The Wheelybugs by Hippychick are popular all throughout the year for many reasons!

They are brilliant for indoor and outdoor use.  Due to the castors being quite high set they cope well both on flat smooth floors like wood or patio, and also with carpet – there’s no stopping these little animals!  With multi-directional castors they can turn on a penny make them great fun to play on and race each other!

They range in age from 12months to 5 years.  The small wheelybugs are suitable from 12 months, oronce a child can walk unaided, up to 2 and a half.  The large wheelybugs are suitable from age 2 to 5 years.  As with anything these ages are guides – if you have a particularly large 18 month old they may be more suited to a large wheelybug than a small!

There is a wide selection of animals and both are available in small and large; Bee, Ladybird, Mouse, tiger, cow so it will be easy to find one your child loves!

As a ride-on toy they are a fabulous wooden alternative to plastic and metal ride on toys.  The wheelybugs are extremely robust, wipe clean (always a bonus!) and very sturdy – almost impossible to tip!

At Timeless Toys we have a small selection of items that can be peronalised as the perfect individualised gift.  Personalised gifts are perfect for children’s birthday presents, christening gifts or new baby gifts.

There are the painted wooden letters from Lanka Kade.  The letters are available in animal designs in upper and lower case and pink fairy in upper case.

We supply these beautiful wooden letters with sticky pads so they can be displayed straight away. They can go on bedroom doors, bed ends, wooden toy boxes, chest of draws….well whever you like really! You can also add them to one of our selection of wooden plaques and then display the plaque – whatever tickles your fancy!

Each of the animal letters come in four different colours, red, blue, green and yellow and feature an animal that begins with the same letter – so O features owl’s and Octopuses!  All the letters are made and painted in Sri Lanka and Lanka Kade is a fair trade company – it’s lovely to see the hand finishes on all the letters and know that they are ethically produced.

The other item that can be personalised are the rail name trains by Bigjigs Rail, a part of Bigjigs Toys.  Each of the letters in the alphabet sits on it’s own carriage.  Like all the wooden trains in the Bigjigs wooden train collection the name carriages connected with magnetic couplings and are compatible with all leading wooden railway sets.

Each letter is available in red, yellow, green, red and blue and the popular theme is to have at least one letter of each colour!  The name train is started with the little wooden engine and completed with a wooden guards van.

The wooden name trains are lovely gifts that look fabulous sitting on the shelf or being played with.  This makes them perfect christening gifts as the recipient is often a baby when they receive their christening gifts.  The name trains can  be displayed until the child is old enough to play with them.  They can be purchased on their own or in combination with a wooden train set such as the My First Train Set or the Figure of Eight or Fairy Figure of Eight Train set.

So if you would like a gift that is personalised exactly to your child, niece, god son, grand daughter or friends new baby we can highly recommend the Lanka Kade wooden letters or the Bigjigs name trains!

The Charm It! range of children’s jewellery is a perfect mid range product for children who are too ‘grown up’ for wooden toys but too young for expensive jewellery.

There are three different bracelets to choose from chain, pink or rainbow.  These children’s bracelets are beautiful to wear on their own or with charms added.  As the bracelets fasten with a simple clip clasp they can be adjusted to fit even the slimest of wrists!

There is a wide variety of charms available to add to all, or any, of the bracelets.  There are very girly charms such as the flower heart locket, that actually opens, the ballerina outfit, and the pink mirror.

For a birthday gift a nice combination of the pink bracelet with the Happy Birthday Charm, the Present Charm and the Happy Birthday Locket make a perfect present! And as all Charm It! purchases come in gift packaging you wouldn’t even have to wrap it!!

The charms affix to the bracelet using a simple yet sturdy clip which means that the charms can also be clipped on to other things – for example a Ballerina Outfit Charm can be attached to the zip of a ballerina kit bag, a Sneaker Charm can be added to a PE bag zip or look super sweet with a Butterfly Charm attached to a coat zip!

