It doesn’t snow in Devon. Seriously. South Devon is the land of palm trees and British beach holidays. Ice-cream, candy-coloured beach huts and fish and chips. NOT snow. Except it was, last week, when Storm Emma landed here and we had our first proper hit of snow in eight years. Excitement levels were through the roof. It was also a fantastic opportunity to test out the girls’ new wellies – the North Hampton insulated rain boots by BOGS Boots.
We have a love-hate relationship with wellies. I love them, the girls hate them. If they could play out in the mud wearing nothing but bare feet or flip-flops they would. Their main gripes seem to be that they can’t get them on and off easily, they’re “annoying” and they leave their feet cold (although their feet would be far colder in flip-flops, but when I mention this it doesn’t go down well).
So would the BOGS Boots withstand the wrath of the Beast from the East AND my feisty three year old? It didn’t seem like a fair test really, but we gave it a go….
Test 1: Putting them on
The first step to welly resistance in our house is always getting the boots on in the first place. Despite being only three years old Effie is incredibly independent and likes to do all her own dressing – fiddly buttons and stubborn wellies included.
Luckily for us the North Hampton boots feature a “handle” at the top, giving kids’ an opportunity to get full purchase and yank the boots on themselves. Both Effie and Freya managed this easily, even over their trousers (which is often the next issue).
Test 2: Keeping warm
Once we get wellies on there’s usually some sort of drama after half an hour about the girls having cold feet. I was fully expecting to have to cut short our very first Devon snow experience due to cold sore toes, but this didn’t happen. Proof that the North Hampton boots ARE, indeed, insulated. The girls both had on an extra pair of socks, but this is the case usually anyway – even though the extra socks never ever work. Not this time though, and the temperatures were at least ten degrees lower than our last trip out in wellies.
Test 3: The play factor
The third reason my girls are generally not welly fans, is the fact they find them “annoying”. I can only assume this means they get in the way when they’re playing. Often their wellies will fall off, or they’ll trip up when wearing them and get cross, saying they can’t run around properly. This didn’t happen with the BOGS Boots. They ran up and down hills, built snowmen, walked through thick snow and ice and managed hours of playing outside without one single welly-related moan. The boots have a soft insulated upper section which helps them stay on comfily, keep the feet warm and – in the words of my seven year old – be far less “annoying” than her regular wellies.
If you want to see the boots in action then watch the video below. And if you’d like to see them in even more close-up detail then check out my February Favourites video over on YouTube.
In short, we highly recommend them. They might cost a bit more than regular wellies but if that extra investment means we lose the tantrums over putting wellies on, cold feet dramas and actually get to enjoy our time outdoors without any cold toes then the extra cost is worth it.
Check out the other boots in the BOGS Boots kids’ range here (they also do adult shoes too!). The boots featured in this post are the North Hampton kids’ insulated rain boots in red, costing £55.
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Thanks to BOGS Boots for working with me on this post. Check out my Work With Me page for more examples of how I work with brands.
At least the recent cold snap meant you could put the boots properly through their paces (hah!). Love the design and colours.
They were definitely put through their paces!
Love the baby blanket and the sox. They are real feel happy sox and in this awful snowy weather they are ideal to keep the feet and legs warm in the wellies!! I also love ‘ love knitting’ . I’m not confident enough about what I knit to publish it.
Oh my gosh those boots are PERFECT for the snow! We just had our normal wellies for the snow and they really didn’t work as well as we needed them to x
I love how these withstood the play test as my daughter also usually finds wellies annoying I’ll have to look into these!
It looks like you had so much fun in the snow. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the right clothes to go outside and play for that long. Will prepare for next winter now.
It takes you by surprise doesn’t it?! Was fun though!
oh I am so glad you all got some snow fun. those wellies were perfect, it is almost like you engineered the snow to give them the full work out! Erin enjoyed sledging for the first time with her friends and it was lovely to see.
I know – couldn’t have put them through their paces more thoroughly!
My boys always hated wellies, but we revied some bogs and they were perfect and they wore them. They were so good that when they grew out of them I bought them both another pair. We also bought the FIL (farmer in law) a pair for Christmas.
They are so great – we’re really impressed!
Didn’t you just have the perfect weather for testing them out! We flipping love our BOGS boots – I’m always surprised at just how warm my feet are when I’m wearing them and the kids love them too!
And they look mega cool too!