Kids

This really is a wonderful set of books for toddlers. The Tales from Acorn Wood is a creation of the famous Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. With a combination of Julia's beautiful writing and Axel's illustration, this is a set that every parent and toddler will enjoy. Each of these books has a wonderful but simple tale to tell. They also offer a level of participation for your toddler with a flap to open on each of the pages. Aside from the stories, there are also books on counting and colours using the same characters from the stories. A sticker book is also available for later years.   Hide and Seek Pig Join Hide and Seek pig on an adventure to find what animals are behind the different flaps...

Brio... not much further introduction is necessary. Here we look at the 10 must have brio trains for any child's toy collection. There is so much imaginative play that can children can have with Brio, it really is incredible. And whether you have enough to make a small track or an entire village, it will still bring you hours of fun. Not to mention the competitive element between parents over who can make the coolest track - I probably have to say I would lose that one! Over the past few years, Brio have introduced many new trains to the collection and have introduced some electric trains too. You have the traditional battery powered trains but there are also trains that you can charge via...

At some point during our children's early years, all parents will have some involvement in potty training. However, as many parents will discover, will-power alone will not solve the problem. Sometimes you need a little bit of help, or indeed encouragement, to get your little ones over the finish line. That said, some won't need any encouraging at all - it all comes naturally! Lucky you! For those that do need a little encouragement, we've picked what we believe to be some of the best books out there today. These can be a great, subtle way of introducing your potty one stage at a time. Here goes:   On My Potty This is one of the popular books on Amazon written by Leslie Patriecelli who is an author/illustrator of...

So summer has now officially landed with temperatures scoring into the late 20s again. Hopefully, this will not be the only time this summer that the sun blesses us with its presence and carries much onto the needed holiday for the children. So let's take a look at some outdoor toys that will provide much needed entertainment. Whilst it is always nice to get out on a sunny day, some great times can be spent at home in the garden. These toys often give hours of entertainment in the garden. The Water Slide! There's not much more fun that whizzing down the garden at speed on a waterslide. There are many different slides on the market, but here are two available from Amazon that we think are...

There's not much better for the soul than spending the day at the beach. One of our personal favourites to visit is West Wittering in West Sussex. This beach is one of the most beautiful where if you catch the tides wight, you can have a lovely walk from the West to the East and back again. As with any beach you are going to visit, the best time of day to go is earl in the morning, around 08:00 and then when it gets too busy, you can simply pack your things up and go. If you have little ones, this is great as you can be back on the road in time for their all important nap and you still have the afternoon...

If you are looking for a way to help with a child's imagination, sticker books, albeit simple, can be great fun for young children. Some of the widely known brands such as the Usbourne Sticker Books, cover a wide range of topics that children love and can also help towards developing a child's speech as you race through the back of the book looking for the pictures that go with the scene. It also helps children understand the purpose of different tasks. One example that we certainly noted was on the farm book, he was soon able to understand all of the different tools and machinery that went on a farm. Of course, not always perfect as he still calls a tractor trailer a trolley!...

There is nothing I enjoy more than seeing my son having some imaginary play with some wooden toys. We started buying him wooden toys when he was a baby as you just can't help having some classics around the house. Even when he goes to visit his Grandparents, out come the wooden toys that we played with as kids and he loves them. Of course the toys get more sophisticated as they get older but the toddler toys are just great for getting their minds going. These are some of the toys that we have and they are just great, not to mention that they last forever. 1. Wooden Fruit Set One of the first toys that we bought was the wooden fruit set Melissa & Doug...