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Product tests

Find out what MNers have to say about Banjo Robinsons’ personalised letters to 4-7 year olds - Non-tester? Get 15% off your subscription

347 replies

EllieMumsnet · 11/09/2018 10:35

This is the feedback thread for the Mumsnet users who tested the personalised pen pal experience from Banjo Robinson the travelling cat, who helps boost creativity, reading and writing skills for their child/children.

Non-Tester? 90% of Mumsnet Tester's children wrote Banjo a reply and Banjo Robinson has now officially launched! They are offering 15% off full subscription charges with the code BanjoLovesMumsnet. This code is valid until 31/10/18.

Here’s what testers received:

  • An initial introduction pack which includes: a personalised letter introducing Banjo and his travels, a world map, stickers to track Banjo’s progress, personalised stickers to use creatively, a doodle sheet to colour, a reply page to draw and write their response, a reply envelope with postage stamp stickers.
  • A follow up letter from Banjo Robinson detailing his next stop in his travels including more goodies.


Here’s what Tree Climber Publishing have to say: “Banjo Robinson the cat is in India at the moment, checking out the Taj Mahal. He was at the pyramids last Tuesday, and next week he's off to the Great Wall of China. And while he’s away on his amazing travels, Banjo sends real, personalised letters to your child full of exciting tales all year round. Your child will get a world map and stickers to track Banjo’s progress and two personalised letters asking them to reply with pictures and messages.

Letters from Banjo Robinson encourage them to craft a reply, improving their writing skills and creativity. Parents can spend quality time with their children, away from tablets and TV, reading Banjo's letters, widening the child’s vocabulary, learning about different countries, and building communication skills."

Testers please answer the following questions:
  • Overall how satisfied were you with your child’s letters from Banjo Robinson and the service?
  • What did your child think of Banjo Robinson’s letters? Did they write back?
  • What did you like most about the letters?
  • Is there anything that you feel could be improved?
  • Would you recommend the personalised letters to your friends and/or family?
  • ‘Banjo Robinson sends personalised letters, personalised stickers, colouring-in activities and writing stationary from two new countries per month. Once subscribed, parents will be able to log on to their account and compose the closing paragraph of the next letter their child receives from Banjo, enabling them to address questions their child has asked, and creating an authentic back-and-forth correspondence between child and ‘cat’.’ A Banjo Robinson subscription was £7.90/month, however as a result of your feedback, Tree Climber has decided to price this offering at £5.35. Do you think this is a fair price for the product?


All testers who leave the required feedback will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!
MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply
Find out what MNers have to say about Banjo Robinsons’ personalised letters to 4-7 year olds - Non-tester? Get 15% off your subscription
OP posts:
flimsymimsy1980 · 11/09/2018 10:57
  • Overall how satisfied were you with your child’s letters from Banjo Robinson and the service?


Both my kids aged 4 and 8 got excited when their letter arrived in the post and enjoyed opening their letter. Thought it was ok as it arrived without paying anything upfront.

  • What did your child think of Banjo Robinson’s letters? Did they write back?


Both my kids got excited upon opening but seemed very disinterested sadly in the letters even when i read them out to them and pointed different things out and soon lost interest. Both my kids did however enjoy sticking stickers on the envelopes provided and enjoyed colouring in the pages.

  • What did you like most about the letters?

Liked everything tied in together for the country that was visited.

  • Is there anything that you feel could be improved?

If I was to pay a subscription which ive heard is over £7 a month for 2 letters i wouldnt pay this as feel it wouldnt be worth it and think more bespoke items need to be added to make it worth while.

  • Would you recommend the personalised letters to your friends and/or family?

Sadly no.

  • ‘Banjo Robinson sends personalised letters, personalised stickers, colouring-in activities and writing stationary from two new countries per month. Once subscribed, parents will be able to log on to their account and compose the closing paragraph of the next letter their child receives from Banjo, enabling them to address questions their child has asked, and creating an authentic back-and-forth correspondence between child and ‘cat’.’ A Banjo Robinson subscription is £7.90/month. Do you think this is a fair price for the product?


