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Driving children’s imagination with the Le Toy Van Le Grande Garage and London Car Set.
Suitable from three years upwards, Le Grande Garage from Le Toy Van is a fine, three storey garage combining traditional materials with a modern day design.
Mums Baby Magazine put the Le Toy Van Le Grande Garage and Le Toy Van London Car Set to the test with an imaginative toddler.
Firstly we began by putting the Le Grande Garage together (this item arrives as a flat pack). It took us just under one hour to fix together. We found the instructions 
to be clear and easy to follow. However, we would suggest that if you are considering purchasing this item as a gift for your little one, then it might be worth spending the time putting it together beforehand.
Included in the Le Toy Van Garage set is one car, one helicopter (with spinning blades) and one petrol pump all of which are wooden. The petrol pump includes two pumps which are similar to wooden pegs which can be inserted into a hole featured upon the car. This particular feature is one which our little tester really seemed to be captured and impressed by.
The Le Toy Van Le Grande Garage uses bright colours to clearly outline car parking spaces, roundabouts and roads which cars can be manoeuvred around. Each storey of the garage is connected by plastic, ridged ramps which children are able to push cars up and down. Le Grande Garage also features a fully working lift which can be moved easily by turning a wooden cog attached to the side of the lift shaft. Cars tend not to fall out of this lift as a small ramp is situated in the centre of the ramp to hold cars securely in the lift box.
A helipad has been clearly painted onto the roof of the lift shaft, providing the ideal space on which to place the helicopter when not in use.The garage level signs (included on the upper levels of Le Grande Garage) and price sign all use a ‘wooden peg insert’ which children can easily remove and move around during play. However, we would recommend suggesting that these signs are played with carefully as too much movement can cause marking upon the wooden insert.
Le Toy Van also manufacture a range of cars which are designed specifically to accompany the Le Toy Van Le Grande Garage. Each vehicle within the London Car Set also features the hole in which to place the Le Toy Van Le Grande Garage petrol pump. The London Car Set features seven vehicles:
A Taxi Cab- A Fire Engine
- A Police Van
- An Ambulance
- A Mini Cooper
- A Double Decker Bus
- A Red Race Car
The vehicles move smoothly upon the Le Toy Van Le Grande Garages surfaces and roll nicely down the ramps featured upon the garage. However, a few of the vehicles are a little ‘top heavy’ and fall off when rolled down the ramps. Our little tester actually found vehicles becoming unsteady rather exciting, suddenly the helicopter came into action to ‘save the day’ and the Le Toy Van Le Grande Garage became the perfect setting for a toddlers imaginative rescue scene. We were a little disappointed to find that the wind screens of these vehicles were actually stuck on and could easily be removed during play.
The Le Toy Van London Car Set completes the Le Toy Van Le Grande Garage, making it seem more realistic and relating directly to children’s recognition and understanding of common transport vehicles. However, the Le Toy Van Le Grande Garage can be used with other makes and models of toy vehicles. Although, in our opinion it would simply be a shame not to have ‘petrol pump’ compatible vehicles to accompany this beautiful garage.
Although both the Le Grande Garage and the London Car Set are both made using wood, they each feature aspects which Mums Baby Magazine feel could be improved. As previously mentioned the London Car Set vehicles make use of stickers (for the windscreens) and the ramps and barriers featured upon the Le Grande Garage are made from plastic. It is a shame that these aspects aren’t wooden therefore making these products 100% wood.
Measuring 570mm (width) x 430mm (depth) x 340mm (height), the Le Toy Van Le Grande Garage is an impressive toy which encourages hours of imagination driven play. Le Toy Van also manufacture rugs featuring roads and buildings which the Le Grande Garage can be placed upon, extending play further.
Due to the Le Grande Garage and London Car Set’s robust design and materials used, these toys are built to last and therefore can handed down from generation to generation. Mums Baby Magazine give the Le Toy Van Le Grande Garage and Le Toy Van London Car Set 9/10.
The Le Toy Van Le Grande Garage and London Car Set can be purchased separately or as a package from many stockists, all of which you can find at the www.letoyvan.com website.
Cute, contemporary and cuddly. The Qatch ‘My Travel Toy’ is the ideal bedtime buddy for travelling tots!
Contemporary, Cute and Cuddly. Luno the Owl is one of six characters featured in the ‘My Travel Toy’ collection from Qatch. Each Qatch travel toy has a character on the front and a plain side made from velvet soft velour for cozy, comfort whilst sleeping.
Mums Baby Magazine put the Qatch ‘Luno the Owl’ My Travel Toy to the test, we found that was he was an instant hit with our toddler. Firstly, the size of this toy/ pillow is ideal for travel (36cm x 22cm x 12cm). Secondly, the pillow itself is made from soft bamboo and organic cotton velour which has natural hypoallergenic properties and therefore is suitable for little children’s soft skin.
