I thought this stroller looked great when I first saw it - very 'different'. However I found it very impractical to use - for a start there was absolutely no storage anywhere - no basket underneath and because of the way it is made you can't hang a bag off the handles. This meant that I had to carry a bag on my shoulder all the time which was heavy and made journeys a pain. I couldn't whizz Evie out to the local shops to pick up groceries like normal unless I wanted to take a rucksack.

There was a fixed seat position too which meant I couldn't recline Evie for naps when we were out and about - and she felt very unprotected in the buggy to me too. The design was unstable as well - Charlie brushed past the pushchair when we were in the park and it almost toppled backwards.

I found it very hard to fold up too. All in all I was very unimpressed with the Quinny.

I thought this pushchair looked very eyecatching and the quality was good - but the functionality of the design was poor for a baby of Esme's age. The main drawback was that the seat was so upright I kept worrying that Esme was going to fall out, especially when going down a steep curb. Also the upright position meant Esme couldn't comfortably have a nap. The opening and closing mechanism was good and easy once I'd mastered it - it folded up very small almost like a telescope, but I couldn't do it one handed. It was comfortable to push as I am quite tall and the handle was good for my height. The worst thing about the Quinny was the lack of storage - this really let it down. It felt as though thought had been put into the design in terms of the fold-down size and weight, but pricewise it's expensive and the complete lack of storage renders it totally useless for most Mums who like to get out and about!

This design of this stroller was really unusual and caused a lot of interest at our local playgroup! I think however it looks a lot better than it is to actually use. I need to take quite a lot of different things with me when we go out and about and I really missed having a storage basket underneath. Levan seemed to quite like sitting in the pushchair, but he didn't fall asleep in it at all and I had to make sure we were near home at nap times so I could let him sleep in his cot. Also, the design meant that I couldn't attach Seb's Buggy Board so he had to walk everywhere which again meant we cut excursions out. The best thing about the Quinny was the folding mechansim which was very clever - but for me it was impractical and definitely not my idea of value for money.

The Maclaren was my favourite of the three strollers I tested. It was really lighweight and very very easy to fold up - even one handed! The storage is good and easy to get to. Good value for money. The only downsides for me were that it doesn't recline which meant Evie was napping in a slightly awkward position and the colours of the test model weren't really to my taste! I think the Maclaren is the perfect lightweight stroller for children who no longer nap so much in their pushchair, so perhaps a slightly older child than Evie.

I had a Maclaren stroller for Freya so the opening and closing elements and general look and feel were very familiar for me. It had good storage underneath and is really compact and easy to manouvere around. The Volo is a great design (although the colour of the one I tested was a bit too sporty for me!) its so lightweight its ideal for taking on holiday or for nipping on and off buses. It doesn't recline though, so for a stroller that you intend to use a lot then I think its worth paying a bit more to get something a bit tougher as it did feel a little bit flimsy. The handles were slightly too low for me too.

I loved how light this buggy was and how easy it was to fold up and down! We live on a boat and it folded really small too and hardly took up any space which was another bonus. It had good storage space underneath which was easy to access. The only downside was that it didn't recline, but Levan did actually fall asleep in it a couple of times and although he looked a bit uncomfortable to me - he didn't wake up in any discomfort so it was fine. For my lifestyle this was an excellent pushchair.

The Silver Cross felt very well made and well designed. It was comfortable to push, and there was good storage underneath. Evie looked happy in it and the full recline was an excellent feature. Again it was easy to fold up, but not quite as easy as the Maclaren. It also felt a bit heavier than the other two to carry when folded. The main difference I felt between the Silver Cross and Maclaren was price - they both performed well, but I think if Mums are thinking of buying a lightweight stroller then the Maclaren is better value for money.

This was a good solid standard stroller design. It folded up very easily. Although it wasn't particularly eye-catching to look at it was very functional and had loads of nice touches - like an easy seat recline that you could do one handed, a really good sun hood with viewing window that seemed really robust and deep and would work well to keep the sun of Esme. The good-sized rear pocket was also a bomus as it could hold both my purse and keys, and the shopping basket was very deep and held a lot of stuff, I could also get into it even when the seat was fully reclined. The brake was also great - really easy to apply and didn't feel at all flimsy. The handle height was good and made the buggy comfortable to push. I think the Silver Cross is great value for money as it felt like a quality stroller with the extra added element that it can be used for a really young baby as it has the full recline.