I think it is too expensive and for the materials provided I could probably go on google and print something off myself. There just didnt seem anything that would attract me to purchase a subscription. Maybe if there was a little souvenir item from the country for example a visit to egypt could include a little keyring of the pyramids that could go on their schoolbag or something as a momento but even so £7.90 is expensive especially if you have more than one child.
mummygardyne · 11/09/2018 10:59

My 6yr old daughter loved getting her letter from Banjo and was delighted when he mentioned her own cat and the colour of our sofa.

She was very keen to get her response letter written and took time with me to write her reply. She enjoyed placing the stickers on the map, and finding out information to put in her response, she most enjoyed drawing the pictures for Banjo.

It was good for her to spend time away from the TV / Computer, but also helped her skills on the computer when looking for information.

I think it is a great idea to help kids learn about other countries and due to being personalised they feel that it is just for them.

Mrshockallz1726 · 11/09/2018 11:06
  • Overall how satisfied were you with your child’s letters from Banjo Robinson and the service? James absolutely loved it! The service is brilliant!


  • What did your child think of Banjo Robinson’s letters? Did they write back? James was thrilled! He loves getting letters in the post and he told everyone about it! He wrote back both times!


  • What did you like most about the letters? The fact bajo told James about different counties.


  • Is there anything that you feel could be improved? Maybe make the letters a little shorter for younger kids.


  • Would you recommend the personalised letters to your friends and/or family? Definitely I think some of James friends would love it
babypeach · 11/09/2018 11:06
  • Overall how satisfied were you with your child’s letters from Banjo Robinson and the service?


It was an interesting idea and my daughter enjoyed the activities and stickers and the idea of building up the poster.
  • What did your child think of Banjo Robinson’s letters? Did they write back?

She really liked the letters but did not write back as the instructions mentioned putting it under the sofa for the cat post which confused her as she knows that’s not real I guess.

  • What did you like most about the letters? They were interesting and the idea of having a sort of pen pal traveling around the world was exciting.


  • Is there anything that you feel could be improved? Maybe a bit more detail in the letters, more real life photographs etc


  • Would you recommend the personalised letters to your friends and/or family? I like the idea and my daughter loved getting post so in theory yes but maybe not his service in particular in its current form.
  • ‘Banjo Robinson sends personalised letters, personalised stickers, colouring-in activities and writing stationary from two new countries per month. Once subscribed, parents will be able to log on to their account and compose the closing paragraph of the next letter their child receives from Banjo, enabling them to address questions their child has asked, and creating an authentic back-and-forth correspondence between child and ‘cat’.’ A Banjo Robinson subscription is £7.90/month. Do you think this is a fair price for the product?


For the interactive service described above then yes that might be a more interesting product as it would be worth the child writing letters if they get a personalised result.
CommanderShepard · 11/09/2018 11:07
  • Overall how satisfied were you with your child’s letters from Banjo Robinson and the service?


Pretty satisfied, but glad I hadn't paid for it.

  • What did your child think of Banjo Robinson’s letters? Did they write back?


She really liked them and wrote back, but she was very skeptical that I had been having lunch with a cat.

  • What did you like most about the letters?


They were engaging and she likes the poster. The facts about the countries were pitched well for her level.

  • Is there anything that you feel could be improved?


Given how long this test took to get off the ground I was really expecting something more comprehensive.


  • Would you recommend the personalised letters to your friends and/or family?


Probably not.

  • ‘Banjo Robinson sends personalised letters, personalised stickers, colouring-in activities and writing stationary from two new countries per month. Once subscribed, parents will be able to log on to their account and compose the closing paragraph of the next letter their child receives from Banjo, enabling them to address questions their child has asked, and creating an authentic back-and-forth correspondence between child and ‘cat’.’ A Banjo Robinson subscription is £7.90/month. Do you think this is a fair price for the product?


No. £5 maybe, but definitely not the best part of £10.
lastofthewintergin · 11/09/2018 11:07

My 5 yr old son totally bought into the concept, especially as we have a cat and the letter mentioned him by name. I thought that was brilliant. I think it would be necessary to reply straightaway after reading the letter and we didn't have time, meaning it lost a bit of its magic and felt like a bit more of a chore by the time we got around to it. It would have been nice to be able to submit some details from the child's reply so that the second letter 'responded' to the child's reply. All in all a positive experience that I would consider doing possibly when my child is a little older.

