JML Colour Touch Alarm Clock

"Red and yellow and pink and green

Orange and purple and blue,

I can sing a JML Colour Touch Alarm Clock,

Sing a JML Colour Touch Alarm Clock,

Sing a JML Colour Touch Alarm Clock too !"

OK, it's not 100% correct, there's no orange, but you get the idea ! Every time you touch the clock, it changes colour so you can choose the one that best fits your mood. Bright red, yellow or purple for the daytime or the less glaring blues and greens for night time. The lights aren't so bright that you can't sleep with them on (unless like my husband, you're used to sleeping with shutters and can't sleep if there's the slightest pinprick of light !) but they are bright enough to provide a gentle glow that is reassuring for people who are scared of the dark or who need to move around without turning on the light but without falling over things in the pitch black (like me, when I need to go and check on a crying baby who, unlike a pinprick of light, never seems to wake up aforementioned hubby !).

The website actually lists nightlight as one of its functions and I think this is absolutely perfect for older kids who are too old to sleep with the light on but are still prone to the odd nightmare and an overactive imagination making every little shadow look like a monster. Sophie is 8 so is way beyond the sleeping-with-the-light-on years but, since moving into her new room in the loft, has been freaking out at times over the strange noises of the wind and rain. This light allows her to have a reassuring glow in her room when she needs it without the embarrassment of having a babyish night light when her friends come to play.

As I mentioned,the backlight changes colour every time you touch it - but it's also noise-sensitive and changes colour when you make a sound close to it. This kept the girls in hysterics for ages when it first arrived, clapping and jumping and clicking their fingers so that it changed colour. Then shouting a colour and seeing who was right (Sophie worked out the sequence of colours way before little sister Juliette !). And when baby Pierre let out a particularly loud burp one day and made it change colour, I thought they would never stop laughing. Who needs expensive toys, eh ?!

Once everyone's stopped playing with it and oohing and aahing over the different colours, you can actually have a closer look and see that it's got some pretty nifty little functions. As well as the obvious clock and alarm functions, it can be used as a calendar (date and week), a countdown timer (up to 180 minutes) and a temperature display (in either celsius or fahrenheit). That's a lot of handy functions for a little plastic box measuring just 7 x 10.5 x 2.5cm ! The timer is great for counting down 2-minutes of tooth-brushing or telling the kids they have to tidy up as much as possible in 5 minutes (you'd be amazed how much you can get put away with no complaining when you make it into a 5-minute beat-the-clock game !). Also, if you use the clock as a night light in baby's room (just enough glow for night feeds), it's really handy to be able to keep a check on the room temperature.

It's not amazingly sturdy but it has dropped on the floor a few times (when the girls have been jumping to make it change colour !) and it hasn't broken yet. Just don't forget to keep a stock of batteries on hand - it needs 3 x AAA batteries.

star rating : 4/5

RRP : £9.99 (now £4.99 on the JML website)

available at ASDA, Debenhams, Tesco and Wilkinson or online on the JML website