Bambino Goodies » Baby Toys

New goodness at Zid Zid Kids

Lucy — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Zid Zid Kids is one of my all-time favourite children’s design companies as you can tell from my Label Love post last year. I’ve been hanging out and checking back for new products ever since I discovered them. Marrakech-based due Julie and Moulay have been super-busy, decking out the kids’ space in the city’s new Four Seasons hotel, but they’ve still found time for a new collection of utterly gorgeous goodies, due to be for sale on their site from today. These are my favourites… Puppets! Who doesn’t love the simplicity of hand puppets? Especially when they have ultra-adorable embroidered faces. Which is your fave? Monkey, elephant, owl, rabbit or (my personal choice) a slightly cross-looking cat? $44 for the set of five.

Baby products are a new feature for Zid Zid and I am immediately adding these booties to the list of potential pressies for my mamas-to-be. Although with shoes this amazing at such a young age, the little one is sure to grow up with expensive taste – Charlotte Olympia addict in the making? $30 per pair.

Love the unusual fabrics and minimalism of the rattles too, particularly this friendly giraffe. $22 each.

For a gift for a first-time mama, you’d be hard pushed to beat this gorgeous white blanket, hand-embroidered with the now familiar Zid Zid birdie, $64.

Finally, for bigger people (I quite fancy a pair myself) you have these divine leather parent and child camel bookends. A really fabulous way to display your most special books, $76. As a special treat, if you buy anything from the site this weekend you can get 15% discount using code is ZIDZID1007.

Hot Shop: Mes Habits Chéris

Lucy — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Happy to bring you another shopping opportunity from across the Channel. Mes Habits Chéris is an emporium of delights stocked with familiar French brands Le Toy Van, Lalé and Mimilou, plus BG Euro faves Kidsonroof, Bakker Made with Love, Isak and Sukie. There is a lot of extremely covetable stuff on this site – I’d recommend setting aside a couple of hours to browse – but here are my top picks. I’m always excited when I uncover brands I don’t really know, so was delighted to find the super-quirky My Name is Simone. How amazing is this superhero doll? I adore him. He’s €34.

ChaCha produces the most exquisite prints and Mes Habits Chéris stocks a wide selection, including a couple by the wonderful Alain Gree. ‘Les Oiseaux’ (The Birds) by Tinou le Joly Sénoville is so beautiful I’m tempted to order it for my room. And it’s only €14.

Finally, there are these cool Twice for a Wish friendship bracelets by Inspirations de la Girafe. I can’t think of any little girl who wouldn’t be thrilled with one of these under the Christmas tree. Again, very keenly priced at €16.25.

Hot shop: Burp!

Lucy — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Hurrah for another online boutique and yay for it being British. Burp! is the Hampshire (Farnborough, to be exact)-based brainchild of Kate & James Hayden-Ellis who, like so many parents these days, were bored with the traditional baby offerings and took matters into their own hands.

The result is a small but lovely selection of goodies for little ones divided into four sections: play, read, look and wear. In Play you’ll find Ella & Otto rattles and comforters, Stuf black and white developmental toys and sock animals from Peekaboo Pets – my personal favourite is Dave the rabbit, above, £17.

Read contains such lovelies as the genius magazines and activity books of our good friends at Anorak, charming tomes from the likes of J Otto Seinbold and Margaret Wise Brown, plus a selection of the delightful Little Golden Books I remember from my own childhood – I consider The Me Book,£7, a staple of any nursery bookshelf.

Look is the art section, with a few choice quirky pieces, including a funky black and green limited-edition print from the fabulous John Burgerman for £35. Meanwhile, Little Shrimp, Old Rectory, Nippaz with Attitude, Tootsa Macginty, Boys & Girls and Moccis are all in evidence. I’m loving these Ella & Otto Beep Beep PJs, £25 and the WryBaby pirate towel, top, also £25. Shipping varies, but is very reasonable and the site is nicely designed and easy to navigate. Definitely one to bookmark.

Stacking Rings

Kat — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Sometimes you see a product which blows your socks off. These Stacking Hoops from Play to Z are one such product. Taking the classic stacking rings toy and mixing it up with treasure basket principles a brand new sensory toy is born.

There are twenty different stacking hoops made of diverse tactile materials including banana leaf, recycled sari thread, mother of pearl, bamboo, recycled leather, wood, soap stone, metal and felt to name but some. The various rings are made around the world and use ethical projects which support communities in Africa and India. There are also rings produced in the UK by craftsmen and members of Thaxted Centre for the Disabled. The stacking hoops come with their own gingham bag, differently textured mini bags and an activity card to give you some ideas on initiating play and exploration.