FudgeyCookie · 11/09/2018 11:14
  • Overall how satisfied were you with your child’s letters from Banjo Robinson and the service?

Quite satisfied.

  • What did your child think of Banjo Robinson’s letters? Did they write back?

My DD loved it but preferred writing back as found the letters a bit long winded.

  • What did you like most about the letters?

I like that they included some personal details which made it more personal for DD.

  • Is there anything that you feel could be improved?

Somewhere to post it to? DD didnt really believe me about another cat coming to collect her reply as she didnt understand who they would get in!

  • Would you recommend the personalised letters to your friends and/or family?

Maybe, it would depend on the child.

-‘Banjo Robinson sends personalised letters, personalised stickers, colouring-in activities and writing stationary from two new countries per month. Once subscribed, parents will be able to log on to their account and compose the closing paragraph of the next letter their child receives from Banjo, enabling them to address questions their child has asked, and creating an authentic back-and-forth correspondence between child and ‘cat’.’A Banjo Robinson subscription is £7.90/month. Do you think this is a fair price for the product?
Personally no. Nearly £8 is quite expensive for what we got/DD's interest in it. There is an educational aspect to it with info about the different countries but not worth the price for me.
gesu · 11/09/2018 11:15
  • Overall how satisfied were you with your child’s letters from Banjo Robinson and the service?


The letters arrived fine. There was a massive gap between the 2 letters but that was explained as a teething problem. But otherwise it was fine.

  • What did your child think of Banjo Robinson’s letters? Did they write back?

My ds was really excited about receiving the letters. He was initially suspicious that how did the car know his name etc but I soon convinced him. He would write a letter straight away and first thing in the morning check to see if it was picked up by the cat postman!

  • What did you like most about the letters?

The best part of the letters was the little bit of info where you could personalize it like the colour of the sofa. That's what made it feel really real for my children. They kept asking how he knew what our sofa looked like.

  • Is there anything that you feel could be improved?

The letters were a bit long and needed to be a bit more child focussed. Some of the phrases/ words my child didn't quite understand. It needed to be written in a more kiddyish way. DS wasn't interested in the colouring pages at all tbh. The stickers were fun to put on the map and also the envelop etc. But apart from that there was not much else. Would be nice to have something like a small souvenir from the country. Perhaps some fun facts / poster. Little toy or craft activity in relating to the country.

  • Would you recommend the personalised letters to your friends and/or family?


Sorry no I wouldn't.

A Banjo Robinson subscription is £7.90/month. Do you think this is a fair price for the product?
It's really very pricey for what you get. It's a letter, a few stickers and a small colouring sheet. I could spend the same amount on a million stickers and sets and crafts products myself. The concept is great but it really needs some more stuff. It's just too overpriced for what you get.
Snowmouse24 · 11/09/2018 11:15

My daughter age 6 was very excited when she received the first letter and quickly wrote back. She was equally excited to find her letter had gone from under the sofa and asked a few times when Banjo would reply. And there lies the problem with this offering because of course Banjo doesn't reply. You just get another generic letter with minimal personalisation. When the second letter arrived she wasn't nearly as excited and hasn't remembered to write back. I understand it wouldn't be commercially viable to write personally to every child, every time, but I can't see how you will retain the children's interest with the set up the way it is. Personally I wouldn't pay to subscribe and I wouldn't recommend this. I'd rather encourage my daughter to become pen pals with one of her cousins.

Pigeonpost · 11/09/2018 11:20
  • Overall how satisfied were you with your child’s letters from Banjo Robinson and the service?


Very. I thought the letters and all the little bits in the packs were lovely, in particular the map. I also liked the concept of collecting stickers, always a winner with my children!

  • What did your child think of Banjo Robinson’s letters? Did they write back?


He didn't really make the most of them sadly. I signed up for the test as DS2 (age 7) is a reluctant reader and I really thought this might spark his interest. He loved having a letter in the post addressed to him and watching him open the letters, especially the first one, was like Christmas Day, he was so excited. Unfortunately he would then lose interest very quickly, possibly as soon as he realised there was quite a lot of reading to be done!

