With Christmas just around the corner, my attention has now well and truly turned to gifts. I'm the sort of person who likes to be done with all of my Christmas preparation before December hits, so that I can spend the festive season slowing down and enjoying some quality time with my family rather than running around like a headless chicken trying to cross a million to-do's off my ever-growing list!
I don't usually find myself too stumped with gift buying as I always prefer to ask people what they'd like rather than make guesses, but one thing I do always find tricky is stocking fillers. My children get really excited about the stocking gifts that Father Christmas leaves for them, and I always love the idea of making sure that these are classic wooden toys as I feel that this really adds to the magic...convincing the children that these toys were handmade in Santa's Workshop by his elves!
Of course, wooden toys also have the added benefit of durability and sustainability as well being timeless and beautiful. I recently discovered Jaques London who specialise in beautiful Educational Toys with a wide selection of classic wooden pieces that make perfect stocking fillers for little ones - here's a closer look at two of them which we absolutely love.
The first thing I ordered was a beautiful Wooden Abacus - a timeless childhood must-have but yet something that I'd never got around to purchasing before. As a home educating family, having these sorts of resources at home is really important for the childrens learning.
The abacus arrived in the most stunning packaging, which would make it a perfect gift for a loved one this festive season - it really does demonstrate that this is a very high-quality toy.
I love the brightly coloured beads which really help it to stand out - they are painted in non-toxic paint for safe play, and the stand itself is durable and sturdy, and is made from sustainably sourced wood. It features 10 rows of 10 beads, making it perfect for encouraging counting skills and color recognition too.
My second choice was this lovely Magnetic Calendar For Kids - another item I've been meaning to add to our home education resource stash for a while now.
It features magnetic labels for the months of the year, days of the week, numbers for the date of the month, as well as the seasons and weather conditions.
The illustrations are really beautiful, and the text used is very clear and easy to read for children as they develop their literacy skills. The calendar features a small piece of rope to enable you to hang it up, and is wipe-clean. This is going to make a fantastic addition to our home schooling morning basket, and I'm really hopeful that it will be wonderful for helping the children to identify the days of the week and months of the year, as well as encouraging their reading skills over time.
Overall I have been so very impressed with the quality of the products we've received from Jaques London and I recommend them highly for beautiful and timeless children's toys this festive season and beyond.
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