Saturday 14 September 2013

The Toadstool - Beautiful Toys to love, ethically made....... blogging competition entry






I love toys, my kids love toys in fact my house somewhat resembles a toy shop.  In particular we love wooden toys.  They are so durable and long lasting.  They look so natural and clean.  I am forever buying bits not because my little ones NEED them, no child needs more toys but because mummy wants them :)


Here's their current train collection........
  so no we don't really Need any more but when I found The Toadstools website with their amazing collection of train playsets (among other things) I think I may have lost more than 1 afternoon looking through their collection and writing a wish list.

The Toadstool stock far more than just wooden train set tho, they also have 
1.     Wooden Ball Track
11.   Wooden Puzzles AND 

ohhhh how I wish one of my boys was a girl the Plan Toys Terrace Doll House is any little girls dream (and no sadly I never had a wooden dolls house and my husband won't let his sons have one).  At £135 I am sure it will make another little girl very very happy for Santa to bring it to them on Christmas morning.



They also stock a wide range of puzzles, games and jigsaws of a fantastic quality.

I can see my children having endless fun with the Haba Arranging Puzzle (Corner to Corner) .......... okok I can see mummy and daddy having endless fun as we try to beat each other's time putting it back together.
It's also very reasonably priced at £13.50 (reduced from £22)

     


There are of course soft toys for the younger children Haba doll: Little Scamps Mette and Michael would make the perfect companions for your children and at £25 each you know they will last a long time.

 



Last year I hunted high and low for a durable Nativity Scene at a good price that my children could get out year on year and play and learn at the same time.
I found...............Nothing, nada, zilch.   All the wooden ones were either extortionately priced (£40+) or just tack.
The Toadstool have won me over again!!!!!!


Currently on pre-order (expected October) at an amazingly reasonable £25.40 the Haba First Nativity Playset  is amazing - I am getting my order in now as its limited edition and I need this product.

They also have nativity cookie cutters .... these will be going on my wish list as I'm not allowed to buy them (yet)


And NOW the lovely people at Toadstool have got a competition running to find some a new Toy Tester for next year and all I have to do...... is write a wish list (5-10 items) from their website.   Now this could be mummy's wish list or the children's wish list ............ ohhhh who deserves the lovely toys most???



         Our Wish List  


So being the lovely mummy that I am I set us a mission of finding 3 items each with a £100 limit  
Here they are..............


My choice 
A 30 something mummy with a passion for wooden toys and baking.

So Obviously the nativity playset should be here, but I can't risk not winning it so I'm going to buy it ..... now what else did I like ........

1) Haba Baking Set Nativity Cookie Cutters. 
£16.90 buys you: 15 pastry cutters made of stainless tin plate (dishwasher proof),  3 plastic templates (dishwasher proof),  1 booklet with recipes.


   

and of course you don't have to use the cutters for making edible cookies, they can be used with salt dough and painted to make tree decorations.


2) Haba My Very First Games - Evening in the Stable
I love playing games with my children but at 2 years old Noah is a bit small for instructions and lots of rules.  This is designed for ages 3+ and encourages you to Play with your child and talk about life on a farm and the animals living there. Think about the farm animals and imitate the sounds they make - even Noah can manage that.

This is priced at £8.50 which is a good price for a game.


3) Mummy big buy ....... at £69 is the Janod Maxi Cooker Kitchen (Brown).

The boys are always wanting to be in the kitchen with me and with this playset they can use their love of baking in a safe environment.   Being brown it is also ideal for 2 boys.

The kitchen features a magnetic fork, spoon and spatula this helps to ensure they're kept tidy and in one place (every mothers dream).  
·         Comes with 8 accessories: pot, pan , spatulas, fork, spoon.
·         Includes an oven, double cooker, sink with tab, cupboards, clock, magnetic board for hand utensils.
·         Kitchen Dimensions: 60.5 x 30 x 85 cm
·         Kitchen and accessories of solid wood: Rubberwood + MDF + Birch.

ok ok NOT JUST for the boys ............ MUMMY wants to play with it.




Ben's choice 
An almost 5 years old superhero with a passion for noise, trains and mess.

1) So Ben's big purchase at £69 - and this took a lot of thinking about on his part - would be the Janod Giant Circus Train Set and Playworld.

This train set has loads of action that you don't find anywhere else (such as acrobats) and will fit as an addition to their current set.
2) In at number 2 he chose the Balance Animal Upon Animal Haba game (£15) as he said it looked "really bright and funny". 




3) Finally he chose the Captain Charlie Pirate hat and beard (£15) to "go with my sword I got on holiday"  






Noah's choice 
A 2 and a half year old (going on 13) with a passion for even more noise and even more mess then his brother.

Ok so at 2 and a half trying to get his attention long enough to look through the website (this is why we love paper catalogues) was a mission so  I have picked out the things I think he would like.

1) Wonderworld Mini Tower Crane - at £24.50 this would be a lovely add on to their wooden wonderland.



2) The Haba Arranging Puzzle (Corner to Corner)  - £13.50 - that I mentioned earlier has to go on his list as it is bright and colourful with so many possibilities.


and last - but certainly not least .......... 

3) The BIG SPEND item .......... Haba Building Blocks Sevilla at £44.30

25 Stunning sensory beech wood building blocks with different shapes and effects including different textures and a rattle, bell, mirror, magnifier, peep hole and prism.

Although babies would get a lot out of these I think Noah would love them as he's into his colours and shapes at the moment - not to mention taking his brothers Lego to build with.





..............Why not check out the website yourself and make your own wish list.........
And if you liked my post ....... please let them know I sent you over.



13/12/13 - Competition now closed, sadly after 3 months of working with them I was not one of the chosen 5 winners.

Follow me on Facebook here
And on Pinterest here

No comments:

Post a Comment