  • What did you like most about the letters?


We loved the personalisation, made him feel really quite special. I thought the whole style and design of the letters was lovely and really well presented.

  • Is there anything that you feel could be improved?


For me it would have to be how we managed opening the letters with him. We would need to pick a time where we could sit down together, just me and him and go through it all bit by bit to take in all the information. If we had done that then he might have been more engaged and keen to write back which we just couldn't persuade him to do. It was also slightly difficult for us as he is one of 3 and the other two wanted to be involved and see what it was all about meaning that often his older and much more proficient at reading brother took the lead. It would be nice if there was a siblings option where the letters could be tailored to suit more than one child and make it more of a family experience. Also, when we signed up Banjo was a dog and for reasons which I can't really articulate, DS would have preferred a dog (although we have both). Although perhaps it wouldn't have made any difference in the long run to his level of engagement.

  • Would you recommend the personalised letters to your friends and/or family?


Possibly but I think they might be more suitable for the more calm child! I've got 3 boys who are close in age and tend to crash around playing Lego, building dens, drawing comics and playing Minecraft all together and they do play together most of the time. It could really encourage less proficient readers I think (which is why I was so keen to try). To be honest we have tried other subscriptions before (a craft one called ToucanBox for example) and it always comes back to a) needing to be something all 3 can do together (because that's how they prefer to play) and b) keeping their attention! The craft boxes would often get opened in excitement, looked at very briefly, strewn about the house and then ignored and sadly that's also what happened to the Banjo letters.

  • ‘Banjo Robinson sends personalised letters, personalised stickers, colouring-in activities and writing stationary from two new countries per month. Once subscribed, parents will be able to log on to their account and compose the closing paragraph of the next letter their child receives from Banjo, enabling them to address questions their child has asked, and creating an authentic back-and-forth correspondence between child and ‘cat’.’ A Banjo Robinson subscription is £7.90/month. Do you think this is a fair price for the product?


I think possibly ever so slightly on the high side but not outside the boundaries of what is reasonable. I like the idea of parent interaction (although getting the letters out from underneath our very heavy sofa bothers me!) to tailor the experience and think that could work nicely. It is an experience slightly reminiscent of the Elf on The Shelf (which we have done for quite a few years) so how much a parent gets out of it for their child rather depends on how much the parent puts in.

Thank you for allowing me to test the product. I am still considering signing up and better managing the arrival of the letter as I do think it could work for DS2 if we can get him better engaged by enabling him to open the letter at the right time. It's a lovely idea.
Barbeasty · 11/09/2018 11:21

We signed up for this for my 5 year old DS. The letters were far too long for him to want to try reading himself, and the font wasn't the easiest for him to read.
There wasn't a huge amount of info about the countries. The map and stickers in the 1st letter went down well.

DS didn't want to write back either, but it was the middle of the summer holidays. I wouldn't have thought he was at all interested, except while we were on holiday he pointed something out and said it was "like Banjo the cat".

I liked the little bits of personalisation.

I think it would be good if you could select a level of reading ability for the letters. That way DS might be more interested, and willing to read them.
There isn't much detail about the country visited. But I think it could work really well if it was e.g. targeted at schools to kick-start a project where children will learn about/ research something in more detail.
Or if you could select a country/ city for Banjo to visit so it could tie in with the child's planned travels.
A way of scaling a subscription to cover more than 1 child without having to get multiple identical sets might be good.

Personally I don't think I'd recommend it to friends or family. But partly because I think their children are either too old or too young for it. As it is today I think there's probably a narrow age band where it works really well.

The price of £7.90 would depend how much stuff came with it, but I'm not sure I'd see it as fantastic value for money.

Friolero · 11/09/2018 11:24
  • Overall how satisfied were you with your child’s letters from Banjo Robinson and the service?

It’s a lovely idea and my son was excited to receive the letters. Overall, however, I would like to see more personalisation and perhaps a lower cost.

  • What did your child think of Banjo Robinson’s letters? Did they write back?

My son was very excited to receive his letters, especially the first one, and happily wrote back but was less interested in the content of the second letter and although he’s done the colouring page, he hasn’t yet written back.

