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The Best Building Blocks for Your Child

Posted on April 21, 2015 by Lubica Misevski

A question a lot of parents ask, is what are the best building blocks I can buy my child?

In today's article, we will share some of our ranges and also make recommendations on which set might be right for your child.

Building blocks, as you would know, are a foundation toy that no little one should be without. They are wonderful for developing motor skills, spatial awareness, and confidence for your children.

There are many to choose from. Including magnetic blocks, blocks that aren’t quite blocks, wooden, rubber and cardboard building blocks.

So let us start!

K’s Kids Knock Building Blocks. These beautiful little coloured soft blocks are made for babies and toddlers. There are little peek-a-boo windows and house type shapes, so your little one can have hours of fun.  

Tegu Magnetic Wooden Blocks - Suitable from baby to adult. Beautiful blocks let your child create some unique structures from little birds to weightlifters. Fun for any age. For our whole Tegu range, please click here.

                               Tegu Pocket Pouch Prism (Jungle) 

                                          Tegu 24 Piece (Tints)     

                                     Tegu 42 Piece (Jungle)

Kapla Planks - Suitable from three years + is a wonderful wooden construction toy encouraging children to learn about the inherent power of the mathematic ratio and its application to architecture.

                      Kapla Planks 200 Wooden Blocks 

            Kapla Planks Octocolour 100 Wooden Blocks 

Plan Toys 50 Blocks - Suitable for two years + this set is a combination of natural wood and colours. Great for stimulating your child's imagination.

Melissa and Doug Wooden ABC and 123 Building Blocks. Hand painted artwork, numbers, letters, and images on the one set. It just makes this set not only economical, but a wonderful learning toy.

Fatbrain Toys Tobbles Neo. We love this one. Your child can have the blocks wiggle, spin, stack, and balance even when the second block is bigger than the first. Not quite blocks, because they are not round. But they do everything blocks do and more.

We feel this is a wonderful way to show children there are many solutions to any problem and many options.

They are easy for Babies to hold, and we feel one of the best stacking toys on the market.

Hape Maple Building Block Set - Another beautiful little wooden and coloured block set.

Hape ABC Building Blocks - Ok so you caught us out, we have more than one Hape set of building blocks. Why? Well, value for money and quality these are great building blocks for your children.

Suitable from 2 years + they are great blocks to own.

Melissa and Doug Alphabet Truck - Yes an alphabet truck set. I mean who does not want a truck with so they can carry their building blocks from one room to another :)

Hape Fantasia Stacking Block Train. A train set that you can stack the colourful building blocks on also carries from room to room. These little blocks are also great at building fine motor skills for your child.

Fat Brain Toys Squigz. This colourful little set won “Best in Play International Toyfair 2013, Parenting Magazine.”

Not a classical set of building blocks, the variety of options and they way the stick together for your little one are amazing. For the lateral thinking little one. Suitable three years +

Hape Fantasy Castle - A 22 piece building block set that you can make into a castle. Need we say more?

Hape Undersea Building Blocks - Want an octopus in your blocks? Ok. How about a starfish? You get the idea. Just a novel way for your child to have more fun with building blocks. Suitable from 2 years +

Now you know just how many blocks there are to choose from. Of course at the outset of the article we stated that we would also make recommendations.

Now the simplest way to do this is to let you know is what we have bought or own children, and what we wish we also had :)

Having a 2-year-old and four-year-old, we bought a couple of sets for each of them.

Our experience with building blocks and each of our children has been very different.

Our daughter gets the greatest sense of achievement by building towers. And once they were complete we would sit there either counting the numbers with her or explaining the letters and words.

The Melissa and Doug Wooden 123 Building Blocks, Hape ABC were the ones we initially used with Sienna. She loved them, and she still does today at the age of 4.

With our son, he was lucky because when he was born so was our toy store. For him, he got some of the latest building blocks as well as the benefit of using some of Sienna’s.

Little Zach loves his Tegu, which was perfect for him even as a one-year-old. They are beautiful little wooden blocks that connect via magnets and safe from baby right through the ages.

He also loves Fatbrain Tobbles Neo because of the shape and how easy they are for his little hand to hold.

But you know what he loves most of all, knocking them all down. A bit like his father when he was young.

We have personally hand selected every building block in our range like we were choosing them for our children.

No matter which one you decide on you will be happy. Whether learning the alphabet, numbers or how to stack. We have a building block for every occasion and every munchkin. For our whole range of blocks, please click here.

Why? Well, because learning should be fun.

Got more questions, ask away..

Posted in building blocks, fine motor skills, spatial smart toys, toddler toys, toys for babies, toys for babies and toddlers, toys for preschoolers, wooden building blocks, Wooden magnetic blocks, wooden toys

GoldieBlox Educational Games that Get Girls Building

Posted on April 13, 2015 by Lubica Misevski

Since GoldieBlox first came on the market in 2014 as what we believe to be the first little girls toy engineering set in the world. Well! It has been nothing short of a runaway success.

