When I visited the Spring Fair in Birmingham last month, I made a point of visiting the i-Spy stand. I’d heard of them in the days of #IzziwizziKids with all the Gelli Baff antics, and was interested to see that they are also the team behind Magic Choc.
I came away with a Chocolate Picture Maker kit aimed at children 4 years and over. The lady on the stand did tell me that a 4 year old Monkey would definitely need some assistance. I knew he’d love to try making a picture out of chocolate, and if it wasn’t perfect, I really wouldn’t mind.
The Magic Choc kit contains a tray, milk, white and dark chocolate sachets, instructions as well as some template ideas for the picture. You can also download templates from the website for free.
As I knew the kit would probably be a bit of a challenge for Monkey, I decided we’d go for an easy level template, and then I had a brainwave! We would make a surprise for Granny’s 70th Birthday.
The 100% Belgian milk, dark and white chocolate contains no nasties and is gluten free. The instructions are really easy to follow, and the templates are all marked in order of difficulty.
As soon as I saw the balloon template, I knew exactly what we could do. I added a ’70’ to the template. Remember that any writing has to be written backwards, to achieve the desired effect with the finished article.
You place the chocolate sachets in a bowl of warm (not hot) tap water and let the chocolate drops melt for 3-5 minutes. We decided that I would draw the outline of the balloon and the 70, and Monkey would help with the rest. Once I got started with the outline I was fine really. Monkey had a great time with the rest. We had some chocolate left over, so we filled a few of my own moulds too.
We put our creation in the fridge for 30 minutes and then turned it out.
Of course, if I’d have thought about it, I should have taken the kit to Spain and made it there with Monkey. But we’d never have been able to keep it a secret from Granny. So I flipped the chocolate back into the tray and covered it with tin foil, placed in an insulated bag with an ice block and packed it in Monkey’s suitcase.
We surprised Granny on her 70th birthday, and she loved it. Needless to say, Monkey had to help her with the tasting. Apparently it was good!
For £3.99 for a one bar pack, I think this is a great activity for a child, I can certainly see Monkey wanting to try the Rocket template in months to come. You can also buy larger pack quantities if you have siblings etc.
There are also a Chocolate Model Making kit and a Chocolate Coin kit. I think the either, would be a great idea for a kid’s birthday party. I will be making a mental note to look these out later in the year.
disclaimer: we were given this kit for the purpose of an honest review.
These look brilliant and the finished result is really effective. What a lovely idea using it for Granny’s present.
I can see lots of fun ahead with this range, and Granny said the chocolate was really good!
I really like that. My children have previously been to a chocolate factory and made one of these each and it was something they absolutely loved – great to be able to do it at home 🙂
Keep thinking of a trip to a well known Chocolate factory, think he’d be in heaven. Love this kit idea though.
This looks like a really fun thing to do and a great handmade gift. Great that you managed to get it to Spain in one piece! I think it sounds like really good value for money too.
I think it’s a lovely idea, there are some great templates or you can go completely freestyle
This is such a clever idea, I think Bud would love helping with something like this too.
It’s great, I really like the whole concept.
When I came to the end of the review I expected it to be more than £3.99, a great personalised gift. Definitely something we would try in the future! x
We had lots of fun, and I’m certainly going to think about it for a different idea for a birthday party