Kung Zhu

As a mom, there are just some toys that I would never think to pick up off the shelf at the store. It's not that there is anything wrong with a toy, it's just that sometimes I wonder would my kids actually like that or play with that? One such toy is the new Kung Zhu line from Zhu Zhu pets. If I had seen it on shelf, I'm not sure I would have picked it out. My kids are lucky though that through MomSelect, I recently had the opportunity to check out Kung Zhu Pets. They LOVE them.

What are Kung Zhu Pets?

"With eight original characters split into two battling groups called Special Forces and Ninja Warriors, Kung Zhu Pet owners will have the thrill of training each character to transform fighting, battling warriors. While these Kung Zhu hamsters may start of as "cute" and "mild-mannered" once they are sent into their main training grounds, smart chip technology will actually allow you to hear a distinct personality transformation of fighting ninja and warriors."

Deck your Special Forces or Ninja pet in their armor and they are ready to achieve their goal of "justice in the zhu-niverse".

We came home from school one afternoon last week to a large box sitting in the kitchen. They were excited and couldn't wait to know what was inside. When I opened it, they immediately started pulling things out and wanting to know if we could open them.

I allowed them to each select a hamster and a set of battle armor for their hamster. These Kung Zhu pets are very similar to regular Zhu Zhu pets, but they have some special features that make them even more fun. They can be played with in "discover" mode like the original Zhu Zhu pets, in which they just tool around, making cute noises and bumping into things, or in "battle" mode where they make cute little warrior noises and do some special tricks (spins, wheelies, etc). Their armor set comes with a shield that has a track to run them across to "charge up their armor". Even before we opened anything else, the kids were having fun with their Kung Zhu hamsters.

After getting our hamsters out, suited up and running, we finally opened and set up a Battle Arena, where the two hamsters can duel it out a couple at a time, pushing each other around, doing spins, and trying to "win" by knocking the other Zhu Zhu over. We set up a Ninja training set and a Special Forces training set on either side of the arena. There also were some battle accessories for the arena (or for use on their own). We built and connected all of the pieces. The hamsters were ready for battle. (We only connected one training set to each side and added two battle accessories, but there are all kinds of accessories that you can hook onto the battle arena to make it more intricate and fun, too!)

The kids were a bit disappointed that when the hamsters were wearing their armor that they couldn't fit through the training set. This did seem somewhat odd, since the training sets attach to the "tunnels" leading to the battle arena. The kids quickly got over this and just let their hamsters train and upon reaching the battle arena, they would pick them up and pop on their armor. The battle accessories and the armor both have some "action" pieces that when bumped into fire or drop or swing a weapon into the arena. Of course, mostly these just serve as obstacles to the hamsters, leading to one or the other to flip over and "lose". That's okay, once they lose the kids switch sides and let their hamsters run on the other training set and return to battle again.

Generally, I am not a big fan of "fighting" or "battle" toys, but this one features cute hamsters and really makes the kids giggle - so it feels less violent than a "battle toy" sounds. In addition, the arena and the accessories can really start to take up a lot of space. We are fortunately enough to have a basement, but we first set it up in our family room which quickly was overrun in Kung Zhu. Once we moved it to the basement, there was plenty of room.

I have been impressed by the amount of time the kids spend playing with the Kung Zhu pets. Most of the time, hasn't even been in battle. As they were downstairs playing, my son came up and asked if he could recycle the boxes that the pets and toys had come in. Recycling makes sense to me, so I said sure. Turns out he meant reuse. They took to opening boxes and using the cardboard inside to create houses for their Kung Zhu hamsters. It was really great to see them spend time playing and being creative together. To me, a toy that inspires them to be creative is a good thing. Of course, all of their play has not been without squabbles. They both want to use the same set of armor - it fires off missiles when it gets bumped and my daughter struggles with letting her brother's Kung Zhu train on "her" training set (the one she helped me open and set up), but they have worked through both and now take turns.

Overall I would give these pets a great review...my kids have enjoyed playing with them all weekend! I love that you can play with just the pets alone or add in any number of accessories to mix it up.

Giveaway:

Kung Zhu giveaway! Thanks to MomSelect, I have a HUGE package of Kung Zhu fun to give to one lucky reader. Here is what the winner will get:

Two Kung Zhu pets
Two Sets of Kung Zhu armor
One Battle Arena
Three Accessories

To enter - check out the Kung Zhu hamster bios (here) and then leave a comment sharing which Kung Zhu hamster you could best relate to.

Additional entries:
· Follow @ABusyMomofTwo on Twitter. Tweet about this giveaway. Leave a comment with a link to your tweet. (this can be done daily)
· Follow this blog or sign up to receive e-mail updates (upper side bar). Leave a comment letting me know that you follow or subscribe (or if you already have been).
· Include my button on your side bar or a link to A Busy Mom of Two in your blog roll. Leave a comment with a link to your site.
· Share this giveaway with your friends on Facebook.
· Write a post about this giveaway on your blog and leave a comment with a link to your post.

Giveaway will remain open until July 5th at 6pm. Winner will be selected using Random.org random number generator. The winner will be contacted by e-mail (Please make sure that your email address is either in your comment or clearly visible on your profile or blog) and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner may be selected.

No compensation was received for this post. I did receive through Mom Select a pair of Kung Zhu hamsters, armor, battle arena and some accessories for my family, that we could play with them and share our experience. In addition, a set was provided for a giveaway.