Traditional Toys

I love traditional-style things. I'm not a huge fan of plastic, strait lines and contemporary when it comes to my home (unfortunately my husband is the opposite and my house is rife with black furniture and gadgets).

I love a traditional, old-school toy. Yes, bells and whistles are exciting but by joe does it stunt a child's imagination some. Recently my toddler is battling between gadgets and her imagination. She lives her innotab and our iPads but we try to limit these and encourage her to go off and play with her kitchen, castle, Duplo etc.

Here's my pick of my favourite old-school toys.

Probably the greatest, most appealing and diverse toy of all time; the rocking horse.

Beautiful, elegant and fun, a rocking horse looks absolutely gorgeous in your home and provides endless fun for your little one. I fully intend to get Bear one for his first birthday. No child could fail at looking adorable on one of these bad boys!

Rocking horses - Little Bird Told Me £85+ (available in a range of sizes from 9m-3yrs+)

Fun for big 'uns, little 'uns and everyone in between...skittles.

Go on, you can't resist, I can't resist...there's something super fun and tempting about rolling a ball and creating carnage! I love a good game of skittles and o definitely prefer these wooden style ones, the faces make it all the more fun to send them flying!

Pirate skittles - Not on the High Street £15.99 (also available are fairy skittles).

School-ground favourite, Cat's Cradle.

Literally hours of my morning break and lunchtimes lost to this at primary school.

And I was rubbish but this would make a fab stocking stuffer.

Cat's Cradle game - Not on the High Street £3.99

Entertaining for the little ones, the push-along.

Available in a variety of designs, these usually wooden (more modern ones plastic), having moving legs that spin as if walking as you push them along the floor.

Great for winding up the cat!

Blue Bear Push-along - Big Jigs Toys £8.99

Last, but no means least we have the beautiful, timeless classic; the dolls house.

Oh how I would love to have one of these in my house, have been dreaming of one beautifully decorated, with quaint little dolls and Moo sat playing with a ribbon in her hair...

...the reality is I have a contemporary-decorated home, my daughter despises ribbons and fussiness of all kinds and her hair often resembles that of a guinea pig that's had a run in with the Hoover (seriously, it's a curly mop of blonde craziness)! Moo is a loud, active, clumsy, tomboy. Think bull in a china shop...on Red Bull. She has a plastic Disney Princess castle that she adores, but as we all know plastic is hard-wearing (fished Sow White out of the loo last month), she's not quite ready for little pieces of wood and cloth. Fingers crossed for next year!

Dolls House - Toys'r'us £49.99 (currently half price-Oct '13)

Clare

Please note this is not a sponsored post, all information was sourced by myself.

Moo's Birthday; a shopping list

When it comes to toys, Moo has them practically coming out of her ears. When you have so many relatives, it's impossible not to be inundated with toys and as a toddler, it's overwhelming. She's becoming increasingly difficult to shop for at Christmas and birthday. Last year the husband and I did both Paris and Florida so ended up buying her a lot that we couldn't get in the UK.

This years she's three (where did my baby go?) and so she's becoming a 'big girl'. NanNan has bought her some big girl trainers as she was due new shoes, Grandma and Grandpa have bought her a very grown-up charm bracelet and children's perfume for her to be like mummy...and we have got...nothing. Zilch. Nada.

It's going to get to crunch time, I know it...we'll have to think of something...in the mean time, I've been looking around and so far I've found these little odds and ends...

Top: Sofia the First wipe clean book £6 Disney Store. Middle; Beatrix Potter complete collection £24.80 Amazon. Bottom; Lego Duplo deluxe brick box £28 Amazom. Centre; Top and leggings set £28-34 Ted Baker at Debenhams. Right; Izzy plush £15 Disney store.

Any suggestions? Anyone?

Please?

Clare

Saturday Savings - Pebble and Frugi at BabiPur

Happy Saturday!

I've recently discovered the site 'Babi Pur', a really cute shop dedicated to ethical products for young children and babies. They have some fantastic pricing, their reusable nappies are some of the best deals around and they sell some lovely, lovely products.

Currently, they've got some cracking deals on including...

50% off Pebble Baby knitted rattles using the code PEBBLE.

15% off Frugi clothing using the code FRUGI2.

15% off Frugi for Tots Bots Easyfits reusable nappies (discount already applied).

Here's my sneaky purchase, a bargain at £14.44

Have a great weekend!

Clare