Brainstorm Toys E2053 Projector and Nightlight, Animal

Not seen it, but sent as a present, little 3yr old boy likes it, his mum says its very good and even the older brother likes it -so must be good who's 5, recommended

This was smaller than I expected but my 2 year old loves it!

Great little toy for money paid, was disappointed when box turned up seeing how small it was but pleasantly surprised when we opened it Xmas day

You need to be very close to the wall or ceiling for any effect

This is quite a sweet little picture projector. It’s smaller than I expected from the photos, I was perhaps misled by thinking that the picture discs would be akin to old Viewmaster slides, but in fact they’re really diddy, only an inch or so across. Despite being small and lightweight (but not too flimsy) it does a decent job of projecting any of the twenty-four animal pictures across a reasonable distance with a nice light level and vibrancy in the dark.At first I thought the focus head didn’t work, until I realised it was very stiff- you have to loosen it, as though you’re trying to take it apart, in order for the focus head to start working. After that it focuses very nicely across any distance from about 5cm up to a little under a metre.My personal favourite picture is the snow leopard. Considering it’s got ‘STEM’ claims on the box, it comes with no information whatsoever about the animals. Most of them are ‘the famous animals’ but a few, like wolves or sloths, might need explaining to younger users. So calling it ‘educational’ is a bit of a stretch.It has three modes, ‘off’, ‘projector’ and ‘nightlight’, with one button that alternates between the three. It’s a shame it doesn’t have a couple of extra functions. For example with the nightlight, which is fairly sweet and gives off a fairly warm soft yellow-white glow, it’s a shame it doesn’t appear to have any kind of auto-off or timer function- without that, 3 AAA batteries could run down all too quickly. The ability to be powered or even charged via a USB connection would have been a big plus, but for under a tenner obviously that wouldn’t have been practical.Extra points to Brainstorm on this one for that all-important phrase- “batteries included”!And yes, some Star Wars-loving kids might possibly decide it looks like R2D2.

I was lucky enough to get sent the Fairy Tale projector, which I gave to my daughter as there was a little girl on the box and the Science projector, which went to my son as there was a little boy on the box.Stores have come under fire recently with their insistence of suggesting that some toys and clothes should be for boys and some should be for girls and this toy is one of those that is slightly offensive. The science projector comes with a slide filled with animals that both my children liked to look at, name the animal and make the noises. Both children liked to see the fairies and the slides that related to them. They could have easily shared one projector with 6 slides that was aimed at both of them.I do think they are very sweet and would make great stocking fillers, but would need to be cheaper as they don't really do much more than show the slides and turn in to a torch. Neither allow much room for imaginative play so wouldn't hold their attention for very long.The projector is much smaller than I was expecting so the image is not clear when beamed far away. We had to sit quite close to the white wardrobe doors to see the images, whereas I was expecting them to be able to lie in bed and see the images clearly on the ceiling, but this is definitely not the case.The fact that they do turn off after 15 minutes is a plus as they have been discarded long before then, which is such a shame as they are a great idea.

For its size, and despite my initial reservations, this really impressed me. One end is a projector with a stark white light (but without a disc in can be used as a small fat torch) the other end is a night light with a soft pleasing tone. It’s powered by 3 small button batteries (LR44, which can be bought pretty cheaply on multi-packs on Amazon).In a dark room, the ‘projector’ has no problem casting a clear picture onto my son’s ceiling about 6-7 feet above his bed and it’s easy to give it a little twist to gain focus. The pictures are limited to 3 discs but are colourful (a little bit boring for adults!) and clear. For my son I think this is a great little device that even has an auto-shut off after about 15 mins.It doesn’t have the wow factor of a fancy toy but for what it is it’s really good, and the batteries lasted ages. Would even be 5 stars if there was a bigger selection of discs.

Brainstorm Toys E2046 Animal Projector and Nightlight Science ToyIn the box.The projector with fitted batteries, stand, two disks of 12 images and instructions.Set up.This can be used as a projector or a a night light. To use it as a projector just insert one of the picture disks and turn it one. The image is then projected onto a door or wall (best white). The images are nice and show various animals. I am not sure if you can by extra disk but this would extend the usefulness of the toy. The stand acts as a sturdy support.Educational value.The toy is fun to use and makes kids ask questions about the images. My nephew loves it and it is small enough to take around when visiting friends and relatives. He like giving a slide show now which has helped with his communication skills. So for the money it offers good play and educational value.Overall.A nice little toy with several uses. Good pictures that provoke question. We liked it.