You may have seen me rave about an amazing independent online shop called ToyJeanius in the past or on twitter, and quite frankly I don't think I will ever stop adoring the toys that they sell. Over the past two years I have come to realise that there is a lot of old tat out there, especially bright and garish plastic which ensnares the child with it's fairground style flashing lights and noises. Yes, we have some but I'd rather The Boy play with better quality, more traditional style toys, and I am fortunate that he seems to prefer them as well. I am fortunate that we have recently been chosen to be Toy Geniuses/Genii (the debate ensues) and therefore will get to enjoy a lot more of the amazing toys that are chosen by Jean personally and with much thought.
With that in mind, we were recently sent this gorgeous little toy to review, made by the fabulous French company Djeco. It really is completely stunning and it has become one of The Boy's favourite toys. And Mummy's. And Daddy's. Oh, and Nana's.
The toy is a traditional wooden box with a slide lid, inside it contains fifteen colourful wooden pieces; five animal heads, five arms/torsos and five sets of legs. They fit together to make five different animals; bear, owl, cat, dog and a mouse. Each 'set' is colour-coded in attractive colours and patterns, which is great and awful for my OCD tendencies. Great because they look fabulous laid into the hollow holder in the lid; awful because The Boy mixes them all up, just like a two year old would!
The Boy loves making up the different animals, and has started to lay all the pieces out onto a surface selecting a head and legs and inserting all the arms in between. He them makes a cat-erpillar, or a mouse-erpillar, or an owl-erpillar with the pieces. Seeing him choosing the different pieces, fitting them into place and then disagreeing with his choice is so funny. From such a simple traditional toy, he has had hours and hours of pleasure. Everyone who has seen it has admired it, and quite rightly so. The box is a really handy size being approximately 16x13cm, so it fits into a handbag or changebag with no problem whatsoever. It's hardwearing wood, and the quality of the paint on each piece is extremely tough as he's been playing with this for three weeks with no damages whatsoever. Also I am happy to report no lost pieces, because that would really screw with my OCD!
One last thing that I have to mention before you 'coo' over the video is that it carries both the CE mark and the FSC logo, meaning that this long-lasting, heirloom of a toy has come from a well-managed forest. Now isn't that better than bright orange plastic?
I am lucky enough to be able to offer a 10% discount available for my readers. Simply enter the code 'theboyandme' at the checkout. Happy shopping!
We were sent this toy without charge to review. My opinions are as always honest.
Oo I like these, I may have to consider an investment for my son. 🙂
This looks simply gorgeous – and yes it's nicer than a bright orange thing!
Love that you get such lovely things to review – makes for good, infoative reading and great, honest advice on things we 'want' to buy.
Oh rubbish typos. That was supposed to say 'informative reading' – you knew that, right!