Amazing 40% Discount on our Beautiful Wooden Rocking Horse

The WoodenToyGallery.co.uk, specialists in hand-crafted and organic wooden toys that encourage children's creativity and free-spirit, has now reduced the price of its famous ‘classic rocking horse’ by 40% - just in time for Christmas gift buying.

The built-to-last classic Wooden Rocking Horse is made with a sturdy seat and handles to hold. Rocking toys are perfect for youngsters learning to build coordination, strength and balance, so take advantage of this offer and help to stimulate your child’s senses and keep them closer to nature, with this classic wooden toy.

This amazing 40% discount is only available online at woodentoygallery.co.uk from 8^th Nov until 28^th Nov, so make sure you go online to buy this classic toy at this limited time offer right now.

To claim this discount all you need to do is go to our website here:

   

Wooden Rocking Horse

and add the voucher code: rhorse10  into the specified area at the checkout, press add and the discount will be applied upon completing your order.

             

       

Why Wooden Construction Toys Have a Bright Future

When British media entrepreneur Peter Orton dreamt up the idea of a cartoon character dressed up in a bright yellow helmet, blue dungarees and a hammer-in-hand, very few would have predicted a global hit worth more than £32.5 million per year for, effectively, a few construction toys.

But the figures never lie, and Bob the Builder, along with his construction toy friends, became a huge success in a very short period of time, primarily because of the merchandise, such as wooden toys, that the character created.

And while the success of Bob the Builder must partly be attributed to a clever catchphrase and some bright costumes, for many the real attraction for their children was quite simply in the wooden constructor toys that came along for the ride.

Unlike plastic toys, wooden constructor toys appeal to children who enjoy meaningful playtime. And, for parents who are keen to develop young creative minds in a fun and safe environment, wooden construction toys tick all the boxes.

Further, these toys hold valuable lessons in organisation, tidiness and have the power to boost logical thinking in young but very capable minds. Well-designed constructor wooden toys can be the perfect size for youngsters, and could help them find one of their first experience of ‘success’, because re-shaping the toys, adding parts and adapting pieces, takes time and effort for a young child.

Again, unlike other toys, constructor toys are not exclusive to young children, by their very design they attract older play partners too, such as parents and grandparents, and so play the role of communicator as well. Just another positive by-product of these hand-crafted toys.

Bob the Builder may have given the constructor toy the profile boost it needed, but the value of the toy has always been evident. With the potential to catapult creativity, communication, feelings of success, organisation skills and tidiness among children, this timeless toy should occupy a spot in the cupboard or drawer of any young child.

For fantastic wooden construction toys then just click here: Wooden Construction Toys

Do Children Need Wooden Toys to Save their Imagination?

Did you know that amount of time children and teens spend on the computer has tripled in the last 10 years?

 Source

This actually comes as no surprise to me as the internet has become ubiquitous and is available to most children whether it’s in school, home or the local library.

So, like Baroness Susan Greenfield asked in a recent article:

Are [children] at risk of losing [their] imagination, that mysterious and special cognitive gift that until now has always made the book so much better than the film?

What a sad state of affairs it would be for children to become mindless droids, just looking up anything they may have a question about on Google or Wikipedia, then taking that as fact without actually experiencing what it is to research, understand and learn.

Do kids still have the skills to go out and discover for themselves through trial and error and in this cotton wool society, are they even allowed to by over protecting parents and a nanny state?

As little as 20 years ago, it was common place for kids to be out playing in the streets enjoying themselves, sometimes getting into sticky situations and even, yes, falling over and hurting themselves. 

But it seems more and more children are allowed to just while away their time in front of a screen, whether it's the TV or a computer. 

But what we seem to be forgetting is that humans and children in particular are incredibly resilient. But that resilience, although inherent in every child, must be nurtured and encouraged.

This is just like the ability to make mistakes, discover new things and solve problems which are becoming less and less with the advent of the all powerful, all knowing internet. 

So, why can't we let our children out to play like they used to and why are they spending so much time indoors in front of the computer? 

One reason is that there are now incredibly sophisticated computer games that can have kids hooked from as young as 6 years or sometimes younger, it’s a worrying situation we are in, which parents are letting their kids play. 

This has been attributed to parents working longer hours and not having time to  play with their children but even so, there's just more to do inside now.

So, is there any hope for our over fed, under-thinking, over pampered kids?

Well, of course, and despite these statistics, they certainly don’t tell the whole story. 