There are plenty of charms to collect and the bracelets can be added to until they are totally full – and then you can start again!  A lovely gift for a tween!

With 22 Charms and 3 children’s bracelets to decide between you will not be stuck for choice!

Cap’n of the Barabossa Ship hauled achor and set sail for ye land of Timeless Toys, a vast treasure chest that no other pirate has managed to locate.

Little did he know Phantom Pirate from the Ghost Ship was taking on the same feat!

An epic battle commences with both Ships lowering their working anchors firing and their cannons with cannonballs flying across the store.  In a moment of sheer luck Cap‘n manages to capture Sammy the Pirate and stash him in the on-board prison ready to walk the plank.  From the Crows nest of the Ghost Ship the look outs watch Phantom Pirate climb the rope ladders to try and infiltrate the Barabossa.

Just when it the battle for Timeless Toys appears to be drawing to an end with Cap’n and Phantom Pirate engaging in a sword fight below deck only visible through the open stern, Cabin Boy Jacob sounds the alarm, Chief Toy Tester Pirate Harry is on his way to guard his store!

In his Pirate rocker Pirate Harry brandishes his sword and shield declaring that no Pirate is strong enough to defeat him and take his Toy Shop – Timeless Toys remains in the hands of Pirate Harry.  Declare battle if you dare.

You can check out the vast range of Pirate toys available at Timeless Toys here.

About the Author – Lauren, a huge fan of wooden toys, blogs at The Wonderful Adventures of Spud & Spike, where she does product reviews, competitions and writes about the daily goings on of her two gorgeous little Boys.

Hello,

Today’s blog post is about the wonderful EverEarth.
With a tag line like ‘green today, here tomorrow’…. EverEarth throw their ethos right out there! EverEarth believe that we can not continue to live with the ‘use it up and throw it away’ mentality that we are all guilty of.
They are keen to provide future generations with the opportunity to experience what the world, and it’s natural resources, has to offer. Which won’t be possible if we all, individuals and huge companies alike, don’t start making some drastic changes. EverEarth are making their contribution to this aim by being a sustainable company and working within ‘green practices’.
They are currently working towards reducing the whole organizations greenhouse gas emission by 10% for 2012 and has already achieved Green Certification (which to be fair are much too complicated to try and discuss in a blog post and probably beyond my green comprehension!!)
They have made many changes in their factories to ensure that, they too, are green – these include recycling, heating water through solar energy, reducing artificial lighting wherever possible, turning off the air conditioning and using reverse osmosis rather than bottled water!
EverEarth only use green materials in making their beautiful wooden toys – sustainable beech wood, water based paints and soya bean ink where ink is required!
EverEarth are also involved in green projects – designing green toys that will educate children about saving the environment, having an internal green team to educate and encourage employees as to the ways of sustainability and many many more things.

And on top of all this they make truly fabulous wooden toys! Part of what I love about wooden toys is that they are not part of the ‘use then throw away’ mentalitity that a lot of us are guilty of (me included!!). Wooden toys are built to last and is the exact reason why they become ‘traditional’ toys – because they have been around for many generations! If wooden toys are well cared for they can last, not just through a sibling group, but through generations – saving money for you and the environment for everybody. Just another wonderful attribute of wooden toys is that they never go out of fashion!!

Here are some of the wonderful wooden toys that EverEarth produce using their eco-friendly and sustainable methods…..
The Activity Walker with it’s collection of bead mazes, xylophones and much more
The Music Play Table featuring lots of little instruments to encourge your child’s interest in music
The Large Bead Activity Cube which has enough toys and games on it to keep several children occupied!
The Busy Pond Activity Centre which teaches children about pondlife as well as being fun to play with
The Fabulous Bamboo Giant Noah’s Ark which is expensive but completely and utterly worth the money
And last but not least the Organic Farmers Market which is just fabulous for role play for more than one child and can be used to teach about all sorts of things – organic food, healthy eating, money, counting, adding and subtracting, gardening and growing crops and a whole lot more!!!

