Sometimes bedtime seems like an impossible feat. The hours creep past, and while your energy as a parent might be dwindling, your little ones’ is thriving more than ever.
Sure, you can sit them in front of the telly, or read them a book and hope that sitting still will sneakily lull them into a deep sleep. But I know a better method. As you might have guessed, it involves this mysterious-looking cube, which is actually a games console that is designed to get your little ones moving.
Unlike a PlayStation or Xbox, Nex doesn’t require controllers to win the game, making it suitable for people as little as five years old. Instead, this tiny three-inch cube acts as a motion sensor, which forces your kids to get up off the sofa and run around in front of it to control games.
Our parenting editor, Natasha Hinde, tried it out with her two and four year old, and wrote a rave review about it absolutely knocking her kids out – and bringing her family together.
While it usually comes in at £269, it’s on sale right now for Prime Day, making it £214.99 for a family-safe games console and endless nights of good sleep.
How does Nex Playground work?
If you’ve never heard of Nex, it’s a games console designed specifically for families with small kids.
It’s easy to set up – all you have to do is plug it into the mains and connect it to your TV via an HDMI cable, which is included.
Plus, the motion detector camera has kidSAFE+ certification, thanks to the fact that none of the data and processing is sent to the cloud.
If you’re worried about the safety element of having a camera watching your kids in your living room, don’t worry, because each console comes with a camera cover that snaps on.
When you’re ready to play (and you’ve connected the device to your WiFi) you can choose from 60 of the included games such as Fruit Ninja or Whac-a-Mole, which you win through natural body movements like raising an arm, or jumping in front of the camera. Yup, that means hours of gaming fun that also forces your kids to burn some energy.
And there’s something for everyone: Nex collabs on games with some of the biggest names out there, like Peppa Pig and Bluey, which you can access by buying an extra Play Pass to unlock its full catalogue for three to 12 months.
To save you even more money, Nex is offering 20% off console and Play Pass bundles until 10 October, meaning you can save as much as £90 on a years’ worth on fun.
The console was the third best selling console in the US on Black Friday last year, so our guess is it’s going to be just as popular in the UK this year. If you don’t want to miss out, you better get ahead of the rush and get one while stocks last during Amazon Prime Day!