The Silver Cross was very like the Maclaren in shape and the way it folded up and down. It was a little bit heavier to lift, but did have the same handy carrying strap which meant I could put it over my shoulder easily. Levan looked very comfortable when I reclined him for his nap, and I felt confident that he was sleeping in position that wasn't straining his neck. This felt like a very well made puschair and I really liked the fact that it had a full recline option. The storage space was good. I thought it was value for money.

The Cookwise pack was good value for the money - Olivia loved the fact that the apron had her name on it. Nice range of smaller kitchen utensils suitable for children to use. I thought that there was a nice range of recipes included and Olivia thought that they all looked "yummy". The recipes used very straight forward ingredients that I either had in at home or could buy easily at my local shops. Olivia could manage to cook the recipes as long as I was helping - it was good for her to have pictures at each stage showing what her recipe should be looking like. Our favourite pack!

I was impressed when I received this kit. It was really nicely presented in a red gift bag and contained a lot.

The recipes were all laminated and came in a red folder along with general safety instructions. You could also access their website and podcast tutorials on each recipe to help further, which is great if you are really interested in learning more. For each recipe there was also an action plan and a shopping list. There were plenty of recipes but I felt that they may not have appealed to a lot of children. There were quite a few spicy ones such as the Tandoori Chicken and Chilli tortillas and the Somerset pork even included cider. Saying that, what I thought was very good is that they had loads of alternatives for each recipe - suggestions for making it less spicy, shortcuts and ingredients for vegetarian, gluten free or diary free diets.

Ethan quite likes spicy food so we tried the tandoori chicken and pilau rice. The ingredients were readily available, the instructions easy to follow and there were plenty of pictures to assist along the way. Ethan could manage himself with a little bit of supervision and really enjoyed the finished meal.

I liked the look of this kit and think that with everything you get in the kit and the quality of it, it represents really good value for money. However, I was a bit disappointed with the choice of recipes.

We were very impressed with this kit - it arrived in a lovely glossy red bag. Charlie got a lovely apron with his name on it – and straight away after seeing it he wanted to cook. It made him feel special. The recipes all looked very tempting - 5 different meals were given so we had lots of choice. Charlie chose Somerset Pork but chose a different dessert from another meal - Chocolate Pear Pudding. There were step by step photographs which were helpful for Charlie. We had most of the ingerdients at home - there were some that were more select but having the shopping lists made it all so easy. The recipes were perfect for Charlie's age, the cookworm sections showed you where your child could do it on there own or if the cookworm wasn't there then you knew you would have to help. There was plenty of opportunity for Charlie to do almost all the cooking himself. There were obvious times when I was needed – with the oven etc.

The Somerset Pork was delicious, it was so tasty I would consider doing it for a dinner party! The Pear pudding was ok, it didn't come out exactly the same as the picture, but what it lacked in looks it made up for in taste. Charlie loved it - he felt in control and even took everyone's plate to them – he had fun and I think he was shocked by how good it all turned out.

This was a good pack - very professional looking recipe cards although only 6 to choose from with the starter pack. They did however all appeal to the children. The recipes were clear to follow, although one of the recipes we used required butter and then mentioned margarine in the instructions so confused Olivia. They were pitched at the right level, exactly what you would expect for a 7 year old to be able to follow - Olivia could follow them and most was done with me just doing other things in the kitchen and Olivia following the recipe. The end results were lovely, the food appealed to all members of the family and looked like it did in the pictures on the recipe cards.

This arrived in a white pizza type box emblazoned with the Sticky Mitts logo and included a welcome letter and a letter to the little chef. Again, it came in a perspex folder split into sections (ie soups/meat and poultry etc) so that you could slot in your recipes as you collect them. Recipes were graded according to difficulty and they were the type of things most children would like to eat, were not too difficult or time consuming and the pictures looked appetising. It was a well designed eye-catching folder. Also included were plastic measuring spoons, wooden utensils, pizza pan, denim apron for the child and a timer. The kit also included a passport to cooking scheme where the child works his way up the chef ladder, which Ethan thought was a good idea, and access to the website which had lots more information and games for the children including an ask the chef section.