The My Travel Toy isn’t just cute and cuddly, it’s also vibrantly colourful, Luno wears a lime green jumper made from 100% cotton, upon the jumper there are three felt applique shapes, each one varying in colour and shape. Luno the owl is certainly a night time buddy, owl’s are notorious for their night time activities and Luno’s shapes (a flower, a star and a moon) represent the night time.
We were impressed with the design and quality of this toy. The material mainly used to create this product (bamboo velour) is anti-static, anti-fungal and antibacterial. This particular material tends to keep little ones cool when the temperature is raised and warm when the temperature is cooler, thus this item is suitable to be used in any climate.
The My Travel Toy can be washed on a 40 degree Celsius cycle and should be dried naturally. The material (bamboo velour) retains it’s unique hypoallergenic properties even after washing.
Mums Baby Magazine were greatly impressed by the My Travel Toy, we were that impressed that have even added this product to our online shop! One particular element which we like is the decorative stitching around the facial features and shapes upon the jumpers of these toys. The design for the My Travel 
Toy collection is contemporary and unique, these toys/ pillows are characters which we think children and parents alike will love!
Mums Baby Magazine give the Qatch ‘My Travel Toy’ 10/10. Suitable from twelve months onwards, the Qatch ‘My Travel Toys’ are the perfect gift for young children. Each toy/ pillow is beautifully packaged and are currently on sale (down from £22 to £18!) at www.4littletots.co.uk
Traditional Toys From The Toy Barn at Millstones: The Big Jigs Sorting Blocks Lorry
Suitable from ages two upwards, the Sorting Blocks Lorry is the ideal wooden toy for developing dexterity, hand-eye coordination, motor skills and understanding of first shapes and colours.
The Sorting Blocks Lorry is chunky, thus great for little hands to push around and put together (using the tow bar) . The roof of the lorry features four cut outs in which shapes (a circle, a triangle, a square and a plus sign) can be inserted.
The roof easily opens with a smooth hinge so that little ones are able to extract the wooden shapes and start all over again.
Mums Baby Magazine put the Sorting Blocks Lorry to the test with an active and knowledgeable two year old. He was instantly able to sort the shapes into the correct slots, as it is something that most children of two years have been practicing for some time using alternative ‘infant age recommended’ shape sorting toys. Therefore, we would like to suggest that this toy is actually suitable for ages nine months and upwards. However, due to the weight of this toy we recommend that a parent supervises at all times.
Our toddler greatly enjoyed opening and shutting the lid of the lorry to remove the 
shapes. He also took pleasure in lifting the back of the lorry from the cab and replacing it back onto the tow bar, in turn practicing threading/ stacking skills.
The Big Jigs Sorting Blocks Lorry is made from 100% varnished wood, including the wheels which turn easily and drive smoothly on most surfaces. Each corner has been smoothed and the cab itself features a curved windshield. Although this product is fairly simple in design, there has been thought put into the detail of the cab by including a 3d character to drive the lorry. Windows, doors, lights, grills and hub caps have been painted onto the lorry using non-toxic child safe paints.
Mums Baby Magazine were impressed with the quality and detail of this product, we especially value it’s multipurpose educational values thus give the Big Jigs Sorting Block Lorry 7/10.
The Sorting Blocks Lorry is just one of literally hundreds of traditional wooden toys on sale at The Toybarn, Millstones. Ecommerce sales are available from Summer 2011 so be sure to bookmark the site ready for gift shopping!
Sisters in Partnership- The Toy Barn at Millstones
Rachel Fallows originally worked within Finance and Admin at a Children’s Centre based in Millom, Cumbria. Whilst having a cup of coffee at Millstones Barn Cafe, Rachel and her sister noticed a ‘For Rent’ sign within part of the Millstones Barn Establishment and began to ponder upon future possibilities within the retail sector. Soon enough Rachel’s pipedreams became reality and ‘The Toy Barn’ began early development stages.
Rachel and her sisters Andrea Fleming and Karen Stewart came together as a partnership to run the business, each taking a significant role within The Toy Barn. The Toy Barn was officially opened in October 2010 and has since had an excellent trade record, being popular with local residents and tourists within the Lakes.
Originally a Bakery, The Toy Barn occupies a large section of the Millstones Barn Buildings. Millstones Barn also houses two other businesses: ‘The Millstones Barn Cafe’ which focuses primarily upon healthy, nutritious foods which are homemade, locally sourced and served within a beautiful restored barn house setting, and ‘The Millstones Barn Food and Gifts Shop’ which sell an eclectic range of locally sourced goods. Together, under one roof these three businesses compliment each other through their common goals of retailing unique, locally sourced, natural products.
Open Tuesdays- Sundays (also open on Mondays during the school holidays and on bank holidays), The Toy Barn at Millstones sells a wide range of quality wooden toys and gifts for babies from manufacturers such as
Big Jigs - Moulin Roty
- Lanka Kade (a Fair-Trade company that deals with products made in Sri Lanka)
- East of India Baby Gifts
- The Puppet Company
Rachel actively encourages local residents to put forward products to sell which they may specialise within such as fine arts, jewellery and woodcraft. The Toy Barn currently stock a range of locally sourced products which are original and beautifully designed, making the ideal gifts for special occasions.