 

There are of course many wonderful children that still play outside and are allowed to make mistakes and grow up naturally. And this is partly why I have created the Wooden Toy Gallery, because it allows children to be children, to discover, explore, be boisterous, challenge themselves and enjoy nature in all it’s glorious beauty.

I mean, childrens wooden toys can have a profound affect on children and I recently read this wonderful comment in a blog post which asked if children still played with wooden toys:

Little girl, Real people stock photo by www.pixmac.com

 I use my scrap cut-offs to make wooden cars, trains, trucks, etc. for my small grandchildren. They loved them! They loved them so much I tried an experiment and just made different shaped and sized pieces from the scrap, not even fashioning them into anything recognizable. Same reaction - delight! Kids will use their imaginations to turn anything into something that amuses, challenges and intrigues them.

What a wonderful experience to read about. Just imagine how incredible it would be to get that reaction from your kids every time you bought them something new!

It’s an exciting world that we live in with more possibilities and opportunities for our children then ever before but what we must be careful of is overexposing them to the wrong things that stifle their natural creative abilities and actually let them be at one with nature and discover things for themselves.

What a wonder that would be. 

Wooden Toys at the Bristol International Balloon Festival

We recently attended the Bristol International Balloon Festival for the first time ever with our lovely Childrens Wooden Toys and natural gifts.




Here are some of the lovely people we met. It's always so much fun speaking to them and seeing how excited they get about playing with the toys.



We got complemented many times on our products and how pretty our stand was, obviously this made us blush : )


It was a wonderful event and so big! It was incredible to be part of it and very exciting.

We were a little unlucky with the weather but that didn't dampen our spirits as we met lots of wonderful people who adored our stand and our wooden toys and gifts.

You can see a small selection of photos here from the show, the picture of the balloons (above) is my favourite, although I'm not sure if I would want to go up in one!

Plastic toys are shown to be toxic to children

A recent survey by the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) has uncovered the shocking fact that 46 per cent of children's toys tested contained higher than permitted levels of toxic materials, including lead and phthalates.

We were horrified when we read this but not surprised. How horrible to think that by giving your children something that is supposed to give them pleasure we are actually putting them at risk.

These chemicals can cause terrible illnesses such as diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. They can also cause infertility and even death should enough be consumed, but this is over a prolonged period of time.

This is one of the main reasons why we started Wooden Toy gallery, because of the terribly destructive nature of plastic toys. They are often sold off the back of big marketing campaigns by large corporate organisations who seem to have little regard for the environment but are just set on creating the next big hit toy for Christmas.

And these toys are more often then not made from plastic which is produced from oil (we’re all aware of the issues around that). They are then manufactured in factories (often in very poor countries by underpaid workers) where the waste products are also highly toxic, and finally they are packaged up in large boxes or yet more plastic. This cycle is just awful for the environment, but even though we're sure most people are aware of it, they still insist on buying plastic toys.

But then to find out they are actually potentially dangerous for our children and can cause real sickness is just too much. When children have such wonderful imaginations and can have fun with simple objects like a large cardboard box or a tree house in the garden, we wonder if it’s really the kids who want the toys, or the parents who want their kids to have the latest model, whatever that may be.

Another issue we have with plastic toys is that they either get broken quickly, which makes them hugely expensive, or they are played with for a while and then thrown away where plastic doesn’t degrade for many years.

We understand it is a challenge when your children are begging you for the latest toys or you just want to buy them a treat. But, with this horrible news, it shows that really it’s not going to help them in the long run.

And we think this especially applies to babies and toddlers who aren’t at the age where they’re requesting toys. To give a young child a plastic toy is almost like giving them a bottle of chemicals to play with. Especially if it’s a toy they could easily suck or bite. We just don’t understand it.

we’ve taken this quote from the website http://library.thinkquest.org/06aug/00442/wu3rs.htm

‘Another pollution problem is that garbage in landfills creates a gas that contains a very dangerous air pollutant which can cause cancer. Also, rain and snow mixed with this garbage makes a poisonous liquid called leachate that pollutes groundwater. Used oil that is put in the garbage rather than recycled also drips into the ground and pollutes rivers, wells, and lakes.’

We appreciate there will always be a place for plastic toys but we feel that the nature of childrens wooden toys and the fact that they are made from natural materials and if discarded, can break down to create organic matter, along with the fact that kids simply love them, a pretty strong case for encouraging our children to play with these wooden toys.

Children’s Wooden toys are still top on the toy list!