For a while I have been threatening to publish an alternative ‘top ten’ of Christmas Toys. The alternative being that they will not be electronic, plastic or battery powered. I believe that there is a place for all singing all dancing toys but they should not be given at the expense of wooden toys. Beautiful and well made wooden toys will stand the test of time and actually encourage children to use their imaginations, intereact with the toy, each other and their parents or care givers. In the ‘current economic climate’ it makes sense to me to purchase wooden toys that will endure for generations, will not need replacing or repairing by March and do not guzzle battery power. It is lovely to be able to pass your treasured dolls house, train set or wooden walker on to your children and see them enjoy the toy as much as you did – not quite as likely with a plastic V-tech camera or Chad Valley Glamour Mansion Doll’s House or Lexibook Children’s First Tablet!!

So without further a do, and in no particular order, I give you my Alternative Top Ten Wooden Christmas Toys 2011…………..

Moover Wooden Pram
Mike’s Auto Garage
Easel and Easel Accessory Set
Figure of Eight Train Set
Activity Cube
Pirate Ship
Moover Dump Truck
Lionheart Castle
Magnetic Dress Up Dolls
Sophie’s House

One- The Moover Pram’s are a wonderful First Christmas or First Birthday present and are really iconic in their styling – If you’d like to know a bit more about them have a read of the Moover Doll’s Pram Toy Review I wrote back in September.

Two- Mike’s Auto Garage is a lovely wooden toy garage with two storeys, a working car lift, a petrol pump and it comes with it’s own cars and street signs. It’s very well made and sturdy and doesn’t rock under the weight of a certain nearly three year old I know leaning on it whilst playing! There is the lovely town road playmat to accompany it along with the london car set and construction set – all made by the fabulous Le Toy Van.

Three- The Easel and Easel Accessory set from marvelous Melissa & Doug are a fab pair. Every child has a creative side, we just have to give them the opportunity to unleash it and show us what they can do. Master Timeless Toys is receiving one of these for his third Birthday in a couple of weeks and hopefully will become the next Picasso!! If you’d like a bit more detail about the Easel and accessory set have a look at the Toy Review in which they are featured.

Four- Bigjigs Figure of Eight Train set is a fabulous place to start a wooden train set collection collection. It has curves, a bridge, lots of track side accessories and is a tad more exciting than a regular circle train set. You can add and add and add to a wooden train set until you have enough track to fill your whole living room, landing and bedroom which is one of the joys of the wooden train set as outlined in the train set toy review. The one thing I would add to this wooden train set is a battery powered engine – the only battery powered toy at Timeless Toys!

Five- The Activity Cube by East Coast is another toy that would be perfect as a first Christmas or first Birthday present. The large cube has a different activity on each side and a finger labryinth on the top, which can be inverted and put away for easy storage. It is large and durable so stands up to being leaned on and climbed on and will keep toddlers entertained for hours. And because there’s an activity on every side, a bead maze, a xylophone, a clock and a chalk board it is suitable for more than one child to play with at any one time!!

Six- The Le Toy Van Pirate Ships have been far and away the best seller for the last couple of months – they sail out of the door quicker than I can get them in!! The Barborossa is marginally more popular than the Ghost ship but personally I would have one of each and commence battle on the high seas!! Have a look at the wooden toy review for a more in-depth look at the Barborossa Ship. In the meantime don’t forget your pirates to sail your ship!!

Seven- The Moover Dump Truck in both red and natural is a a truly tremendous piece of design work! The dump truck is suitable as a ride on toy from 8 months up to four years – once the child has finished riding on it, and hiding their toys in the under-seat compartment, they can learn how to dismantle it and re-assemble it on their own!! The Dump truck is also featured in the Rock and Roll review.

