Well it is that time of year again where all the advertising on daytime and early evening television seems to be children’s toys. We can already hear the cries echoing around the country of “I want that”, “I want that too” and “Will Santa bring me one of those?”. Christmas lists are frantically being written and rewritten by millions of children around the world. But what do you get them for Christmas? With a plethora of toys on the market, where do you begin? There is plenty of choice with an abundance of scope to get the best present ever or the stinker that gets buried in the toy box never to be see the light of day again. So getting the right present does take a bit of thinking about and matching it to your child.
So we had an easy decision when we were asked to review the Yara’s 4×4 Adventure Jeep: Safari Expedition from Vet Squad. In our house we have an animal loving eight-year-old whose favourite animals are unicorns and giraffes. The Vet Squad jeep comes with a poorly giraffe, so she was chomping at the bit to play with it and put it through its paces.
Vet Squad is an exciting new toy range that focuses on the rescue and care of animals! They have teamed up with the SEA LIFE Trust and will give a £20,000 donation from the proceeds of Vet Squad toys to the trust to continue their important work in caring for and rehabilitating animals.
Vet Squad are Ava, Emily, Yara and Robin – a sassy squad of intrepid explorers who are always ready to race to the rescue! The four of them are best friends forever (BFF) and they use their extraordinary skills, knowledge and vet tech to care for all animals.
- Yara is a skilled medicine maker who never goes anywhere without her magic potion! When she zooms in on an injured animal, she races to the rescue in her favourite 4×4. When she’s not mixing potions, she likes to get creative and make art with Luna, her rabbit.
- Ava is always the first one to get there when an animal is in danger. She grabs her favourite quad bike and races to the rescue. She loves dancing and wouldn’t go anywhere without her faithful companion, Leo the cat.
- Emily is a real tech expert; she always has a new idea how to boost the squad’s vet-tech. If an aquatic animal is injured, she hops in her speedboat and heads down to Rescue Reef to save the day. When she’s not on the rescue, she loves listening to music with her favourite pet friend, Brooke the dog.
- Robin is the best at nursing in the squad. She always knows how to care for injured animals and make them feel better. When an animal is poorly she heads off with her helicopter to save the day. She also loves singing along to her favourite songs with Snowy, her owl friend.
As mentioned, we received Vet Squad Safari Expedition: Yara’s 4×4 Adventure Jeep. This comes with a vet safari jeep, an injured giraffe and an assortment of six accessories. It is suitable for ages 4 years and upwards.
The 4×4 jeep is everything that is needed to care for injured animals on safari as it is fitted with rolling wheels, a working winch, vet tech accessories (including sculpted bandages, a stethoscope, a sun visor, bottles and tablets) and a giraffe with a magical colour change injury! But best of all, the jeep opens up into a mobile veterinary clinic with x-ray area, treatment areas and even a shower!
As we thought, this has gone down a storm and has already had hours of play time use. The character doll of Yara is about 3” tall and has moving arms and legs. The injured giraffe has a wound on her neck that magical changes colour when healed, after drinking the magical potion and wearing a neck bandage of course, which our young tester was really impressed by. And the jeep itself is well constructed and sturdy, coping with the constant opening up to vet mobile clinic very well and it looks great in its bright colours.
The Vet Squad jeep is a good-quality toy that is perfect for imaginative play. Our young tester has absolutely loved playing with it and has been on many excellent adventures driving around and opening a clinic here there and everywhere, she has even asked for the other characters with their vehicles and the vet surgery for Christmas.
And with £20,000 from the sale of Vet Squad items also going to charity, it is an excellent gift to give this Christmas.
A fun, brightly coloured playset with interesting characters and equipment that expands imaginative play, providing hours of play time. An excellent gift to unwrap on Christmas morning.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £19.99
For more information about Vet Squad, visit vividtoysandgames.co.uk. Available to buy from Amazon here.
