In just a few short weeks, Christmas will be here, and Gemma and Jacob are really getting into the spirit and writing endless lists for Santa, with every conceivable thing imaginable on there. Some things I have never even heard of, which could be tricky…
One of the places we have been looking at for gift inspiration is Spotty Giraffe (formerly The Toadstool). With a huge selection of soft and wooden traditional toys, there is something for every child, and every budget. I asked Gemma and Jacob to choose their top 5 ‘must have’ toys:
- Jacob is 5 and loves trains, and we have a huge stash of wooden train track already, which gets played with on a daily basis. He loved this Brio Metro railway set and I think it would be a great addition to our current railway collection. He has been learning about London at school, and told me this train looks like ‘the trains that go under the floor’ – I think he means the Underground!
2. Next up, Jacob chose this Haba ball track. The same idea as a traditional marble run, but as it is wooden I think it would be much easier for little hands to put together. As well as hours of fun, children would also learn about gravity, speed, direction – without even noticing they were learning. The importance of play…
3. Gemma’s turn to choose now. She is almost 8 and very hard to please, but her first selection was the Wonderworld Eco dolls house. I have to agree with her choice here – I know I would have loved this when I was here age (OK, OK I would still love it now). It comes with dolls and furniture, so it is ready to play with straight away, and the addition of solar panels and recycling bins gives you a great excuse to have a chat with your little one about being green. Hours of imaginative play to be had with this one!
4. Gemma’s second choice was the Gigamic game. She loves puzzles, and is constantly on the lookout for new and interesting ones, so this grabbed her attention straight away. This would be something she could do independently or with others, and would help stimulate those brain cells! Perfect for passing on to her brothers when they get older too!
5. Finally, I asked them both to work together and choose something they thought Max would like, as at just 6 months old he can’t choose for himself just yet! They both agreed on this Haba colour whorl clutching toy – they thought it would be the right size and shape for Max to hold, and they thought he would like the colours. I think they chose well!
I actually think the children chose really well – and I think all these toys would make great Christmas presents, as they are items that the whole family can get involved with – building, playing and creating. And lets be honest here – family is what Christmas is all about.
* This is my entry into The Toadstool UK’s Big Christmas blogger competition *
oh i love the ball track i had a similar one when i was little hours of fun to be had!! what a fab wishlist!
The ball track looks great doesn’t it?
Fab selection, I love wooden toys.
me too – I always look for wooden toys!
I love the marble run. Good luck
Thankyou xx
Wow the ball track looks ace -I’m off to look at that properly!
One of my favourites too – let me know what you think!
great choices, I love the ball track and the metro!
The metro looks so fun!
Oh I just love traditional wooden toys. I think the marble run looks fab but your children chose fantastically 😀
Louise x
Confessions of a Secret Shopper
I think so too 😉
I love wooden toys so much, more companies should make them in my opinion! Your children have very good taste.
We adore wooden toys, I think they chose well
some lovely choices here
wish you luck with the competition 🙂
Thanks so much x
Ooh I love that dolls house, so cute x
Beautyqueenuk xx
Isn’t it just?!
I love all of these toys! I wish we didn’t already have a dolls house as the eco one is amazing. And that metro train set is just awesome! Adding that to the girls’ list immediately! Great post!
The metro set is currently 15% off as we are hosting a series of social media parties on Brio Railway. One is on our Facebook page tomorrow night at 8pm! http://www.facebook.com/thetoadstool.london
Fantastic offer!
Makes me wish I was little again so I could play with all of those!
Me too – especially the dolls house!
We have the HABA ball track and it is a fab toy. We use those HABA building blocks for all sorts of things. Last night they got pressed into maths homework service.
That;s what I love about toys like that – so versatile!
I love the marble run. I was thinking of getting one fro Christmas but hadn’t seen the Haba ones. *adds to list*
Oh, I do love The Toadstool. I really enjoyed writing my wishlist post for them, too, and have obviously ‘needed’ to buy a ball track already!
I’m all done and wrapped. I’m glad I don’t have kids because I’d have to share my toys with them. This year I’m getting a Maximus Soft Toy from Tangled.
Kate H (UK Bloggers)
Help Me With My Hair Style Dilemma
I love the traditional wooden toys. They are usually more durable as well as lovely to look at. I think any of my children would be thrilled to receive the marble run.