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Uncle Milton Review

National Geographic Night-time Explorer Toys

By Jessica Baber August 27, 2012
I was sent some Uncle Milton National Geographic Explorer toys to review for Macaroni Kid.  This is the 2nd of 4 reviews for the toys.  The reviews will be based off of what my children (ages 4, 7, and 9 years) thought of the toys.

The second set of toys for review were the Nighttime Explorer Toys.  These toys included the High Sierra Eco Explorer and the Expedition Sky Flare.  Both of these toys come with a light for outdoor fun at night, but are also still fun to play with during the day.

High Sierra Eco Explorer

 The High Sierra Eco Explorer is a headlamp, bug collector, and magnified bug viewer all in one.  It is recommended for ages 5 years and up, but all of my kids loved this toy.  They loved wearing the headband flashlight to search for critters in our yard.  The light was surprisingly bright and lit up the driveway from about 30 feet away.  When you aren't wearing the headlamp, you can attach the flash light piece to the bug collector and magnifier to create an illuminated jar for viewing the insects or create a handheld search light.  This toy also comes with a tweezers/shovel tool for digging for bugs.  The kids spent over an hour taking turns wearing the flashlight and digging for bugs.  My 7 yr old said this was his favorite of the toys so far.  He loved all the different ways the toy could be assembled.

 

Expedition Sky Flare

The Expediton Sky Flare is a fun launch toy.  It is recommended for 8 years and up.  When we first tried launching the flare, it just went up and fell down.  The instructions didn't mention anything about folding the red flaps on the flare, but there are fold lines.  If the you fold the red flaps on the lines and launch it, it shoots up in the air and spirals to the ground just as described.  We all had lots of fun watching the sky flare in the daylight and nighttime.  Our 9 yr old really loved this toy.  He was the best at getting it to go up high and spin really fast.  I would say he had it going up about 35-40 ft in the air.  The activity guide for the Expedition Sky Flare provides a couple activities for hitting targets and signaling others.

Expedition Shoe Lights 
I did not receive the National Geographic Expedition Shoe Lights for review, but these look like another fun nighttime toy from Uncle Milton.  These are dual mode shoe lights that can clip onto your shoes or shoelaces.  The lights can switch between pathfinder mode and night view mode.  I think my kids would really enjoy these for hiking in the woods or on camping trips.

More From Uncle Milton
Check back the next 2 weeks for more Uncle Milton National Geographic Explorer Toy reviews.  If you would like to see more great toys available from Uncle Milton, please visit the website or facebook page.  There are a large variety of fun educational toys for children of all ages to enjoy!