Recently Orchard Toys were discussing on their facebook page about how many of their puzzles and games people had in their children’s toy cupboards…
I got over ten before I gave up counting – some of them have been sadly discontinued but we have lots and there are still more on the boys’ Christmas lists! Some of our favourites are: Doodlebugs, Crash Bang Wallop (discontinued), Cock-a-doodle-moo, Shopping List, Knickerbocker Glory (discontinued), Dotty Dinosaurs and giant floor puzzles – Pirate Ship, Racing Car, Digger, Fire Engine and Find the Rhyme.
I also should admit that I am one of a growing number of second generation Orchard Toy parents – those who enjoyed the games made by the company as children who are now buying them for our own. I remember playing the Game of Ladybirds as a child and when I first started working with children with autism – this game, Scaredy Cat and Spotty Dogs were amongst the first turn-taking games we tried out.
So what makes them so good?
Well Orchard Toys has the motto “learning made fun” and their products are all designed with this in mind. Children love the bright eye-catching illustrations and parents love their durability and educational basis.
We love the clear design of the images used and the versatility of the game components to be used for other learning activities which makes them great value. When teaching we’ve used the cards from the Shopping List game for identifying foods and household items and the cards from Pass the Word as spelling tools.
What’s more Orchard Toys are made in the UK and all the board used for the games, puzzles and product packaging is 100% recycled. The paper used for printed covers is sourced from sustainable forests and coated with a water-based varnish meaning that when they get completely loved to bits (which will take forever seeing as the above mentioned Game of Ladybirds is still going strong at Grandma’s house) they can be recycled again!
When we started Littlesheep Learning, Orchard Toys were one of the first manufacturers we approached as their games had been so useful whilst working with children and we are proud to continue to stock their games and puzzles today.
If you still have Christmas shopping to do (or want to put away things for the new year) this week you can save 10% on all Orchard Toys (offer ends 19th December 2011) so go and choose your favourites now!
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