Here it comes again...your child's birthday.  Which is a fabulous milestone to celebrate however, it also comes with a lot of planning and creativity.

All this pressure but as always there is somewhere, something on the Internet which a parent who feels the same as you has created just the right thing to get you out of a muddle. Green Owl Toys has found just that party box to create the party that will run smoothly and filled with lots of laughter.  There are even 3 different themes to choose from! The Circus, The Enchanted Kingdom Party and Read more

"Which toy to buy?". "What does he/she want?"  There are many questions going through our heads and especially before Christmas.

Do we just opt to buy the things given to us on a Christmas list or do we choose to buy a toy that is similar but has a lot more to it? A toy that can fire the imagination and become a irreplaceable, rather than a cheap, mass produced toy that is cast aside in days.  It may be the toy is wooden and not plastic, it may be the toy needs to sing or jingle or even have an educational feature.

A wooden toy crafted and polished to present round corners and smoothness is much more pleasant than a synthetic product that has been moulded under heat. For the amount of value you receive from a wooden toy is much more than the slight increase in cost.

There is a growing popularity in educa... Read more

Not only are manufacturers trying to cut costs but so are we - the consumer! We have contracted out Christmas to the lowest bidder. Which in the case of toys, mostly means manufacturers outside the EU. But what costs do we bare for cheaper toy production? In the past 2 years there have been several scandals where toy manufacturers shipped children's toys containing lead (even crib toys were found to have lead paint!). I think, what worried the consumer the most is that these toy recalls were carried out by major toy manufacturers with factories in far flung parts of the world.

This doesn't mean that we can blindly trust toys manufactured within the European Community. However, a factory that is just round the corner is easier to control than one that is thousands of miles away.

The toy industry has experienced a massive growth in the past say 20 years and so ... Read more