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I have always been a massive fan of wooden toys. I think they are beautiful, well made and also not over complicated when it comes to play. These wonderful wooden toys we were sent from Jaques of London are no different.
Jaques of London have been making beautiful toys and games for years. Since 1795 infact, which means they pride them selves on making quality and classic toys.
Henry and I was sent 2 lovely toys for him to try out and me to review.
When they arrived I was super impressed with the packaging. They came in beautiful boxes which would make lovely gift boxes if these were sent as gifts. If I was to receive these as gifts, I would be super delighted with how they are presented. They even come with a beautiful black bow tied to them.
The first toy we opened and looked at was the Animal Safari Shape Sorter. The wooden pieces inside came packaged carefully so none of the wood would be damaged. When unwrapped there is no building required and the toy is ready to be played with straight away. The quality of the toy is really high quality, made with a beautiful and strong and thick but also lightweight wood and also painted with care. The wood is also super smooth which means no nasty splinters and the paint is water based meaning no nasties.
The set comes with a truck with removable roof, and a back that opens up. It also has 6 animals and animal shapes cut into the side of it. The beautiful classic animals which are a Giraffe, Elephant, Crocodile, Hippo, Zebra and Lion, will spark curiosity about animals, and Henry loves that we make animal noises with them to create even more fun play.
The roof is painted in zebra print, which I think is great because its eye catching for babies.
A shape sorted is a brilliant toy for a baby or toddler to start to learn hand and eye co ordination skills. Firstly by simple playing with the shapes, and then eventually by learning to put them into the correct holes. Henry isn't quite at the stage of putting them into the correct holes but he loves taking the roof off and taking all the shapes out, and then putting them all back in again. For Henry this is a stage of discovery and he likes that he can do this with this toy.
The Safari truck also comes with a string so it can be pulled along. I am very impressed that Henry can already grip the string and pull the truck towards him. This really helps with his grip development and means he can play slightly more independently.
The next toy we played with was a Magnetic Crane Truck. Again the Truck was beautifully made. The front is painted blue, and had a little drivers steering wheel at the front. It is 2 trucks connected, which can be easily connected and disconnected by simply placing them together. The front of the toy has the crane connected to it and the back has the storage area. The storage area is filled with 4 colourful bricks which all have a picture of a fruit on the top and the storage are is painted red. It has 8 wheels all painted black. All together it looks a beautiful classic truck to want to play with.
The crane is very exciting as it actually has a magnet attached. The 4 bricks it comes with also have magnets attached. This means that you can move the crane, to pick up the bricks and place them in the storage area, or vice versa and out the area.
The wheels of the truck move really easily meaning that its not tricky to be pulled or pushed around.
Henry is a little young yet to fully play with the crane, but it will be brilliant for his hand and eye coordination when he does come to playing with it. In the meantime he loves to push it and also spin the wheels around. He also loves to pick up the bricks with his hands. But, our 7 year old LOVES playing with it properly. She has spent ages sat on the floor using the crane to move the bricks around. This just shows you are never too old for classic toys and you will always get plenty of play out of them.
Overall we love both of these toys and I would 100% recommend Jaques of London to you if you are looking for classic well made toys. You can see more of these lovely toys on the Jaques of London Website.
Which of the 2 toys would your child love?
