Party with the Adorable Xia-Xia!

If you are starting to look at hot toy trends for Christmas you might have seen the Xia-Xia Pets. Brought to stores by the same Cepia Toys who created Zhu Zhu Pets, and you all know how much I love those little busy critters... these cute little crabs come with shells and friends to trade and collect.

So, of course I was excited to get 2 sets of crabs, assorted shells & friends, 3 playsets and fun ideas to throw our own little Xia-Xia party at home with guests. I love sharing new toys with friends and seeing their reactions.

I was impressed that everything comes ready to play with. The sets take minimal assembly and the pets are ready to turn on and play. These are both big perks when you have a house full of children eager to get right down to trying them out. Or two impatient kiddos when the box first arrives!

So how are Xia-Xia different from the world of Zhu? These 4 crabs, Bimini, Turks, Trinidad and Tobago, move when their claws are tapped. They move forward and backwards, and unlike the Zhu Zhu pets they don't make any noises other than the scurrying of their wheels



Each one has a shell that come off and opens. A friend can be placed inside or ride on the front of the shell. This would be why they are rated for 3+. The friends are very small and we have been trying to keep them together so they don't get lost.

I do love how cute the friends are. My favorite include a smiling piece of macaroni, a piggy bank and a carton of milk with horns. Adorable!

At our party we had both girls and boys, though my son loves to play with them, they were definitely a bigger hit with the girls.

My only issue with the Xia-Xias is that they don't move as freely as the Zhu Zhu Pets. Ours get caught in the doorways of the play structures. They move forward and backwards, but don't turn as much. Ours kept going back and forth till we helped them. For this reason, we enjoyed playing with them more on the open kitchen floor. This gave them plenty of room to move around. I hope future playsets will have wider openings and more areas for our crabs to move.

Also, we had 2 out of 8 of our pets not work properly out of the packaging. This was a disappointment when sending pets and shells home with our guests. I would suggest buying these for Christmas, but keep a hold of your receipt for exchanges if you have any problems.

Check out this Youtube clip to see more:



Find your own Xia-Xia Pets at Walmart, Target and Amazon.com. Connect with Xia-Xia on Facebook to see the latest news and updates.

So will you be adding any cute little crabs under your tree this year?

*Disclaimer -   I was provided  free products as part of a promotional program with Xia-Xia and BSM Media's Mommy Parties from Mom Select.  All opinions expressed are my own.