What Do I Buy An Active Toddler?

This is a question we are asked a lot, and I admit it is a difficult one to answer.  Not because a one or two year old is hard to please, in truth an active toddler will be happy with pretty much anything you have lying around the home.  But choosing a gift can be tricky at this age, especially when you want something natural.  This is due to the fearful restrictions placed on toy manufacturers…  Is it a choking hazard?  Is the paint safe?  Could they strangle themselves? Are there any sharp bits?

I admit that as a retailer and a parent I struggle with this one.  Naturally we all want our children to be safe, and at the same time we grew up with sharp corners, long ropes, metal toys with small parts or sharp bits, and the majority of us survived without incident. Indeed, if there was an incident it was usually minor and we learned a valuable lesson.  But of course there is the odd occasion that has led to all these restrictions being applied, resulting in many manufacturers taking the decision to blanket label all their toys as suitable for 3+ years even when they are clearly targeted for younger children.

As a retailer I have to be cautious and advise customers to read the label and make their own mind up.  All toys with a CE marking have to meet stringent criteria, so paints are not a problem and as a parent I tend to use my own initiative and common sense when choosing toys.  So with this in mind, this blog is my personal view on what I would choose for an active toddler.

When my son was born, I took to motherhood with a passion, I adored being at home with him, I adored playing with him and I wanted to give him everything.  I browsed the toy shops, excited to share the bright battery operated toys that promised to stimulate him and keep him engaged.   But most of them were short lived, and my son usually gravitated towards the simple toys, a cooker and pans, his ride on bike with trailer, wooden blocks and stacking cups.  Now, with 4 years experience of working in a Kindergarten, I can look back with hindsight and see clearly that these simple and versatile toys were just what he needed and I could have saved myself a lot of money and clutter by leaving the more complicated toys in the toy shop.

0-3 is such a very special and exciting time.  A new born baby arrives in the world almost helpless, and requires constant care.  Yet within just one year they are sitting, crawling, taking their first steps and learning the art of communication both verbally and non verbally.  It is a tremendous journey that provides valuable experiences that will support them throughout their life.  Wooden building blocks, baskets, boxes and simple stacking toys make ideal toys at this age.  They offer great versatility and encourage creative activities that are led by the child’s developing imagination.  Whereas more structured and less flexible toys often have just one application that restricts the natural flow of creativity.

Our pull-along train, although structured, offers the flexibility of including building blocks and a trailer that can be used with other toys. Young children spend endless hours putting things in and out of containers and when they find their feet this can be used to great advantage as a creative tidy-up time activity.  A soft ball is also a lovely toy to include at this age as it offers the right level of stimulating interactive play with adults and supports the healthy development of co-ordination skills.

As toddlers find their feet, it is time to rejoice in their new found freedom and flexibility of movement.  Simple push-along toys such as our traditional favourite Flapping Duck, or a pull-along character such as our Dog or Family of Ducks make ideal gifts that provide interest and movement.  Ride on toys, especially ones that include a trailer or storage area for carrying things are likely to be popular.  A simple rocking horse will help to strengthen muscles, balance and co-ordination and offers a rhythmical motion that is both stimulating and soothing.

In these formative years a child learns primarily by imitation.  What they love most is your attention, in any form, and they are likely to follow you around and copy your actions.  Initially this may not make any outward sense, for example if you are washing dishes, what a toddler picks up is the movement of items from one place to another, and this is what they are likely to imitate.  They will also learn valuable nurturing skills from you that they will take into their play with dolls and teddies.  Simple role-play toys are a great asset to any nursery and are likely to be well used for many years to come.  Create a home corner with a cooker, doll’s bed, table and chairs and accessories such as pans, an ironing board and simple dolls.

If space is an issue, our Folding Cooker or Doll’s Swinging Cradle make good alternatives and the Doll’s Moses Basket is easy to move around the home or take to a friends house.  Our Toddler’s Toolbox is very popular and allows little children to practice handling basic tools. It is important to recognise that gender is not an issue at this age, and these toys are valuable for both boys and girls.  I made a very conscious choice to ensure my son was not burdened by outmoded gender specific roles and he enjoyed playing with his cooker and dolls until he was about 8 years old.

For the garden there is nothing better than a sandpit, a paddling pool and a simple playhouse.  We also offer some lovely garden tools such as a Wheelbarrow (faught over in our Kindergarten), Gardening Kit and Brush & Shovel that allow children to ‘work’ alongside you. Our wooden Horse Swing, secured to a tree at a low height, offers a delight to the senses by combining the rhythm of swinging to and fro with the experience of feeling the breezes brush against their skin.

My experience of working with young children has shown me how important it is to keep toys simple, and it breaks my heart when I hear parents say to their youngsters that they are too old for many of the toys we offer.  My heartfelt plea is to allow your children to enjoy simple toys for longer.  Let them be the ones to decide when they are too old for them.  Indeed there are many adults who still enjoy the beautiful timeless favourites we offer through Nok On Wood, myself included.

When adults tell me their children are very active and quickly grow bored with their toys, I want to respond by saying please, de-clutter the toy box and simplify the toys.  This sounds contradictory to what people would expect, but in my experience too many toys are unnecessarily overstimulating and cause discontent which can lead to hyperactivity and tantrums.  Creating a calmer atmosphere will create a more contented child.  Simple versatile toys that they can rely on and a good home rhythm* are the key ingredients for an active toddler.