As the Disney/Pixar Toy Story 3 film packs out cinemas throughout the UK, and undoubtedly across the globe, I can’t help but feel a certain amount of satisfaction on behalf of the entire children’s wooden toy industry. Here we have a blockbuster film, the third of its kind, with the latest in animation techniques and special effects at the forefront of technology, a market leader, and just look at who’s at the centre of the story?

Who’s responsible for capturing the hearts and minds of every child (and the occasional adult) who watches the film? Of course, it’s Woody, a children’s wooden toy!
If this isn’t evidence to suggest that a product has stood the test of time, I don’t know what is. For years people have created our wonderfully crafted toys, in all shapes and sizes, and it would seem that the excitement around children’s wooden toys hasn’t waned one bit. In fact, the interest and desire for them would appear to be growing.

Woody (great name!) is the leader, the favourite toy, the one that other toys look up to and respect. If we were looking at the toy hierarchy, the wooden toy is where it should be – right at the top.
Woody’s success is clear. The first Toy Story was released 15 years ago in 1995 and like with most things the proof has to be in the pudding, and if the reaction to Woody had been less than favourable, it would be unlikely that he would appear in the follow-up films, let alone be on the front page of every bill board and advert.

Carefully handcrafted wooden toys remain exciting, loved and cherished toys, and the fantastic press that films like Toy Story give the wooden toy industry is simply more evidence that they are top of the agenda for children and they are here to stay.

Photo: wiicube

Why Do Childrens' Wooden Toys Last Forever?

Producing childrens’ wooden toys requires nothing short of creating a masterpiece.
The skill, creativity and effort that goes into crafting such a treasured toy is remarkable, and is probably the reason why they are cherished and loved for years and years.

Very often, childrens' wooden toys become part of the family, as their durability allows them to survive generations and generations of knocks and drops, unlike the latest electronic or battery-powered toy.

From lorries and the traditional spinning tops, to aeroplanes and ships, the options are endless because childrens’ wooden toys aren’t dictated to by fads or fashions. Put simply, they are victims of creative minds, ideas and imagination.

Why would any parent want a cheap, run-of-the-mill toy, when they could own a handcrafted wooden toy? If you’re thinking of investing in a wooden toy, make sure you know what you want, because there’s no harm in putting your chosen craftsman to work. Any wooden toy builder will gladly take on a personalised job, and its final polish to perfection will help it stand out from every other toy your child has seen in the past.

And it’s ‘personalisation’ that is so key when talking about toys for your child. You child is like no other, no-one even comes close to having the same character, personality or likes and dislikes. If your child is unique, why shouldn’t his or her toys be unique?

Sadly, unique toys have never fallen off conveyor belts and production lines, they are created, built, crafted with skill and care. The Ikea-effect is currently rampaging through the toy industry, and while some parents may be happy fuelling the mass-production of cheap but cheerful toys, others are willing to invest in something that is built for one, and built to last.

We believe the creation of beautiful, fun and engaging childrens' wooden toys and all everyone we talk to agrees!

Children's Wooden Toys Free Their Mind

Free your child's imagination with a wooden toy

Aside from their durability, reliability, and their capability of letting your child's imagination run wild, children's Wooden Toys don't need batteries to operate.

So, next time you think about investing money into the latest IT-drenched toy fad, which will be yesterday's news by the time the batteries run out, consider buying a set of beautifully handcrafted children's wooden toys.

Unlike many toys, wooden toys don't rely on TV or film characters to appeal to children so they stay in fashion for far longer. Just imagine buying a set of toys that can be handed down through generations and generations!

Another great reason to give a child a wooden toy set is that it isn't linked to a popular or fashionable television or film character. So it's up to your child's wild imagination to give the toy a personality.

Too many of today's toys have pre-created characters and personalities, but wooden toys arrive loaded with the ability to be absolutely anyone. It is up to your child to exercise their imagination, which is so important at a young age and this helps them create their own toy over and over again.

And, if education is at the top end of your agenda for your child, wooden toys can be the perfect option. Not only do they give the brain a workout by requiring lively and active imaginations, they also can be bought as educational props.
For example, wooden puzzles or shape slot toys can really help to progress a child's hand and eye co-ordination.

And, their durability means that you won't be clinging on to the toy's receipt with the normal vice-like grip, in constant fear of a breakage and then the hassle of taking it back for a replacement.

But choice is important, and if you do decide to buy your child a wooden toy, make sure you buy something that matches the character of your child. If you can engage and excite your child on first sight of a range of beautiful children's wooden toys, the chances are the two will be inseparable for years to come!