Footbubbles - Messi not Messy ! (review)

I'm not sure what it is about boys and balls (don't be rude, I'm talking about footballs !) but Pierre finds the whole idea of kicking them around a lot more appealing than his sisters ever did. I've lost count of the number of times I've told him not to kick his football or beachball around inside the house because he'll break something. Even with a balloon, there's a chance he'll knock something off the shelf and break it. I was therefore delighted to learn about Leo Messi Footbubbles and receive some to review.

Inside the starter pack, you get a special pair of socks designed to look like football boots (they are based on Messi's latest boot designs apparently and come in various colours if you don't like green !) along with a bottle of bubble mixture, a bubble blower and a dish - this is not just any bubble mixture though. This one is specially formulated so that the bubbles are strong enough for you to gently kick about.

I was dubious that the bubbles would resist but they're actually not bad. They do pop if you kick them too hard, with or without the special socks, but they are easy to blow and do seem more resistant than regular bubbles. They do sometimes pop as you shake them off the blower though, so Pierre asked me to create the bubbles while he did the juggling !

Now, Lionel Messi is a serious footballer. (If you're wondering why it says Leo Messi on the pack, that's his nickname aparently - all these things that go straight over my head as I have no interest in football !) He is a record 4 time Ballon d'Or winner and 2014 FIFA Golden Ball winner, he has won 21 trophies at Barcelona and is the club's top goal scorer with 440 goals. I'd like to see him doing some of the tricks that you are supposed to be able to do with the Footbubbles though because it's not as easy as it looks!

According to the website, you should be able to master awesome tricks like 'Around the World', 'The Twirl' and the 'Back-heel Tap' or even try tricks-for-two such as 'The Bridge'. You can sign up to the Leo Messi FootBubbles Academy online to learn tricks, get behind-the-scenes info and enter competitions. The most we could manage was balancing a bubble on our feet and gently playing keepie-uppie but we may get better with practise !

A couple of words of advice. You'll get through the bubble solution pretty quickly so you might want to stock up on some refills when you buy the starter pack. Secondly, think carefully about where you play - if you're on a lino/tiled floor, it gets a bit slippery. This would be great for playing with outside but it would have to be a day with absolutly no wind for it to work properly.

Pierre loves bubbles and footbll so I knew it would be a hit with him, but it actually appealed to everyone in the Madhouse family, even the grown-ups ! Anything that gets kids (and parents) away from their screens and off their bums has to be a good thing !

star rating : 4/5

for more information : https://www.footbubbles.com/

Disclosure : We received the product in order to write an honest review.