controlling it than her Dad (okay, and me)!

Because the set is quite small, it means it is easier and quicker to set up, put away, and store, which is great, especially at Christmas when you have impatient children waiting to play with their new toy!

We have had a lot of fun playing with the Scalextric together as a family and it really encouraged us to sit down and play all together for once. So often at the weekend we’re rushing around getting things done, but it’s so important to take that time together, and we really enjoyed spending an afternoon pretending Christmas had come early and playing together. The house felt really cosy, dinner was in the oven and wafting lovely smells through the house, and we were taking the time to be together and having fun, which we certainly don’t do often enough. It was really lovely.

Ava just had so much fun and didn’t want to stop. She was so pleased with her present and I think part of that was the three of us having loads of fun and laughs together. It would make for a great present for a young child (it’s suitable for ages 3+) but will provide entertainment for everyone, plus it’s quick to put together making it a perfect gift for Christmas Day.

My First Scalextric has some really great benefits for kids, including: improving hand/eye co-ordination and manual dexterity, helping with the development of motor skills, as well as risk-reward thinking. It’s great when you know your kids are playing and having fun, whilst also learning and improving on skills too!

This is a collaborative post with Scalextric, but all words and opinions are my own. See my full disclosure policy here.