Review & Giveaway: Win One of Five “Harry Potter” Wands from Jakks Toys!
One of the true joys of having young children is the chance to introduce them to and watch them fall in love with, Harry Potter. There’s nothing like experiencing children discovering the magic for the first time! When I was asked if I’d like to review Wizard Training Wands for Jakks Toys I couldn’t wait to see the look on my children’s faces when I handed them over.
I received two wands, Hermione’s and Harry’s. The set also contains Dumbledore’s Elder Wand and is completed by Lord Voldemort’s wand. The wands were beautifully packaged in boxes adorned with Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe’s faces on their respective box, giving an instant wave of nostalgia. On unpacking the wands, I was struck by how perfectly Jakks had recreated the iconic Harry and Hermione wands from Warner Bros. My children were instantly intrigued and couldn’t wait to play!
The wands boast five settings; the Single Wand Mode settings – Spell Training and Free Play, and Multi-Wand Mode settings which require two wands – Spell Practice, Training Spells, and Wizard Tag. Each mode is chosen easily by selecting a corresponding button. One of the first things I noticed and loved, was the amazing sounds the wands emit, from the minute you turn it on. The Spell Training Mode was the first mode we tried, make sure you keep the instruction manual as the sixteen familiar spells you can learn, and the required actions, are listed on the front. Once you enter Spell Training Mode, the buttons on the front of the wand light up in different sequences, you cross check these with the instructions to find out which spell you are casting and the associated motion required, and then you’re ready to cast! If you’re successful, you will hear the correct sounds for each spell (such as tap-dancing for Tarantallegra), or a ‘fizzle’ if you’ve performed the spell incorrectly. I imagine this will be the most used mode in our house whilst we all learn the spells! The Multi-Wand Mode activities are just as fun and interactive, and great to practice all sixteen spells with a friend or sibling. Take a look at this video which shows a bit of how they work!
The wands are recommended for ages eight and over. However they also have a ‘Free Play’ mode, which my five-year-old and two-year-old both love. The Free Play mode allows you to wave the wand, press the buttons, and hear the sounds, without actually having to perform the correct wand movements – which is fantastic for the younger aspiring witch and wizards. My two children have had many duels and lots of fun!
The only downside I could find of these wands is that they don’t have a volume control and are quite loud. When you have two turned on at once and lively children playing with them, the sound can be quite overwhelming. However, it is completely worth missing your favorite Potter line for the laughter you get to hear from children learning to cast spells themselves! I highly recommend these wands and can confidently say Jakks have done a fantastic job of appealing to the next generation of Harry Potter lovers!
For our readers in the UK, we have wonderful news! Starting November 16 and running through 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on November 30, you can enter to win one of five wands, and if you win, you get to choose which wand to take home! Enter to win, below:
Two wands were provided to MuggleNet by Norton PR for review.