Eight- The Lionheart Castle by Le Toy Van is a castle to be proud of! With 7 towers, a moat, a draw-bridge, knock out walls, pulleys, rope ladders and much more it is guaranteed to make any little boy jump for joy!! To add more depth to the battles and crusades the castle can be sighted on a castle play mat which has secret entrances and a dungeon, tents for enemies army laying siege to the castle and other clever illustrations including a shadow of the dragon flying overhead. Or try a fantasy playmat which features, mountains, a volcano and a river of molten lava!! And don’t forget your castle‘s inhabitants – Sir Ingot, Archibald the Archer and The Crusaders!

Nine- The Magnetic Dress Up Dolls by Melissa and Doug have been a hit all year! They are fantastically priced and well made too. Abby and Emma is a perfect set for sisters or friends as it includes two dolls and many different outfits. Princess Elise is a beautiful princess to dress up in her wonderful royal gowns. Dress up dolls are not just for girls and the wonderful Dress Up Billy is a fabulous one for boys as he dresses up in superhero costumes or in a policemans outfit!! A wonderful gift that will be well played with even before Christmas dinner is served!!

Ten- And last, but by no means least, the fantabulous Sophie’s House Dolls House by Le Toy Van. Every little girl, and grown woman, and some small boys for that matter, that come into the shop can’t help but be drawn to the wonderful Sophie’s House. With a first floor and Attic, all beautifully decorated with fine attention to detail, it is the sort of house you could feel quite at home in!! Sophies house does not include furniture but it can be furnished to the highest quality with either the Rosebud Furniture room sets or with the Deluxe Furniture set. Then the only other necessity is the doll family to live in your house the Le Toy Van Family fit just perfectly and don’t forget the nursery set to go with the baby of the family!!
So that’s the inside of Sophie’s House sorted, what about the outside? Well you can build your Sophie’s House on a wonderful plot with a swimming pool, patio, garden and vegetable patch if you set it on the doll’s house playmat. You can also have a Garden play set featuring a climbing frame, BBQ, Rabbit and rabbit hutch and much more. And to finish it all off you can park Sophie’s Car outside Sophie’s House!!

And there ends my Alternative Top Ten – Wooden Christmas Toys 2011!!

Any feedback would be much appreciated – is there anything you think is missing or that should not be included in the list?!

And if I don’t speak to you or see you before, have a fabulous, and very merry, Christmas!

Hello!

Today’s wooden toy review is looking at the Blue and Pink Balance Bikes by Bigjigs toys.

For those of you who have not come across balance bikes before they are a very simple, but ingenious, toy designed to take the risk, stress and bad backs out of learning to ride.

These particular balance bikes are made out of lightweight wood with solid rubber wheels (meaning no pesky punctures!). They are incredibly easy to put together – using just two bolts and an allen key I had it made in a couple of minutes!! The seat is nicely padded and adjustable making it suitable for children of different heights and also means it will grow with your child.

The ingenuity of these wooden balance bikes is that thay do not have pedals and do not need stabilisers. The child begins by sitting on the seat with feet firmly on the floor either side. They then begin to walk whilst sitting on the seat. As their confidence grows they begin to push off with one foot and then the other, gently gliding and meanwhile learning to balance. The next stage is to push using both feet at the same time then lift the feet and ride! And Hey Presto your child has mastered balancing without even realising it!!

Never again will you have to run behind a bike holding the seat up while your back screams in pain, or watch your child wooble wooble wobble and fall!!(okay I can’t guarantee they wont fall off but it’s less likely!!)

The wooden bikes by bigjigs are lovely and light and are suitable for both indoor and outdoor use, are timeless, and stylish in their design. The manufactures guidelines are that the bike is suitable for a child 36 months and upwards. Whilst I would not advise you to ignore the guidelines I can tell you that Harry was happily playing on one of these balance bikes at 27months and it is possibly more dependant on the height of the child rather than age. The seat height is 38cm at it’s lowest.

A lovely wooden toy that will not go out of fashion! It’s on the alternative top ten christmas list!!