If you have followed our blogs, you will know that our little girl loves the GoldieBlox set. The original one being GoldieBlox and the Spinning Machine. Sienna has played with the spinning machine when she turned 4. As a side note, this is the suitable age for most of the GoldieBlox games, 4+.

Back to our story. When Sienna plays with this set, she has hours of fun and even creates a few inventions we are not sure the set was made for :).

The last time she was playing with the set, she was singing “I am an engineer.” We know that Debbie Sterling the founder of GoldieBlox would be very happy about this.

If you are looking for an educational game for your daughter, the GoldieBlox range just might be what you are after. Yes, they now have a range, that is how well this product has been received around the world. As far as educational games go for little girls, this is a wonderful addition.

The range now includes:

1. GoldieBlox and the spinning machine. Which in 2014 won the educational games and People Toy Choice of the Year Award. In this game, Goldie builds a spinning machine to help her little Dog, who is named Nacho chase his tale.

2. The Sequel is the Parade Float. It is a wonderful first addition to the range. In this story, Goldie sets out to help her friend Katinka when she loses a pageant competition. Goldie and Ruby want to help Katinka learn that friends are far more important than any pageant.

3. Next in the line-up is GoldieBlox and the Dunk Tank. Goldie Dog Nacho does not like taking baths. In fact, Nacho hates water. So Goldie has created a contraption that will clean Nacho. Goldie, of course, creates a Dunk Tank, I mean what else would you create :). It teaches children about hinges and levers, and also lets Goldie and Nacho get to the carnival on time.

And we are very excited about the new additions in 2015.

4. GoldieBlox and the Movie Machine. This educational game introduces children into the concept of making their own movies. In this story, Goldie and her friends need to create a movie, so the Bloxtown Film Festival is not canceled. Your children will learn how to build zoetrope, a pre-cinema animation device.

And for the first time GoldieBlox introduce new characters + pieces. It is also great that all pieces are backward compatible with Goldie Blox sets. The new characters Li Gravity and Valentina Voltz are the first male Latina characters in the range.  

This educational game comes with an app, and your children can make their movies. The app was named one of the App Stories Best iPad Apps of 2014.

5. GoldieBlox Zipline Action Figure - This educational game helps girls develop their suspension engineering principles by building Goldie a Zipline to get her soaring.

6. The Builders Survival Kit - As far as educational games go, this one is for the most adventurous innovator. It has 190 pieces and promises hours of fun for your daughter or son. From cars to bands, to dog houses your little one's imagination can run wild.

This one has all of Goldies secret inventions. So whether you have a budding engineer or advanced architect at home they will be occupied. They have the freedom to choose the difficulty of what they create.

This one is suitable for little ones aged 7-12.

At the outset, we spoke about Debbie desire to bring engineering Educational games to little girls. As the GoldieBlox range has grown, this is a toy that is suitable for girls and boys alike.

The educational games teach children spatial skills, creativity, motor skills, basic engineering principles, reading skills, and problem-solving. Last but not least, the most important skill of all in our opinion, confidence.

We are 110% behind this range, and we have been since Debbie first launched. We know your children will love these educational games as much our little ones do.

To see the full GoldieBlox range or all our educational games, simply click here.

Posted in award winning games, award winning toys, construction toys, construction toys for girls, Educational Games, engineering toys for girls, goldieblox, goldieblox australia, spatial smart toys, STEM toys

GoldieBlox and the Parade Float

Posted on August 18, 2014 by Lubica Misevski

Here comes the Parade! That is GoldieBlox and the Parade Float. Just like any Parade, we have been looking forward to the launch date of this event for a while.

This is certainly one parade that will not disappoint. It is the long awaited partner to GoldieBlox’s Ruby and friends. What a wonderful partner it is. Ruby and Katinka must use all their skills to compete in the upcoming princess pageant with the hopes of riding in the town parade.

Whilst the theme is centred on the competition, the lessons learned focus on true friendship and creativity. Showing that this is far more important than any pageant or parade.

Centred on the biggest event in the whole year. The miss princess pageant finally arrives in town. Whilst competing for a chance to ride in the town pageant there can only be one winner to ride on the princess float. Without spoiling the surprise, too much Ruby wins the princess parade and is chosen to ride on the float. Katinka, who is a beautiful little dolphin, by the way is understandably disappointed.

Ruby is a good sport and does not want to make anyone feel bad. So she Goldie and Katinka set about working together to build a float for the parade. Each step of the way they work together learning how to engineer the podium first and then the float. Katinka, Ruby, and Goldie working as a team towards the day of the parade.

However, at the very last minute they find out they have no one to pull the float along, what will happen next? Well, that part of the story we will not spoil for you.

