Articles & reviews about Baby and Kids Toys.

Toys to Help Kids to Learn English

All toys are educational, to a certain extent, as most teach specific skills, and all of them teach kids how to play. However there are toys that go further still and help children to learn languages. The past decade has seen a great increase in the number of bilingual interactive electronic toys, for example.

These can teach children the alphabet, numbers, shapes and colours from as early as 12 months old. They use sound effects, nursery rhymes and flashing lights to maintain children's interest levels as they learn. The toys can be colourful, interactive playhouses, gardens or farmyards which focus on specific groups of words. These toys are not just useful for kids learning English but can be extremely helpful to hesitant parents also wishing to improve their bilingual skills.

There are clocks to teach the time, with a built-in quiz facility to reinforce and test learning, which are suitable for slightly older children; talking cubes to teach numbers, letters, shapes and colours, as well as improving the younger child's motor skills and helping him develop confidence from an early age; and smart drivers for toddlers. These simulate adult cars, with an interactive steering wheel and dashboard incorporating all the accessories, noises and buttons of a real vehicle. With a little imagination, these can be used in an endless number of ways to teach and reinforce vocabulary and grammar. (more...)

The Joys of Toys

From the moment we hear those joyful words It's a boy! or It's a girl!, we start thinking about buying baby gifts and clothes. And even though the child has no comprehension of this, we start to fill her tiny environment with colours and shapes. In fact there is an astonishing variety of soft, safe toys available to fill every available space in the newborn's pram, cot or bath.

The earliest toys we give are usually soft, knitted animals, baby rattles or colourful mobiles. Within months, as the baby's sense of touch and hearing develop, we look for textured toys, activity mats with lots of different surfaces and sounds and pretty musical lanterns to soothe her to sleep.

All childrens clothing stores sell early years' toys and bath toys are especial favourites. Like all babies, she will love bath time and delight in toys that float, splash or squirt. Look carefully and you can find colour-changing ducks which will become firm favourites with the entire family! (more...)

Lasting Toys for Boys

No matter how well-constructed they are, many toys these days seem to have a shorter shelf life than most vegetables! The toy your child pleaded for in the weeks running up to Christmas, can be discarded on Boxing Day and never looked at again. And all parents know how disheartening and frustrating that can be.

It is impossible to force your child to play with a toy in which he is no longer interested. Two years ago, when we moved abroad to France, I handed my son a small box and told him to select a handful of toys he wanted to take with him. The rest were to be donated to a charity shop. He was appalled at the thought of giving up any of his precious toys, despite the fact that he played with only a quarter of them.

Being faced with international moving France or anywhere else, is an excellent exercise in taking stock of accumulated clutter. Eventually the ten thousand Lego bricks were returned to their boxes and put into the charity shop bag, along with the Transformers Ultimate Bumblebee, the bionic eye, the broken Disney video cam and the numerous construction kits and puzzles, all once toys he claimed he would treasure forever. Two years on and I honestly believe my son has not given any of them a second thought. (more...)

Toys are Them, not Us

Even before the schools have broken up for the summer holidays, the Back to School banners are flying in the shops. And no sooner have the uniforms and school stationery left the shelves than these are restocked with Christmas toys and gifts. For households with young children, the subject of toys will fill the majority of conversations for the next three months.

In these enlightened times there seems to be a growing demand for toys to fulfil multiple functions. They are no longer innocent playthings, but must help a child's development in every conceivable way; developing balance and co-ordination; fine-tuning the motor skills; teaching colours shapes, numeracy or literacy as well as stimulating the imagination and holding a child's interest for more than five minutes.

If toys do not live up to these impossibly high expectations, they will be rejected or discarded within minutes and the child will grow bored and disillusioned. Some of the most frequent Holiday complaints I hear are about boredom. (more...)

How Toys Have Changed

As a kid we all remember turning on the television sets and seeing the commercials for the new and exciting toys available. Now that we are grown up the majority of us have lost touch with that part of our lives. Unless you have kids or nieces and nephews you probably don't know anything about toys.

Toys are usually sent by international box shipping because they are usually constructed in China or Japan. Toys have changed dramatically over the past 15-20 years and they resemble nothing like they used to when we were kids.

Today, kids play with mobile phones and sophisticated gaming hardware, those are things that did not exist when most of us were children. It is important to stay up to date with all of the new technology so that you will know what your kids are playing with. (more...)

Toys are Not What they Used to Be!

When we think about toys we visualise children playing with dolls and video games. Things have changed in the past decade or so and kids are more inclined to play with electronic goods than they are with traditional toys.

Handheld gaming devices lead the craze because they are cheap and offer more content per pound spent. You can buy your kids a handheld gaming device and they can get hours of continuous play out of it without having to spend any money on usage. You will have to buy the occasional game for them but that is quite low in price when considering how much other toys cost.

You can spend your time carpets flooring or you can look up the hottest toys for your kids to play with. There is a sense of satisfaction when you present your children with a toy that they really want, as a parent there is no better feeling. (more...)