  • What did you like most about the letters?

My son loved receiving post just for him (he doesn’t get much!) and the fact Banjo had said he’d met me in the first letter. He wanted to know all about it. He liked posting his letter under the sofa and was keen to check whether it had been collected in the morning!

  • Is there anything that you feel could be improved?

I felt it would be good to have more opportunities for personalisation, as my son felt Banjo hadn’t read his letter back to him as there was no reference to what he’d said in the letter from Brazil. I see this is being addressed once parents subscribe, which will be a huge improvement.

  • Would you recommend the personalised letters to your friends and/or family?

Possibku if it could be personalised more, as above, and if it was at an acceptable price.

  • ‘Banjo Robinson sends personalised letters, personalised stickers, colouring-in activities and writing stationary from two new countries per month. Once subscribed, parents will be able to log on to their account and compose the closing paragraph of the next letter their child receives from Banjo, enabling them to address questions their child has asked, and creating an authentic back-and-forth correspondence between child and ‘cat’.’ A Banjo Robinson subscription is £7.90/month. Do you think this is a fair price for the product?

No, I think this is too much based on what was sent out. The letter was lovely, but the colouring and sticker sheets were very small. I would probably pay a maximum of £5 a month for this.
Jaderice21 · 11/09/2018 11:28

my daughter absolutely loved receiving and writing letters she is 4 and i would highly recommend this to everyone with children of similar age and interests i think the whole concept is brilliant with the map and everything so definatly encourages learning too with is alwas winner in my eyes

Wend1 · 11/09/2018 11:35

Overall how satisfied were you with your child’s letters from Banjo Robinson and the service?

I was quite satisfied with this product. It was quite well done and the right ratio of pictures/words.

What did your child think of Banjo Robinson’s letters? Did they write back?

My child wasn’t very interested in the first letter for some reason but he really liked the second letter and was really keen and eager to write back and enjoyed doing so.

What did you like most about the letters?

I liked that it encouraged creativity

Is there anything that you feel could be improved?

I think the letters could be improved by making them more realistic and more personalised. A different quality paper would be better so it felt more like a letter and less like a mass marketing mail. More hand drawn style pictures as well maybe.

Would you recommend the personalised letters to your friends and/or family?

I possibly would recommend this to friends and family, but I would say more for slightly younger children than my son. Probably more 6ish rather than 8. I thought the character would quickly become quite babyish for my son.

‘Banjo Robinson sends personalised letters, personalised stickers, colouring-in activities and writing stationary from two new countries per month. Once subscribed, parents will be able to log on to their account and compose the closing paragraph of the next letter their child receives from Banjo, enabling them to address questions their child has asked, and creating an authentic back-and-forth correspondence between child and ‘cat’.’ A Banjo Robinson subscription is £7.90/month. Do you think this is a fair price for the product?

No, I think maybe £5 a month would be more acceptable. The colouring materials and quite generic and not really very exciting or different from what my children already have in terms of colouring books.

Holly221288 · 11/09/2018 11:37

Overall how satisfied were you with your child’s letters from Banjo Robinson and the service?

I loved the idea. And even the subject ideas.

  • What did your child think of Banjo Robinson’s letters? Did they write back?

My daughter (5) was so excited to receive a letter addressed to her in the post. Yes she did write back to both letters although this was mainly in picture form due to her age. I think the letter content was beyond her as it seemed to be aimed at older children. It was a highlight for her when they mentioned our sofa and the colour!!

  • What did you like most about the letters?

I liked the illustrations and how they looked

  • Is there anything that you feel could be improved?

More personal content needs to added. Letters need to be simplified.

  • Would you recommend the personalised letters to your friends and/or family?

Not at this stage as they didn’t suit my daughters age

  • ‘Banjo Robinson sends personalised letters, personalised stickers, colouring-in activities and writing stationary from two new countries per month. Once subscribed, parents will be able to log on to their account and compose the closing paragraph of the next letter their child receives from Banjo, enabling them to address questions their child has asked, and creating an authentic back-and-forth correspondence between child and ‘cat’.’ A Banjo Robinson subscription is £7.90/month. Do you think this is a fair price for the product?

