20% all Lego at ToysOnline.ie
It must be a rare solar sighting. The mysterious appearance of blue strangeness between clouds. But we’ve completely lost it and have slashed 20% off our entire Lego collection for 2 days only. Tell all your friends!
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The Revised WoodenToys.ie Home Page
We’ve been doing some work on WoodenToys.ie to make it a lot easier to find what you’re looking for and also to find what you don’t know you’re looking for! We also think it looks a little better, and that’s no harm.
The biggest change we’ve made is to the “Toy Finder” section. Previously, a number of searches were available based on price, age suitability and gender suitability. We’ve now upgraded this search facility to allow shoppers to combine the criteria. So, for example, you can search for toys suitable for boys between 3 and 5 years old and costing between €10 and €20. Hopefully this will make the process of finding that perfect toy or gift a lot easier! We will be rolling this facility out on ToysOnline.ie also in the next couple of days.
As always, we would be very interested in getting your feedback on our website and service. Please feel free to comment on this post and let us know what you think. We’re always looking for ways to improve our service.
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The Sunday Business Post
WoodenToys.ie has been featured in this week’s Sunday Business Post. We’re definitely grateful for the coverage and publicity. The article covers our story, how the business began and the motivation behind it. Check it out!
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No Matter What by Debi Gliori
The Toy Blog crew were in Edinburgh over the May bank holiday weekend. For in flight entertainment on the journey home, we decided to take advantage of a three for two children’s book offer in Borders bookshop. This was despite appeals from no. 2 to buy an “In the Night Garden” board book. No way I was buying that. It might appeal to kids but it just can’t be right exposing them to that level of nonsense!
Anyway, one of the three children’s books I chose, somewhat randomly I must add, was a book called “No Matter What” by Debi Gliori. Small is feeling a bit blue and wonders if anyone loves him at all. He’s angry and sad and a bit confused. He wonders how it all works and if his mum loves him. It’s a beautiful story of human vulnerability and the basic need to be loved. Large, Small’s mum, reassures him that she loves him “no matter what”.
Brave Themes
No thanks - not in my house!
What I really like about this book is that it raises two themes that are very important to children but that can be difficult to deal with as parents. The first of these is anger. Small is feeling “grim and dark”. He throws things around the room. He wonders if anyone loves him. It can be confusing and scary for children when they experience anger. It’s important that children know that it’s natural to be angry and that it’s ok. They need to be free to express their emotions and it’s important that, as parents, we provide an environment where our children know they can talk about these things and they are listened to and taken seriously.
Sometimes, irrational fears in children can be a result of repressed anger. The way this can play out is that a child is angry for some reason, say, at a parent for not letting them watch TV, or whatever. This feeling of anger can scare them and they can feel guilty about it. Sometimes, the child can transfer this anger onto something else, dogs for example. So it is the angry dog they are scared of. This is easier for the child to deal with than facing up to their own anger. So, it’s important children realise anger is a normal emotion and that we help them to work through their feelings. So, it’s good for them to see characters in books experience normal emotions that they feel too.
The second important theme is fear of separation and death. Towards the end of the book, small wonders if love can “wear out” or break. He also wonders if, when they’re “dead and gone”, will his mum still love him then? I was very surprised and rather unprepared when my elder daughter, at around 4 years old, worried about what would happen when she died. Apparently this fear is common in young children but it’s not fear of death itself that worries the little creatures, all they know about death is that it means separation from their parents and it is this that scares them. This fear is brought out very gently in this book and Large comforts small with the reassuring image of the stars in the night sky, comparing their consistency with her love.
Conclusion
We have two daughters aged 2.5 and 6 years. Both of them love this book and fight over it at bedtime! It comes with a CD and our older girl loves popping it in the CD player and reading along with it. I think there are two things that really appeal to children in this story. The vulnerability of Small, his need for reassurance that he’s loved no matter what and even when he’s angry or when he’s been bad. The other appealing thing is the reassurance from Large that he is loved “no matter what”. The series of “even if… would you love me then?” scenarious provide warm comfort that a parent’s love is unshakeable. A really lovely book that is honest and warm and that your child will identify with.
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Glad I'm on their side
The Toy Blog crew spent the bank holiday weekend with rellies in Edinburgh. We visited the very excellent National Museum of Flight which was having a World War II day where, in addition to the vast array of historic aircraft on display, they also have a series of World War II related displays and events including many vehicles and weapons of the era. The picture above is one of the first of the day which I took and is my favourite. It features a merciless machine gun crew operating a German MG42 which, if anyone is interested, is widely regarded as the best light machine gun of the war.
A windy scottish morning
Free and careless with the wind in their hair. Oh, to be 6 again! This was taken just after we visited the interactive flight exhibit. This was really great - it consisted of a series of interactive displays each illustrating different flight concepts. Our recently acquired paper aeroplane making skills came in handy in the paper aeroplane feature. Here you were presented with lots of coloured paper and three different paper aeroplane designs. Then you were invited to test your creations by putting them in an automatic launcher which automatically launched your plane at the press of a button. My glider performed surprisingly well. Try it yourself!
Noémie in training
The main aircraft exhibition houses this cockpit which our youngest had lots of fun in. She loves planes!
Air to air missile guidance system
Ever wonder why the militaries of the world consume such vast amounts of money? This is the internal guidance system of an air to air missile.
All in all, it was a great day out. The kids really enjoyed it. The World War II exhibits were quite interesting but in truth, I think it was more an excuse for grown men to dress up as soldiers and drive tanks.
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A tricky one to spell alright. Maybe the Google spell checker is censored in China too?
A picture tells a thousand words. In this case, many of them misspelled. This wonderful toy aimed at developing early childhood literacy was recalled from Morisons, the UK supermarket chain, due to a rather obvious defect. Two defects actually. This toy also teaches us that U is for something called an Umberlla. We think they’re getting at the thing you hold over your head and blows inside out when the wind blows.
For me, there are a couple of lessons:
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