Wooden toys are not only traditional but far more robust and reusable, as wood tends to last therefore can be handed down from generation to generation.
The Toy Barn sell a wide range of wooden toys and gifts including personalised name plaques, jigsaws, dolls houses, train sets, rocking horses, puppets, soft toys, children’s jewellery, hobby horses, traditional books, and baby gifts to name a few.
The Toy Barn supports local charities such as ‘Haverigg Nursery’, by 
providing retail parties in order to raise funds for the nursery and to enable local residents to access the Toy Barn’s products. The Toy Barn also attended the local Millom Christmas Market, The Haverigg Kite Festival and have recently joined Egremont Fair-Trade Markets which take place once a month (usually on the first Friday of each month). Rachel and her sisters plan to continue holding local parties and events within the future which you can access information upon through The Toy Barns Facebook page.
Although The Toy Barn is currently based within The Lakes (Bootle, Millom), there are future plans to open an online shop (during Summer 2011) which Mums Baby Magazine will keep you posted upon!
Mums Baby Magazine would like to wish Rachel, Andrea and Karen all the best for the future of The Toy Barn and we look forward to hearing more upon it’s development and progress.
Music Matters, Put the Fun into Multifunctional with the Marbel ‘Melody Mix’ Wooden Instrument Set.
Music is an incredible tool for learning which links to all other subject areas throughout life in some way or form. Even before your child is physically born they are exposed to the steady beating of your heart, as babies develop in the womb they are able to hear sounds from the outside including Music. Research has shown that Music played during a pregnancy can influence a child’s mood later in life. If a child becomes familiar with a particular pattern of rhythm or a particular set of instruments during early development, this can become soothing for them as they progress throughout life.
Recent research has found results that show that listening to Mozart’s Music can aid short-term improvement upon the performance of certain mental tasks known as ‘spatial- temporal reasoning’. It is therefore said that exposing your child to classical Music has a beneficial effort upon their mental development.
You can never introduce your child to Music too early, Music can be a soothing and therapeutic form of creative expression for your little one. Music can also be an incredible tool for learning, linking closely with mathematical skills. Activities such as clapping and beating a drum can be turned into learning opportunities for counting, by introducing tuned instruments such as xylophones or keyboards children are able to understand how pitch relates to ‘up and down’ and parents or carers can introduce physical games such as jumping and squatting.
As well as being beneficial for developing motor skills Music also helps to build understanding upon how to treat and respect particular materials and objects. For example, children must learn how to hold a drum stick and how to use it safely.
Musical Instruments are quite expensive to buy separately and can be easily mislaid or lost when tidying after a day of play with a toddler. The design of the Melody Mix Musical Set is based upon a single frame on which many instruments can be stored and held together. This Multifunctional, Simplistic, Musical Frame features ten instruments: a drum, a triangle, a set of chimes, a xylophone, a cymbal, a set of bells, a shaker, a double guiro, castanets, claves and a set of beaters for each aspect of this set.
Made from wood, the Marbel ‘Melody Mix’ Musical Set is colourful and easy to assemble. There are holes around the frame in which instruments can be placed. The four feet are sturdy and are symmetrical so that the frame can be flipped from the side featuring a xylophone to the other side which features a drum without removing or adjusting the feet.
Mums Baby Magazine put the Melody Mix to the test with a toddler. The chunky handles of the individual instruments are ideal for little fingers, our toddler found great pleasure in rattling and banging the instruments to create marvellous Music! Upon turning the frame over, our toddler was amazed to see that there was more to the Melody Mix than met the eye initially and she was excited to explore the differing pitches which she was able to create using the xylophone.
After creating a musical masterpiece, our toddler moved onto the shiny, cold, metallic chimes. Initially she didn’t understand that there was a need to use a beater and therefore found interest in using her fingers to move the chimes in order to create sound. After being shown an example of how to use the chimes correctly using a beater, she began to create melodic chiming and 
her learning could be seen before our eyes.
We were more than impressed with the Marbel ‘Melody Mix’ Music Set. We would like to suggest that not only is this an ideal instrument for little learners but the Melody Mix would also be an excellent classroom resource as each and every child could have access to all the ten instruments featured upon the Melody Mix frame without the usual ‘squabbles’ which take place when the Music Trolley is brought into the classroom and children are asked to choose particular instruments.
Mums Baby Magazine give the Melody Mix 10/10 for multifunctional, educational, creative learning for little ones. Suitable from three years upwards, the Marbel Melody Mix is avail
able from http://www.emutoys.com for £38.93. The Melody Mix Wooden Instrument Set combines a number of instruments together and is the ideal starting point for building ‘Musical Minds’.
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