That sounds like a great improvement that closing paragraph can be added. I think there needs to be a couple of age categories. The price needs to be lowered to around £5 or some kind of gift added
frecklemcspeckles · 11/09/2018 11:37
  • Overall how satisfied were you with your child’s letters from Banjo Robinson and the service? 


I thought it was a great concept but didn't quite meet our expectations.

  • What did your child think of Banjo Robinson’s letters? Did they write back? 


He initially loved getting post. He was extremely sceptical about a cat having met me. He loved the world map and stickers and loved the reply letter and envelope but the letter itself went over his head a little.
He did reply to both letters.

  • What did you like most about the letters? 


Loved the world map and the little stickers and stamps. Reply paper is nice.

  • Is there anything that you feel could be improved? 


The letter was in black typewriter style writing. Means nothing to today's children! It was long and black and white so visually not much to grab the kids.

I also thought for the length of the letter it didn't tell them huge amounts about the country. Which was a real missed trick. Some extra country information and pictures would be great.

What about adding a scrapbook to the first map for example - the following weeks the colouring in and some country sticker pictures could be put in along with space to draw about the country etc so that there's something a child builds up and keeps.

Although writing back is a nice idea they don't then get to keep their letters as they go off to the cat! So something more substantial than the map would be required.

Back story about the cat is also really really needed. Who is Banjo, why is he writing to us. Meeting his mum for lunch did not sell it for us and by the time he was bought in to Banjo... The test was over!!! Which is a real shame.

  • Would you recommend the personalised letters to your friends and/or family? 


Not in its current format unfortunately. If it was tweaked to provide more country information and with more to do I'd definitely consider it.


- ‘Banjo Robinson sends personalised letters, personalised stickers, colouring-in activities and writing stationary from two new countries per month. Once subscribed, parents will be able to log on to their account and compose the closing paragraph of the next letter their child receives from Banjo, enabling them to address questions their child has asked, and creating an authentic back-and-forth correspondence between child and ‘cat’.’ A Banjo Robinson subscription is £7.90/month. Do you think this is a fair price for the product?

The personalised additional bit is definitely needed as he asked Banjo questions in his letters that have remained unanswered.

But honestly for £7.90 a month I think it needs more than a black and white letter and some stickers. The map is great. Honestly, I'm your target market... Tweak it as I and others have suggested and I'd subscribe.

Thanks for the opportunity to test.
Konstantine27 · 11/09/2018 11:39
  • Overall how satisfied were you with your child’s letters from Banjo Robinson and the service?


I loved the letters and how each one was personalised with details from our child's family life, pet's names etc...

  • What did your child think of Banjo Robinson’s letters? Did they write back?


While initially interested my daughter soon lost interest once I started reading them. I think that she may have been a little young for them, as details like Banjo mentioning our cat, Inca, were almost taken for-granted rather than being things to get excited about. She isn't writing yet, but Banjo got a couple of pictures drawn for him and she enjoyed putting the stickers on the envelope.

  • What did you like most about the letters?


I feel that the letters are a great way for children to learn about new cultures and new countries.

  • Is there anything that you feel could be improved?


I feel that including pictures or postcards would have piqued my daughter's interest for longer. She may have been more interested in hearing about places if she could see them.

  • Would you recommend the personalised letters to your friends and/or family?


I would recommend them to friends with older children.

  • ‘Banjo Robinson sends personalised letters, personalised stickers, colouring-in activities and writing stationary from two new countries per month. Once subscribed, parents will be able to log on to their account and compose the closing paragraph of the next letter their child receives from Banjo, enabling them to address questions their child has asked, and creating an authentic back-and-forth correspondence between child and ‘cat’.’ A Banjo Robinson subscription is £7.90/month. Do you think this is a fair price for the product?


I feel that this is a little on the expensive side and would like to see the addition of postcards etc.. included for that amount. I feel that a price of £5.90 / month would be fairer in it's current state.
frecklemcspeckles · 11/09/2018 11:40

Ps he's now eagerly awaiting for a letter from China as his grandparents have visited there. Not sure how I'm explaining Banjo not replying any more 😔

nishthefish · 11/09/2018 11:46

Overall how satisfied were you with your child’s letters from Banjo Robinson and the service?