We were sent a set for Betsy to play with and they were an instant hit with her. I considered us to have a good range of baby toys but I have never seen her respond with so much excitement and interaction as she does with the stacking hoops. She grasps them, chews them, practices her pincer grip, wriggles across the mat to retrieve them and is pretty much inseparable from them. It’s not just Betsy who loves them, Milla and Monty love to get them out and play with her. Showing her how they stack, passing hoops to her and even describing them to her.

I love this new twist on an old toy. It is functional long before traditional stacking rings interest babies and holds the interest of much older children. It is a toy which provides an amazing amount of potential play value and sensory exploration.

£40 form Play to Z.

Hot Shop: Little Home

Lucy — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:00:00 +0000

I do so love discovering a new online shopping destination and Geneva-based boutique Little Home is one such place. Featuring furniture, toys and accessories for small people, there are goodies from big brands such as Vilac, Moulin Roty and Momoll, labels we love (think Atsuyo et Akiko, Donna Wilson, Famille Summerbelle) and new names like Ah, Quel Plaisir!, Emma Cassi and H-Luv Fabrications.

My top picks are these gorgeous paper animal masks by Abigail Brown, about £9.50 each, and gg*’s multicoloured wooden beans in a cotton pouch, currently on sale with a 70% discount for the bargain price of about £14.

Airdeje playmat

Lucy — Thu, 19 May 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Finding a playmat that isn’t completely offensive to the eyes, but will also keep baby entertained is one of the many tricky challenges faced by new parents. We have the fabulous Danish Ubang Babblechat green and red quilted mat that Nat featured way back, but I can only find it available in pink now. I did however discover this little beauty for €79 over at the ever-amazing emporium Kids Love Design. Although I’m a massive fan of primary colours for kids, I also think there’s a lot to be said for cool neutrals like brown and grey (particularly if they avoid an assault on parents’ eyeballs). Designed by Parisian company Airdeje, it comes with a doll, a tassel, a flower and different textures, including wool and suede to amuse baby. It’s a generous 1m x 1m and 100 per cent cotton, so gentle on sensitive little skins. And won’t it look just peachy on your stripped floorboards?

10 Best: ideas for a circus-themed nursery

Lucy — Fri, 06 May 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Who doesn’t love the circus as a motif? It’s an absolutely brilliant theme for a child’s room as it combines vibrant colour, animals and (providing your offspring isn’t a coulrophobic) clowns. Here’s our pick of big-top buys.

For the walls, I give you two equally fabulous paper options. 1) The muted vintage sketches of retro queen Cath Kidston, £22 per 10m roll, versus 2) the vivid modern quirkiness of Hygge & West’s Circus Troupe, $165 per roll (email for shipping costs), designed by Brooklyn-based Emily Marie Cox.

An alternative, and cheaper, option is to paint the walls and affix these super-bright stickers created by Belgian Stan Van Steendam for Nouvelle Images. £17.50 from Bohemia Design.

Add this divine purple and orange (what a colour combo!) artwork from Little House, aka artist Cheryl Sykes, featuring trapeze artists pirouetting on carousel horses. £42 for an A2 print.

Lighting is an essential and all children love a magic lantern – this Trousselier lamp is an oldie but a goodie. £34.95 from Tickety Boo.

And so to storage. We’re massive Plastisock fans and their circus print is iconic. Loving this cotton wall storage – kids love putting things in pockets and the brown colourway would work in a more grown-up, neutral setting. £54.99 from Nordic Kids.

Danish company Rice are the masters of storage – their raffia toy baskets are to die for (we have the garage), this circus version is no exception. From £35 from Pinks and Green.

This jolly blanket with its 50s-inspired colour scheme is irresistible. Big top, ringmaster, strongman, lion, trapeze arist – they’re all there. And I adore the daffodil yellow fleece backing. About £30 (including p&p to the UK) from Australian Etsy shop LaughLand.

There are plenty of traditional circus print cushions around, but I’m fond of the ‘circus font’ (usually either Ringmaster or Egyptienne), so these cushions really appealed. Personalise to your heart’s content, or just opt for an ampersand. £30 for one, £60 for a set of three from Deborah Sparks.

I totally fell in love with this Maileg bunting, but it’s out of stock. We can but hope that it makes a reappearance soon. £31 from Sisters Guild.

Finally, a toy. Oskar & Ellen’s playbags are great fun – this tent comes complete with tightrope, trapeze, elephant, white horse, lion, acrobat, ringmaster, strongman and gymnast. Fantastic on a shelf as well as a portable plaything. £36 from Precious Little Treasures.

