As a parent, being in Lockdown brought all sorts of unique challenges. The biggest challenge was finding ways to keep the children occupied.
Thankfully there was one toy that had both of boys playing in harmony for hours on end, Power Treads.
Power Treads are basically little tank like vehicles that are on a single mission, to drive where you tell it to. The pack comes with plastic funnels that connect to each other that allow you to build a track or course to your desire. When you run out of those you can use whatever you want to guide the tank in any direction. Assembly is very simple, you need to build the tanks tracks by clipping them together then wrapping it around the engine. They come in multiple colours so you can create all sort of interesting patterns. There is an on/off button on the side and one you have built your course the tank will keep going until you tell it otherwise.
The blue plastic pieces that allow you to build your course comprise of two straight pieces, two ramp pieces, two leg pieces to support the ramps, two funnel tracks and four turn tracks. There is also a big sticker pack that includes glow in the dark stickers. These can be used to decorate the track although I noticed that the began to peel off after a couple of days.
Assembly is really simple, the different pieces all clip together easily and you’ll be up and running in minutes. The tracks can be built in a continuous loop or if you are feeling more creative you can create a course fixed in with household items. We built ramps with books and Lego, my boys also built tunnels to extend our course. Attaching elastic bands around the tank’s tracks gives it more grip if you create sharper inclines.
The coolest part of the pack is the Power Trekker, you can set up a ramp for the tank to drive onto and in an instant your tank has legs! As cool as it looks, it restricts the tank form doing very much, it would have been good if the trekker released the tank when it hits an obstruction.
The Power Treads starter pack comes in at £24.99, which doesn’t include batteries. Hopefully there will be some expansion packs available in the future. It’s a great idea for kids who want to get creative with a cool vehicle.