I liked the concept of encouraging letter writing skills in a fun way. However I felt uncomfortable lying to my child about this fictitious character repeatedly. I know we do the same with Santa/Tooth Fairy but as they are universally known the child doesn't question as much. In this case, each time my child spoke about the talking cat to a friend, I had to reiterate the lie.

  • What did your child think of Banjo Robinson’s letters? Did they write back?


My child was very excited to receive the letters and would write back promptly.

  • What did you like most about the letters?


They were personalised and included stickers.

  • Is there anything that you feel could be improved?


The writing/paper looked too obviously printed rather than handwritten (at least to me). Would've been good if this had looked more 'real'.

  • Would you recommend the personalised letters to your friends and/or family?


I would recommend to anyone who wanted to improve their child's writing skills.

  • ‘Banjo Robinson sends personalised letters, personalised stickers, colouring-in activities and writing stationary from two new countries per month. Once subscribed, parents will be able to log on to their account and compose the closing paragraph of the next letter their child receives from Banjo, enabling them to address questions their child has asked, and creating an authentic back-and-forth correspondence between child and ‘cat’.’ A Banjo Robinson subscription is £7.90/month. Do you think this is a fair price for the product?


This feels a bit expensive. I would expect to pay around half of this amount.
sharond101 · 11/09/2018 11:48

My Son is 6 and was excited to get a letter addressed to him. The content didn't excite him much and although he wrote a reply didn't get excited about a response. I thought it was a nice concept but not engaging enough and the subscription cost is too much. I liked the travel element and it sparked some interest about other countries.

StillNoFuckingEyeDeer · 11/09/2018 11:50
  • Overall how satisfied were you with your child’s letters from Banjo Robinson and the service?


Fairly satisfied. The letters were interesting, the map and stickers were fun. I liked the way each letter had a theme. We couldn’t figure out what all the different things in the first letter were for initially - which stickers were for the map, etc. We could’ve done with some instructions!

  • What did your child think of Banjo Robinson’s letters? Did they write back?

DD (5) lived getting a letter. He older sister (7) helped her to read it and to write the reply. They had great fun deciding what to write and draw and then hiding the letter under the sofa.

  • What did you like most about the letters?

That they encouraged the girls to write.

  • Is there anything that you feel could be improved?

Clearer instructions for children who want to do it all themselves. I had to help read the letters and explain what some things meant, but the children would have preferred to do it alone.

  • Would you recommend the personalised letters to your friends and/or family?

Not really. They’re not very personalised and fairly expensive.

  • ‘Banjo Robinson sends personalised letters, personalised stickers, colouring-in activities and writing stationary from two new countries per month. Once subscribed, parents will be able to log on to their account and compose the closing paragraph of the next letter their child receives from Banjo, enabling them to address questions their child has asked, and creating an authentic back-and-forth correspondence between child and ‘cat’.’ A Banjo Robinson subscription is £7.90/month. Do you think this is a fair price for the product?

I think it’s a bit much.
bigarse1 · 11/09/2018 11:52

Thank you sooo much for letting us trial this! my little girl is autistic and when things overwhelm her she becomes a cat so this fed right into her world and was amazing.

  • Overall how satisfied were you with your child’s letters from Banjo Robinson and the service?

very satisfied
  • What did your child think of Banjo Robinson’s letters? Did they write back?

my child squealed and squealed, showed everyone and wrote back and drew a picture. when the second letter arrived her older sister wrote back too and her twin is interested and so its become a whole family thing.
  • What did you like most about the letters?

we loved the personalised bit. she really was amazed that they know about our sofa and cat etc
  • Is there anything that you feel could be improved?

no, maybe a bit more personalised
  • Would you recommend the personalised letters to your friends and/or family?

yes and we have done! she has told everyone
  • ‘Banjo Robinson sends personalised letters, personalised stickers, colouring-in activities and writing stationary from two new countries per month. Once subscribed, parents will be able to log on to their account and compose the closing paragraph of the next letter their child receives from Banjo, enabling them to address questions their child has asked, and creating an authentic back-and-forth correspondence between child and ‘cat’.’ A Banjo Robinson subscription is £7.90/month. Do you think this is a fair price for the product?