10 Best: percussion instruments for toddlers

Lucy — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 13:00:00 +0000

As I mentioned a while back, we’re lucky enough to attend a Music for Aardvarks class every Friday. One of the toddlers’ highlights is when the teacher, Emily, brings out her rainbow parachute full of percussion instruments, plonks it on the floor and they can shake, bang and clash to their hearts’ content. I come from an extremely musical background (I’m Welsh, say no more) and love sharing music with Alfie, so I’m always on the lookout for cool instruments. Here’s my round-up of the best I’ve found – one of each would give you a great comprehensive, and extremely colourful selection of percussion, or you could opt for a ready-made set – I favour I’m Toy’s Melody Mix, above, comprising drum, xylophone, castanets, triangle, tubular chimes, bells, guiro, shaker, claves and beaters. £44.95 from Wooden Toy Store.

Triangle and beater, £1.79, Hands On. Who doesn’t love the ding ding of the triangle at 6am?

Janod rainstick, £5.99, VUP Baby. An unusually relaxing piece of percussion. PS: Don’t forget to use the code BINO15 for 15% off.

Remo lollipop drum and beater, from £11.39, Kiddies Music. Makes a satisfyingly loud noise.

Meinl egg shakers, £6.02 for a set of four, Dolphin Music. The ideal size for little hands.

MES coloured wooden claves, £2.55 per pair, Stagecoach Shop. Two sticks may seem duller than dull, but claves are probably Alfie’s favourite instrument. Drum with them, bang or rub them together, roll them along the floor… The possibilities are endless.

Frog guiro, £4.99, B&T Music. This friendly little chap is my favourite – love the colours, love the croaky sound.

Clatterpillar, £7.56, Amusica. A colourful modern version of the Japanese Kokoriko.

Tambourine, £11.95, Sleepyheads. An essential for any music box. Liking the Romany feel of this painted one.

Plan Toys fish castanets, £2.99, Babipur. Over-excited fish! Fun and a bargain – a brilliant toddler treat.

Branching Out maracas, £2.99 per pair, Treasure Island Toys. Total classics – every child should have a pair of these.

Normann Copenhagen New Born Box

Lucy — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 09:00:00 +0000

Tired of all the dull new baby gifts on the market? Danish design company Normann Copenhagen (they of the squishy rubber washing bowls) to the rescue! I am absolutely loving this cute gift set containing Ole Søndergaard’s classic laquered wood Plane (plus wire so you can hang it as a mobile) and a long-sleeved cotton bodysuit with coordinating print, designed by Anne Lehmann and suitable up to 3 months. Available in red or blue, £30 from Bruno & Bean.

Fairtrade Fortnight: 5 cool ethical toys

Lucy — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 10:00:00 +0000

We’re still in Fairtrade Fortnight, so what better excuse to hunt down a few toys with a conscience. First of all, I’ve featured them before, but I make no apologies for revisiting Bholu Bubalahs. These gorgeous wool-felt creatures are made by Gujarati women, from designs by local children (bholus), whose education part of the profits from the project end up funding. As Alfie’s currently going through the Jurassic phase (a dinosaur party beckons), I’m going to have to pick Abraham as my favourite. £20 from Moomu.

I also wrote about my love of Leela Toys a while ago, but I’d never seen this fabulous abacus, one of the nicest I’ve spotted anywhere. Made from lacquered sustainable wood by Maya Organic in India, it’s a great educational tool. £20.49 from Let’s Play Fair.

If your little ones are anything like mine, there’s nothing they love more than building things up to knock them down again. Which makes these cheeky monkeys a pretty perfect plaything. Made by Gospel House Handicrafts in Sri Lanka, they come in a cotton bag, so are easily portable as restaurant/travel entertainment. £8.50 from Ethical Superstore.

Another softie is this otter (yes, an otter, I knew it was only a matter of time) by Pebble. Crocheted by women in rural Bangladesh, it is majorly cute, quirky and, as it’s suitable from birth, a lovely baby gift. £18.50 from Little Hathi.

Thailand-based Plan Toys is the daddy of fair-trade, ethically produced toys, so I couldn’t resist including this wooden pull-along in an array of reds and oranges. Ideal for Hungry Caterpillar fans, he wiggles as he ‘walks’. £16 from Babipur. Order before the end of FF and you’ll get a free bar of fair-trade chocolate thrown in!

Bambino Goodies » Baby Toys

New goodness at Zid Zid Kids

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