Today’s wooden toy review is of the wonderful Transporter Lorry from Bigjigs. This is my current favourite item in the shop!
It is extremely well made out of sturdy wood which is painted a bright red on the body of the lorry. The lorry has moving parts on the trailer, the top layer of the transporter can be swung down to allow vehicles on and off the top ramp. The swinging movement is easy to master and while it is stiff enough that it doesn’t swing down of its own accord it is also smooth enough to allow small hands to operate it. The trailer can be detached from the cab of the lorry (complete with driver) and parked up somewhere while the cab continues on it’s journey. The eight wheels are well fixed to the wooden lorry and provide a very smooth drive.
The lorry comes with it’s own four wooden cars in vibrant colours which can be placed on, and driven off, the transporter in various combinations. The toy cars can be played with in isolation from the wooden transporter lorry and are made from one solid piece of wooden with sturdy wheels well attached.
The picture of this transporter really does not do the quality of this toy justice. I always have one transporter lorry out on display in the shop just so people can see how well made and attractive this toy is. Harry has spent a long time playing with the display transporter and can quite happily manipulate the trailer and drive the lorry around (Harry is 3 months off 3 and not the most gentle!) and the swinging mechanism on the trailer has not been damaged – it has passed the Harry test!!

And at only £19.99 I think it is brilliant value for money!

A very quick blog about our wooden doll’s prams made by Moover. The prams are heading towards being the best selling big item down at Timeless Toys and with Christmas less than 100 days away I’m sure they’ll continue to roll out of the door as quickly as I can get them in!

The wooden prams come in two colours, red and natural, and both are made of birch veneer. The prams have large wheels with rubber trimings making it very steady and stable for those who have just learnt to walk. They also have a solid wooden handle in contrasting colour to the body of the pram. The iconic styling of these prams will make them a family heirloom for generations to come. Many customers have said they would have the pram as a piece of furniture once it has been used as a pram.

The doll’s pram is suitable for small and large dolls alike but bedding and sheets need to be bought seperately – I am trying to source a supplier of lovely bedding to go with this wooden dolls pram. Another thing that I like about these particular prams is that they are not all pink and girly and therefore suitable for any small boys who enjoy a good old pram push!

A word of warning about these prams though – they are not suitable to use as a replacement for a walker or as an aide to learn to walk. The danger is that should a child falls heavily on the handle the pram tips and the hood comes up and can hit the child in the face. It is perfectly safe and steady once a child is up and away on their feet and is suitable from 10 months but best stick to the wooden walker trucks for learning to toddle!

Today’s Wooden Toy review is of Bigjig’s wooden xylophone.

The Xylophone is a lovely introduction for your child to the world of music. This wooden xylophone is (as the description suggests) wooden and as such it has a lovely tonal sound that is much more pleasant than the tinny sound from metal xylophones.
Each of the wooden notes are threaded on a sturdy string which is attached to the wooden frame, this means that the notes wont get lost and nor will they fall off or tip up during strenuous playing!! The sticks with which to play the xylophone are also made of lightweight wood and I would suggest that it is the sticks that push the age range (suggested) to 3+. The sticks have a ball on the end to hit the notes with, which if pulled (really very hard) could detach from the handle. As with any toy don’t leave a child playing with this toy unattended (but that’s just common sense!!) The xylophone has beautiful colours, as you can see from the picture and is very well made – sturdy without looking industrial.

A xylophone is a particularly good place to start a musical education. Most children are introduced to the concept of rhythm with rattles, handbells and maracas at an early age but the concept of melody is introduced at a later stage of development.
The xylophone is easier to master (or get a nice sound from banging at it) than a guitar or harmonica.

If you can foster a love of music in your child at a young age not only will she develop a love of creativity but he may also become a world class musician and keep you in your old age (that’s my plan anyway!!). Research also shows that playing a musical instrument can have countless positive effects on a child’s emotional wellbeing, educational achievements and self esteem. Sounds like a winner to me!!