Toys and Games - Reviews and News

Christmas is just around the corner so pretty soon we’ll have to start thinking about Christmas shopping and gifts. Many children will have prepared lists of electronic gizmos that they are hoping will arrive magically on Christmas morning. Here we present a brief list of ever popular, slightly more traditional gift ideas, only one of which needs batteries:

Rainbow Bike
The Rainbow Brighter Bike is suitable for youngsters aged from around 2½ to 5. Without stabilisers or pedals it relies upon foot propulsion, much like the original bicycles or ‘walking machines‘ from the early 19th century. Children will develop balance and confidence as they freewheel and control their movement and speed with their feet. Progressing on to a pedal powered bicycle is easy once they have mastered the foot propelled Brighter Bike.

Junior Carpenter Set
The Junior Carpenter Set is intended for children from around 8 years old upwards. It consists of scaled down working versions of real tools housed in a tough wooden storage box. A carpentry set is a great learning toy as it can encourage an interest in producing finished products, it can help a child develop forward-thinking and planning skills and it can help them to develop psycho-motor and cognitive skills through handling and manipulating tools and measuring instruments. What’s more, carpentry is good fun and very satisfying.

Magnetic Theatre
Suitable for children aged from 3 to around 8 the Magnetic Theatre provides everything needed to stage and perform 4 classic fairy tales: Cinderella, Three Little Pigs, Red Riding Hood and Pinocchio. Magnetism is used to move the painted wooden characters around the stage which is always fascinating to young children. They will enjoy the and staging their own production for themselves and their friends.

Jumbo Car
Is this a traditional toy? It is certainly a very popular toy for the under 3’s. The Jumbo Car is a soft, padded, comfortable and safe play-car for pretend play-driving. The dashboard presents the toddler with an array of toddler friendly instruments that they find exciting as they start the engine and make the lights flash. The battery powered dashboard can be removed and attached to other play equipment or even taken in the car to keep the little ones amused.

De-Luxe Nativity Scene
Christmas just isn’t Christmas without a nativity scene. This beautifully made, hand painted wooden nativity scene is suitable for children aged from around 3 years old. It’s a great way for them to learn about the tradition and history of Christmas.

We hope that these ideas provide some inspiration for your Christmas gift buying in 2007. A visit to Mulberry Bush, the Traditional Wooden Toy specialists, will provide you with many more childrens gift ideas and you will find that many of the high quality traditional toys are very economical, unlike many electronic gizmos.