(*For more on this topic I recommend reading Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne).

Outdoor Wooden Playhouses

Outdoor Wooden Playhouses / Jungle Hut

Have you ever wondered about adding an outdoor wooden playhouse to your garden?  The idea is lovely; they are attractive to look at and at least can provide a place to store outdoor toys!  But is it really worth the investment in something special if it’s not going to be used?

Think Again, with one of our wooden playhouses you have the opportunity to increase the imaginative play of your children and provide a safe haven for them and their friends to enjoy for many years.

Watch how children play in the playground.  Observe how they negotiate social activity with children they know and have not yet met.  How, when they are relaxed in those negotiations their imaginations have the freedom to fly.  The slide can become a roller coaster, a simple covered area becomes a secret cave or a cozy house and high vantage points become lookout towers, castles and rockets to the moon.

Whenever I am updating the Outdoor Wooden Playhouses page of our website, my son stands over my shoulder looking at the images and his imagination runs wild with what he would do if he had one.  He tells me he would take all his soft toys into the rocket and imagines blasting off to the moon.  He would create his own control panels from wood and chalk and when it is raining he would pretend that the raindrops are stars.  With the castles and forts he imagines how he will dress up with his friends and they will be knights and princesses – the internal monkey bars would be a place to chain up the bad guys.  The wooden climbing den playhouse would be a hunter’s home in the woods where he imagines hunting for food and sitting around a make believe fire sharing a meal with his friends.

Outdoor Wooden Playhouses / Rocket

Our outdoor wooden playhouses are perfect for this interactive imaginative play and offer so much more than a swing set.  Creating dens and cozy places to live is an integral part of being human.  Right back to cave dwellers we have always sought a comfortable place to be, somewhere to socialize with friends and family, and a place to retreat to when we want to be alone.  Our home is the place where life unfolds and we explore who we are through it.  Children are exploring life all the time and need a wide environment to develop social skills and confidence.

Never underestimate the importance of an outdoor wooden playhouse for your children – it is the perfect place for them to dream, create and experiment with life.

Why choose wood? Ask a child who has grown up with wooden toys and you will discover that even at an early age they instinctively know that wood is good.  As a natural product it retains the life of the tree and has a certain feel and quality of sound that isn’t present in manufactured products.  Children need natural toys, it gives them a sense of well being and an intrinsic understanding of the world in which they live.  Wood has been a house building material for centuries and our outdoor wooden playhouses are ideal because they blend naturally into the environment, weather beautifully with the sunlight, and can be enjoyed by generations of children.

Outdoor Wooden Playhouses / Fort

One of the unique qualities of these playhouses is they are easy to assemble and can be flat packed away if you want the extra garden space for other activities.  Encourage your children to help put them together and you are providing them with essential life skills.  The playhouses can be easily modified and added to with accessories such as ladders, slides and ropes.  Your children will also offer lots of ideas of their own and the beauty of wood makes it easy to create additions of your own making.

You have created your own home to suit the needs of you and your family.  Why not provide your children with a dream home of their own.  With one of our outdoor wooden playhouses, your garden is likely to become a favourite place to play.

You will find full product specifications on our website’s product pages.  Just click on the images in this article to go straight to the products and call us if you have any questions.

Under The Skin

A new Teddy Bear arrived in stock this week.  Just a sample I ordered with a view to adding to the Baby section of the website – or so I thought!

From the moment I took him out of the bag I knew it was unlikely I was going to let this one go.  For starters Keelan wanted it too, and when my desire is high it doesn’t take much for his to persuade me.  Well, it really did look cute sat in the chair I keep in the stock room… he could make a lovely mascot… Get the picture?

What I didn’t expect is just how comforting a big floppy Teddy Bear can be even to a 47 year old like me.  Something about the way he flops against me feels so comforting, it reminds me of holding Keelan when he was a newborn (although a lot less fragile), and being a mum who would have loved to have more babies this was a clincher for me.  Then there is the sheer body warmth of a bear and of course this one has character.  Doleful eyes, soft curly fur, great big bean filled paws and beans in his bottom that make him sit in that flopped out attitude of an old friend.

What is more interesting though is how comforting it is to have a ‘friend’ that has absolutely no demands on me, has no expectations and won’t be offended if I forget him for a while.  Having something to cuddle when I am feeling insecure or have just had a tough day is so healing.  And what is it about a bear that gets me believing he understands me?  So bizarre, I almost feel embarrassed to confess it.

So if a stuffed toy can pull all this out of me at the age of 47, it gives me a sense of just how vital those special, well loved, toys are to children – whether very young or in their teens.  As a mum and a Kindergarten assistant I am well aware of the ‘friends’ that come along with the children from time to time, but to revisit those emotions in myself has given me a real body sense of how vital they can be to our well-being.

I remember times as a child when I thought no one understood me.  Or days when I was ‘in trouble’ with my parents and wanted someone to turn to who wouldn’t have any opinions.  I did have Teddy Bears, but somehow I don’t think they were ever quite cuddly enough (well stuffed and quite stiff).  My childhood comforter was a piece of blue cloth that came from my cot – comforting but not quite real enough to feel like a friend.

This Teddy Bear gets under the skin somehow and could just be the ‘therapy’ I need to cope when the going gets tough.  There is one thing for sure he’s not leaving our house, but there will be more on the website and on my stall.  If they end up in homes where they will be as well loved and as much needed as this one is in ours, that will go some way to making what I do worthwhile.