Timeless Slyvanian Families Toys

The timeless Slyvanian Families Childrens toys were first released in North American and Japan when production began in 1985 but by 1987 the tiny creatures were so popular that they were expanded into the Western European market. Slyvanian Families The world in which the characters live is quite precious with each character supposedly coming from the town of ‘Slyvania’ and living with their family. The homes of each family are designed in a colourful and traditional fashion that is meant to teach young children togetherness and the traditional family unit.

The world in which the characters live is quite precious with each character supposedly coming from the town of ‘Slyvania’ and living with their family. The homes of each family are designed in a colourful and traditional fashion that is meant to teach young children togetherness and the traditional family unit. Each family also comes with a large supply of accessories and furniture that can be decorated. Some of the most popular houses include Willow Hall, Oakwood Manor, and Bramble Cottage.

Different families have their own characters such as Bill and Wanda Waddington who belong to the Duck Family and are the official Mayor and Mayoress of Sylvania. The Grey Bear Family features Forrest (the herbal doctor of Slyvania), Preston, Honeysuckle, and Ashley Evergreen. The Brown Rabbit Family is based on providing music to the woods and includes Ginger, Hollie, Herb, and Rusty Wildwood.

Children Love Toys, Fact!

If you see a commercial for a toy on television and you want to buy it for your kids, where will you get it from? Traditionally parents would have to go to the toy store and fight other parents to the front of the line. This was both troublesome and even dangerous in some cases when the newest toys came out. If your kids had the best toys than there was a certain social status placed upon you.

Thankfully the internet has completely changed the way in which we shop. Instead of getting up at 6am we can now shop in the comfort of our home. All we need is a computer and in most cases a credit card to secure the purchase.

Getting toys online is both cheap and easy when you compare it to the hassle and prices of toys in major retail stores. (more...)

Why Do People DIY?

The DIY culture is on the rise all over the world. Especially in the UK, more and more people are doing the round of DIY stores and attempting to carry out home decoration and repair activities. This trend is not limited to home repairs, but goes way beyond that.

The culture of DIY transcends specific activities and becomes a way of life. It gives us an opportunity to create things, by designing, planning and executing them ourselves. Fixing tiles in the bathroom, to painting your house to stitching a cover for your childrens duvet all falls under DIY.

DIY has the potential to build various life skills including planning, patience and time management! Not to mention the hands on skills learnt with every specific activity. On a less profound note, it also helps saves money! (more...)

A History of Toys

Toys have been popular for thousands of years. Early man even made toys out of rock and wood for their children. We know this because we have found them in archaeological digs and through cave drawings. Toys are much different today than they were thousands of years ago, but they still serve the same purpose, to entertain us.

Toys come in many different shapes and sizes and they do not resemble windows for nurseries They can be large and electronic or small and handheld. Some toys cost thousands of pounds and others you can buy for less than one pound.

It all depends on how much you are willing to spend and who the gift is intended for. Most adults will normally spend more money on toys if they are intended for their own children as opposed to nieces or nephews. (more...)

Buying the First Present for your Baby

You have a new-born in the family and Christmas is looming. But what on earth do you buy for the new little bundle of joy? Many parents and relatives are torn between a practical gift or a cute, but not so practical one that catches their eye. One idea is to buy a baby first Christmas ornament that will last a lifetime.

It is different and although the baby will not be able to make use of it, it will be a lovely reminder to the parents of the first Christmas together. It is also a great keepsake for the baby when he or she grows up, to pass on to their children and grandchildren.

Some people choose toys. As the baby grows up very quickly, there is a choice between toys that the baby will be able to use now such as rattles and cuddly toys, or those that they will be able to grow into and use in the coming year such as first books or shape sorters. (more...)

Finding Toys for Kids Nowadays, Good Luck!

Oh my goodness, where do I even start when it comes to finding toys for kids nowadays? I am the first to realise that I sound like a grumpy old man here - but heck, let's go for it anyway!

When I was young, which was not that long ago, before you ask. Receiving a toy of any description would have been an immense treat for me. It only tended to happen around Christmas and birthdays and I can definitely put my hand on my heart and say I was grateful.

Today, kids would not know gratitude if it smacked them between the eyes; they have come to the point where they expect more and more and want everything from new play stations to the latest glow sticks. (more...)

Nostalgia

OK, so I am only just the wrong side of forty, but when I think back on my childhood toys, I cannot help but remember that things were much simpler then. We simply did not have the array of toys and gadgets that today's youngsters have at their disposal. Kids nowadays, whether it is childcare in Leicester or a creche in Brighton, have the selection of toys that we could only dream of. We had Barbies, Tiny Tears and cuddly toys, maybe a few board games such as Buckaroo and Operation. And we were very happy with them, we did not need anything else.

Kids now seem to need a much larger choice and it is no longer the case that an inexpensive toy meant as much as anything. Now it has to be the latest technology and the right brand – even for a five year old!

As adorable as they are, kids now do not seem to possess that same imagination as we had to develop – simply because we had no choice. If we wanted something and did not have it we had to make do and pretend. (more...)