I think it seems a little expensive although I know my children would love it

without going in to massive detail we are having a tough time and these letters made my little girl smile and find some happiness. thanks x

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busymummy0411 · 11/09/2018 11:53
  • Overall how satisfied were you with your child’s letters from Banjo Robinson and the service?


Fairly satisfied. There wasn't much initial communication so I was a little bit lost as to how to answer some of the questions. The letter also mentioned me having lunch with a cat, which was unfortunate as I'm allergic to cats and home educate, so she knows I haven't been for lunch anywhere! She sort of bought my mumblings about maybe going out when she was at swimming lessons and allergies not being a problem at open air cafes!! Would have been nice to have more personalization options/email before with contents so I could prepare what to say.

  • What did your child think of Banjo Robinson’s letters? Did they write back?


She really liked the letters, and wrote back willingly, answering the questions.

  • What did you like most about the letters?


I like that they encourage writing in young children. I feel they are engaging and written in an informal, fun way.

  • Is there anything that you feel could be improved?


There wasn't a huge amount of space to write on. Also, we have just gotten rid of our sofa, so had various discussions about this and she eventually decided that under the bed would suit to leave the letters, leaving me having to sneak in to retrieve them in the middle of the night, tooth fairy style...

  • Would you recommend the personalised letters to your friends and/or family?


Yes, I think other children would enjoy the concept.

  • ‘Banjo Robinson sends personalised letters, personalised stickers, colouring-in activities and writing stationary from two new countries per month. Once subscribed, parents will be able to log on to their account and compose the closing paragraph of the next letter their child receives from Banjo, enabling them to address questions their child has asked, and creating an authentic back-and-forth correspondence between child and ‘cat’.’ A Banjo Robinson subscription is £7.90/month. Do you think this is a fair price for the product?


It's a bit high and we probably wouldn't subscribe at this price. I appreciate postage and design takes a lot of the profit, but given the level of parental involvement, I would want something a bit less pricey. We have science subscription boxes for not much more than that with multiple experiments, and several hours of learning, so I'd want more for that price than encouraging to write two short letters a month with a little geography added in. Something online to back it up would also be nice, such as a login where you could track where Banjo is now, learn about local food, customs etc.
mama36 · 11/09/2018 11:58
  • Overall how satisfied were you with your child’s letters from Banjo Robinson and the service?


It was ok as the content was not catered to my child reading ability

  • What did your child think of Banjo Robinson’s letters? Did they write back?


He likes the idea of a cat writing letter and giving info but found it difficult to write back

  • What did you like most about the letters?


V informative with personalised stickers

  • Is there anything that you feel could be improved?


The content should b according to d child capabilities

  • Would you recommend the personalised letters to your friends and/or family?


No
FoxTeaParty · 11/09/2018 12:03
  • Overall how satisfied were you with your child’s letters from Banjo Robinson and the service?


I enjoyed seeing how excited my daughter got at receiving post. Also how much time her and her older sister spent writing a response and colouring the pictures.

  • What did your child think of Banjo Robinson’s letters? Did they write back?


My daughter loved the letters and she fully believes in banjo. She wrote back immediately both times.

  • What did you like most about the letters?


The personalisation aspect is a nice touch for my daughter.
The map has been used in lots games and looked at many times.

  • Is there anything that you feel could be improved?


The cost. At almost £8 a month I dont feel its quite worth it.

  • Would you recommend the personalised letters to your friends and/or family?


Possibly. It would depend on the person.

  • ‘Banjo Robinson sends personalised letters, personalised stickers, colouring-in activities and writing stationary from two new countries per month. Once subscribed, parents will be able to log on to their account and compose the closing paragraph of the next letter their child receives from Banjo, enabling them to address questions their child has asked, and creating an authentic back-and-forth correspondence between child and ‘cat’.’ A Banjo Robinson subscription is £7.90/month. Do you think this is a fair price for the product?


Unfortunately not. As much as my daughter enjoyed the letters I think the cost is too much for what you would be getting. If it was a bit less i would subscribe.
Find out what MNers have to say about Banjo Robinsons’ personalised letters to 4-7 year olds - Non-tester? Get 15% off your subscription
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