Needless to say we love this series, and we love this game. Katinka, Ruby and Goldie are wonderful friends, and the skills your daughter will learn by playing are extensive.

Your child will develop her spatial skills (the ability to understand and solve problems, of physical spaces, shapes, or forms). Your child will learn engineering principles, and how to solve problems, whilst also learning how to work towards goals.

We feel it is the perfect little girl’s toy, and it is compatible with all the GoldieBox range.

It comes with nine different design ideas, a DIY project, and unlimited building possibilities.

It is a great toy for helping your daughter build confidence, and is suitable for 4+ up.

We love this range because we feel it offers little girls something that only boys once had access to. It is fun, and it helps your child learn. The great part is they will be having too much fun to realise they are also learning.

For the GoldieBlox and Parade Float, just click here, or for the full range please click here.

Posted in goldieblox, goldieblox toys, spatial smart toys

GoldieBlox and the Dunk Tank

Posted on August 17, 2014 by Lubica Misevski

We are pleased to introduce you to GoldieBlox Dunk Tank. One of the newest additions to the award-winning, global phenomenon toys of 2013.

In case you missed it, the GoldieBlox range is a range of games for little girls, which expose them to engineering skills. They have been a worldwide success. There has not been another product on the market (ever) that helps bridge the gender gap like this one.

The GoldieBlox games themselves are immense fun for everyone. The newest edition to the range is the GoldieBlox Dunk Tank. This story is about Goldie’s dog Nacho, who well like any dog, plays in the mud, and likes to stay dirty.

Goldie and her friends need to ensure Nacho is clean by the time of the carnival. They must build a dunk tank that has hinges and levers, so they can clean Nacho by the time of the carnival.

The GoldieBlox Dunk Tank comes with a storybook; that is part of the GoldieBlox book series. Although your daughter and her friend will need to read along and devise a plan to get Nacho clean on time.

GoldieBlox Dunk Tank helps build your daughters spatial skills and engineering principles. Growing her confidence through problem solving. It comes with three design ideas so your little girl will not be lost for options to solve the puzzle of Nacho the dirty dog :).

So there are unlimited building possibilities, a bit like life as there is always more than one answer. Your daughter will, of course, love solving the Nacho riddle and ensuring this puppy takes his bath. GoldieBlox Dunk Tank toy is compatible with the whole GoldieBlox range.

It is suitable for girls aged 4 to 9 and do not be surpassed if your son, or little boys also want to play with Nacho and the Dunk Tank.

We love this range for many reasons. Firstly it is the first engineering toy for girls, exposing them to this field of work. It is a wonderful way to develop motor skills, and problem solving. It helps them understand the benefit in creating something that helps others. Even if at this stage it is only Nacho the dirty dog, and last but not least it is fun. Because learning should be fun.

This is a great game for the whole the family. To see more on GoldieBlox Dunk Tank please click here, or to see the full GoldieBlox range click here.

Posted in educational toys, goldieblox, goldieblox toys, spatial smart toys

ThinkFun Games - Developing your childs problem solving skills

Posted on August 14, 2014 by Lubica Misevski

ThinkFun games, a game where the whole family can have fun and learn.

ThinkFun games, have been created to ignite your mind, in fact, that is the mission of ThinkFun. They specifically build the games, to simplify the ideas of the world's best mathematicians, engineers and inventors.

They take their ideas and turn them into simple toys. They have been around since 1985 and won awards across the world for their games. As you would expect they are a progressive company focused on helping build your child’s cognitive skills, through reasoning and creative thinking.

Some of the awards they have won include Dr. Toy, Parent Gold Choice Award, European Awards, Parenting Toys best 100 products to name a few. Honestly we have to stop listing all the awards; otherwise this blog would be just a list of awards.

They want to ignite your child’s mind through challenging your kids, and helping them sharpen their skills. The games focus on building problem solving in children through play, and develop creative skills.

They are addictive for the whole family and respected globally.

Games for toddlers 18 months +

Hello Sunshine - Is a beautiful game to play hide and seek with your child. Hello Sunshine is a plush toy that you hide with your child. They learn positional words, such as "in" "on" "top" "below."

Move and Groove - Designed to develop movement and motion. It is a game that teaches your child rhythm and music. It helps your little one learn balance, co-ordination and flexibility. No one is too old to play, mum, dad, the whole family.

Roll and Play - Is the first game ever specifically designed for toddlers. With this one, you roll or toss a plush cube around the floor. It lands on one of its coloured sides, and you then choose a matching coloured card and do the action the card shows. Make a happy face, moo like a cow, and just have fun. This game helps your child celebrate achievement and have fun. There is no competing, just playing to enjoy.