As pizza is Ethan's favourite food, we started off with the pizza margherita. There were not many ingredients and they were cheap and easy to purchase. Instructions were easy for Ethan to follow, there were a few suggestions for alternative toppings and the food facts were interesting. The end result was delicious and the two pizzas were demolished by the whole family pretty quickly. As it took only 10 minutes to prepare and was something Ethan enjoyed doing, mostly on his own, we will definitely be making this again. We also tried the Strawberry victoria sponge. This was another medium difficulty ( 2 sticky mitts) recipe and again the instructions were clear and easy to follow. It only took about 20 minutes to prepare and Ethan really enjoyed cooking and eating it.

All in all, I think this was probably my favourite pack. It was good value. The recipe choice had obviously been considered carefully and the whole kit and website were interesting, professional and child friendly.

This was also a good pack. It contained a folder with 6 recipes, apron, timer (with rope necklace), pizza baking tray, kitchen utensils, shopping lists, health and safety advice, membership to the StickyKidz website, glossary of cooking terms. The recipes looked nice - they also had a difficulty rating which helped us to choose something that Charlie would find easy to begin with. We chose tomato and basil soup and Victoria sponge cake.

The recipes were very easy to follow and Charlie had no trouble with them. The Soup took about 1 hour because of the simmering and blending time. Although the blending was great fun. The sponge cake took longer and was fiddlier but Charlie seemed to enjoy the challenge. Within the recipes there was plenty of opportunity for Charlie to do lots of chopping and mixing. The soup was lovely and there was enough for us the next day. Charlie and Grace liked it so much they want to make it again very soon. The sponge cake was harder to make but tasted lovely.

Charlie loved the4 cooking, we had fun even when we got messy - he involved his little sister in making the soup (she did the blending). It was a great family experience.The pack was good value for money - apron was very good quality. The timer being on a necklace was great – the kids wandered around with it on which was fun. The folder was full of helpful hints for the children and me. Still would have liked some oven gloves though.

A nice range of items in the pack, although none of the utensils were needed for the recipes we made and we thought that we might get a bit more for the price. A nice extra was having oven gloves to match the apron. Only 3 recipes were in the folder in the pack, although there were more online. The Recipe cards looked good though and the recipes were aimed at just the right level and very easy for Olivia to follow. The recipes took about 45 minutes to make - and the end products were not quite how the finished picture looked on the recipe cards! Olivia enjoyed cooking the recipes, they did interest her and it was fun cooking them together. All in all I thought this pack was slightly over priced for what you got.

This pack came in a hard blue folder and also included a baking tray, oven gloves, wooden and measuring spoons and an apron. The hygiene and safety section was excellent and the information about washing hands was very detailed and really interesting. The pack also gave a newsletter and access to their website where there were some fact sheets, games and some good up to date information on seasonal foods.

The folder was not as full as the other two and only included three recipes - oatmeal granola, one pot chicken and lemon cheesecake. Unfortunately, Ethan didn't fancy the other two so we could only try the one pot chicken. The instructions were easy to follow and it didn't take too long to prepare but as there was quite a lot of cutting and peeling I did have to help a bit with the knife and there was not a great deal Ethan could do on his own. The items were all items you would have in the house or could easily buy and the end result was quite tasty. However, as Ethan was not as involved in the process he didn't enjoy it as much as the other recipes.

I felt this pack was quite basic and I think the recipes may have been more suitable for a slightly older child. I didn't really think this was worth £30 as there was not a great deal in the pack and the recipe choice was very limited.

This was also a good pack. It contained recipes (only 3 though), recipe folder, information cards, denim apron, oven gloves (excellent), measuring spoons, a wooden spoon and a baking tin. The recipes looked good but there weren't as many pictures like the previous packs so I didn't feel that they held Charlie's interest as much. Charlie chose Lemon cheesecake and one pot chicken. The recipes were very easy to follow but Charlie said he wanted more pictures.

The cheesecake took 30 mins to prepare and 50 mins to cook. We also had to chill it for at least an hour before eating it but it was work the wait, The chick took 1 hour to cook and about 20 mins to prepare as there was a lot of chopping but Charlie loved that. The chicken was amazing – it was a simple dish but it tasted divine. The cheesecake was lovely - really light and fluffy - I will definitely be making it again with or without Charlie!

Again Charlie loved the cooking - I think he is amazed by how well his dinners turn out and how well he can cook. Both Charlie and Grace loved bashing up the biscuits of the cheesecake. I would have liked more recipes in the actual pack but overall it was a good pack. And the all important oven gloves were there!