Let your imagination run wild with Cloudees

He poured the water and shook the box and before he knew it, he was opening up a world of puffy, fluffy and colourful cloud animals. They’re bright, colourful, textured and stimulate many fine and gross motor skills.

With Mattel's Cloudees, surprise pets are hidden inside a fluffy cloud powder that you shake up. It’s a new interactive way to discover your hidden toy.

What's visible in the package is a shimmery light blue and purple cloud case with a winky face on the front. It’s friendly and inviting and can be easily spotted on the shelf. There are also two things to pull out from the bottom of the packaging: a carry loop for the cloud case, so you can take it with you wherever you go, and a blind silver bag that contains accessories for the pet you'll be revealing. For instance, a tail, a sticker, slippers, and a guitar... you name it. (Don’t open it first -wait until you see which Cloudee you will shake up in the cloud fluff!)

Instructions for how to create the cloud fluff are on the back of the cloud case, and they can be removed. This toy is perfect for little kids. It’s an adventure in itself. My 5 year old was truly surprised and excited at the reveal and had no clue what to expect. He followed the instructions by himself and with a little reassurance managed to complete it!

Open up the cloud case and fill it to the top with water. Close it up, insert the stopper, and, holding the stopper, shake the cloud case well for 60 seconds. This is very tiring for little arms but keep going!

When you open up the cloud case, you'll be able to peel away the protective layer because of the hole in it, and this will reveal the cloud fluff and the mystery Cloudee pet inside. Our fluff brought about the cutest most excited smile of awe and wonder! It was a soft squishy blue cloud fluff and when you put your hands inside you find a Cloudee hiding away inside a little packet. We found a yellow Rocking Tiger who is pleasantly special and from Stormyville.

There are 14 Cloudees, and each animal comes from one of seven weather-themed lands, including Raindrop Village, Stormyville, Sunnyland, Starry Way, Rainbow Point, Snowflake Hills, and Windy Way. The collector's guide will tell you whether your pet is Commonly Cool, Pleasantly Special, Hot, or Sizzling Hot.

You can accessorize the pet with the before mentioned blind pack by fluffing up the colourful tail and plugging it into the pet, and dress up the pet in its accessories. You could also attach the tail to the carry loop, if you wanted to. All of these accessories can be a little tricky for little fingers and they might need some help.

Unfortunately, you can't save and store the cloud fluff. But the cloud case can be reused, and in fact, the sticker that came in the blind bag is supposed to cover up the hole on the cloud case lid. The lid also doubles as a display stand for the Cloudee and its matching mini pet, sold separately. (My 2 year old loved the mini pet, what I liked about this was with this one there was no need for instructions and he could just open it and enjoy!) we got a pleasantly special Loopy Bat from Starry way!

These are really cute, and kids will like that the unboxing is more than just opening a box or bag to reveal the pet. Adding water and shaking it up enables kids to be a little more hands-on with the reveal. And they'll love seeing the cloud fluff appear just as much as the Cloudee itself. The cloud fluff has such a, well, fluffy feel to it. It's a shame that it can't be saved because it could be a really cool play feature with the Cloudee pet. But it is quite wet. And messy. But no matter. Kids will like the surprise of playing out a whole range of imaginative stories with their Cloudees. Rocking Tiger and Loopy Bat are off on an adventure today with Thomas the Tank Engine and a giant robot made from Mega Blocks. I can’t wait to hear what they got up too...