Games for children 4 Years +

The Zingo! 1-2-3 game - never too early to learn bingo, only joking, sort off, it is numbers bingo. This game is focused around the development of your child's reading and counting skills. You and your little one match the numbers on tiles revealed by the zing zinger, the 1st player with all the numbers, yells Zingo!. This game supports early learning of math, through counting and math repetition.

Last but not least one of the most-popular games, it Rush Hour is for children 8 Years +. This multiple awards winning game voted Parents Choice, best 25 toys of 25 years. The game is so good it has been placed in schools in America. It helps your child build critical thinking and logical skills.

Rush Hour teaches your child logical progression, problem-solving, and sequential thinking skills.

It is one of the most amazing and fun products, to come on the market in years.

With ThinkFun games, you and your children will be too busy enjoying yourself to realise you are learning at the same time. For our full range please click here.

Posted in award winning games, cool games for boys, cool games for kids, educational games, games for kids, logic games, spatial smart toys, strategy games, think fun, ThinkFun Games

Fat Brain Toys Tobbles Stacking Toy

Posted on July 29, 2014 by Lubica Misevski

Tobbles, Tobbles, Tobbles either over or around; the Fat Brain Toys Tobbles is made to wobble, wiggle, spin, stack, balance, wobble or of course tobble :).

If you have not heard about Fat Brain Toys, the are like us curators and creators of toys for learning and fun. We are proud to be selling their toys in Australia, and have a great collection to showcase.

The Fat Brain Toys Tobbles is a toy that your child can stack, spin, tilt, and wiggle. It needs to be seen to be believed. It is unlike traditional stacking toys, as it does so much more than just stack.

The colours are vibrant, and each of the beautifully created spheres are perfectly weighted, and nest inside each other.

As with most of our selection this is another award winning toy. Having been selected in the 2012 TIA Toy Finalist of the Year, Dr Toy Top 10 Best Creative Toys, and Dr Toy Top 100 Best Children Creative Products.

Although none of this matters to us unless your child benefits through play and development. Our goal is that every toy we sell to you is not only fun for your child, but develops their beautiful mind.

This is why we have the Tobbles, which is suitable for children 3 years + , and the Tobbles Neo suitable for babies 6 months + in stock.

The Tobbles builds your child’s creativity, fine motor skills, co-ordination and visual spatial acuity. (The ability to see clearly and understand the distance between points). Yes, originally we too had to look that one up too!

Fat Brain Toys are focused on toys that are outside of the box, offering you and your child something different. In this case, this toy is so much more than just stacking cups…

So whether it is for your child, grandchild, or just the child inside of you we really feel you are going to love this one.

You can see the full range of Fat Brain Toys by clicking here, or just go straight to the Tobbles, or Tobbles Neo by clicking here.

Posted in award winning toys, educational toys, spatial smart toys, stacking toy

Ravensburger Puzzles and the Benefits to your Childs Mind

Posted on July 28, 2014 by Lubica Misevski

For only a few more days, we have Ravensburger puzzles on sale. If you have not heard about their collection and the puzzles they make, you are in for a surprise.

However, before we tell you about the quality of these puzzles, let us share with you how they develop your child. Puzzles develop your child’s spatial skills, fine motor skills, attention, concentration and focus. It also helps them learn about matching, sorting, and how many components can end up making something bigger than the sum of the parts. It also develops their memory, and recognition skills as well as problem solving capability.

In fact, puzzles are nothing short of amazing for educational development. They touch on so many area’s of both physical and brain development, that we feel every home should have them. They are superb for adults too :)

However, like anything if the product is not good the enjoyment does not last. This is why we are so proud to bring you the Ravensburger collection and also at a sale price.

Now this sales will end 30th July 2014, so with only a few days left, we wanted to write a blog and just let you know why they are so good.

The Ravensburger puzzles have soft click technology, so this means when you put them together they have that nice clicking feel. You know where it just fits snugly into the next piece.

Ravensburger creates puzzles were no two pieces are the same. Ravensburger uses international photography agencies, photographers, and internationally renowned illustrators. These agencies and illustrators create their unique pictures, portraits, and puzzle boards.

All the Ravensburger puzzles are produced on the finest composition of cardboard and must be perfect. It has been specifically designed for Ravensburger. As per their unique and exacting guidelines, they are environmentally friendly.

The secret behind the print of the puzzle picture onto a high-quality linen embossed paper, is using high-tech machines. Each puzzle picture is created with almost watchmaker precision.

Oh yes, if you ever loose a piece of the puzzle, the Ravensburger service department will be glad to assist you.

We are proud to carry this range, and we know it will bring you and your child hours of fun and development. It is one of the highest quality puzzle products on the market, and we know it will serve you and your family well.

There is a puzzle for everyone, please click here to see the full range.

Should you be after one that we do not carry, please let us know, and we can get one for you.

KidzInc because learning should be fun!

Posted in educational toys, puzzles, ravensburger, spatial smart toys