Wooden toy gift ideas from @Hapetoys 

Being a mum and someone who has worked with young children, I absolutely love the wide range of educational toys that are available, toys that teach children new skills without them necessarily realising it.

I also have a love for wooden toys, the whole retro type feel, as well as the knowledge that the toy has been crafted to last and doesn’t need batteries (hurrah!).

Hape Toys sent over a range for us to take a lot at and, yes with the “C” word approaching, here’s what we thought, in age order:

Retro Play Walkers (from 10 months):

Aren’t these amazing? Perfect for that retro feel and available as a VW Beetle or VW camper van.

They are super-de-dooper easy to put together and not only is the handle adjustable but, when your child is starting those first hesitant pull-ups, there’s also a speed reducer.

The attention to detail is fab and, as you’ll see, there’s plenty of room to transport favourite toys around:

Prices start at £37.85 from Amazon.

Suitable from age 12 months is this rather fab Shake and Match sorter, I love the educational possibilities with this, from colours to shapes and a bit of stacking too.  

The base has elasticated handles so can be carried around, or looked through and the shapes have little beads in the middle so make a very satisfying rattle when shaken!

Both the base and (all bar two of the) shapes could be used as eye pieces (spot the cat!).

Excellent for developing hand-eye co-ordination and so many play opportunies aren’t there? Prices for this start from £12 from Amazon.

Wooden puzzles:

We’re massive fans of wooden puzzles here and this “Five Buses” one (suitable from 24 months) has so many possibilities for play and learning:

Firstly there’s the stacking element, from small to largest, you can incorporate finding the pieces by colour or size, looking at the passengers (both humans and animals) and make up a journey for them all.  
Great for encouraging social skills and hand-eye co-ordination.

I really like how easy the pieces are to get out, see the hole at the back in the picture.

And, from age 3 years, a really cool cat puzzle:

As per the buses one, there’s an easy to play hole at the reverse and, as with the previous puzzle, easy storage in the plastic holder (hurrah, no pieces to step on!).

The pieces are great, slightly trickier to match the shapes as it’s from 3 years but so many play opportunities, look out for the sleeping cats, the jumping cat and the happy cats, plenty of scope for “which cat is red, how many cats are asleep?” etc.

You can find these puzzles in the Hape section at Debenhams or via Amazon.


What do you think? Where do you stand on the wooden v electric toys?

We were sent these items by Hape for review, our thoughts and words are our own.

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