Children's Gifts & Toys - Grasshopper Toy Shop
It's Summertime, time to get outside and play.There's no denying it, summer is in the air and it's time to get the kids outside to blow away the winter cobwebs. There are so many great ways to get children engaged and learning outdoors, so we've compiled our top ten outdoor play ideas for you.
It can be a real struggle for children to learn to count, but as a parent, you can make a real difference, whether it is learning basic 1,2,3 style counting or the dreaded times tables, there are a number of methods and lots of helpful products to sugar the pill!
It's Summertime! Honestly, hard to believe looking at the window today, but it is time to think about enjoying the great outdoors Whether you’re off on holiday or simply hoping for good weather at home we have plenty of products to keep your child active and entertained.
Ideal for little handsAt the beach or in the sand-pit this cute little trowel just made digging much happier! Great for digging all the way to Australia or even just for helping out with the gardening. The brilliant colours and an easy to clean handle keep this little tool looking fresh. If managing the vegetable patch is more your thing this trowel will do a great job helping kids learn to garden in a fun way.
If your child is a budding biologist or just loves to learn about something new then the Super Bug Viewer is perfect for them. Whether it’s the insects of the garden or creatures from somewhere far on your travels then with a strong 10x magnification, this clever bug viewer is perfect for them. The product has a unique swivelling viewer which allows you to see the insects from all angles. It also comes with tweezers for picking up the insects without getting your hands dirty.
Bug viewers are a great way to observe natureWhat summer wouldn’t be complete without using a pair of binoculars! Whether it to be watching birds in the garden, boats at the beach or Burgers on the Barbecue, these dinky little binoculars are sure to add to the fun. With a 3x magnification and ability to fold up and fit into your pocket they can be easily taken all over the globe, or even to a friend’s garden! They are great looking binoculars and are compact and convenient, available in a range of different colours including red, green, blue and yellow.
Tuck these foldable binoculars in your child's pocket!Wherever you’re going this summer, Grasshopper Toys stocks a wide range of outdoor and sports toys bound to keep your child intrigued, active and entertained all summer long.
Ross Pearce
For those customers who visit our shop or call us by phone and interact with the Grasshopper Toys Team, I wanted to explain a little bit about the trainees who work in our shop. We have our regular team, whom you all know and love, they're a very passionate and talented group. But alongside our permanent staff, we are sometimes asked to take on youngsters as trainees. The trainees work with us for a short period of time, usually in the region of three months, in order to give them some experience of working life.
These youngsters may not have worked before, therefore they have no skills that they can show to a prospective employer. Sometimes these young trainees have learning issues or possibly autism, sometimes they're foreign students looking to practice their English. As a company that is obviously heavily focused on education, and as parents ourselves, we love that we have the opportunity to give someone a chance to learn whilst feeling safe and respected. We spend a lot of time training our visitors and it's great to watch their confidence grow as their skills and experience grow.
Thank you to all our customers for being patient and having understanding when one of our trainees serves you. It may not always be quite the slick experience you're expecting, but please know that the interaction is hugely important to these young people. We always have members of our permanent team working alongside, so if you do need further assistance please, please don't hesitate to ask us.
It can be an uphill battle to persuade young children to do some writing practice, but you can win through with this clever move. Try spy pens! They're novel to use, your child writes in secret with the invisible ink, then uses the revealing pen to show you what they have written! It's a simple and cheap way to cajole reluctant writers and your child has no idea they're doing their writing practice!
Valentines day comes once a year. It's a day in which we celebrate our loved ones. Our mums, our dads, brothers, sisters, wives, husbands and friends. It's a day in which we let them know that we appreciate them, that they mean a lot to us. We send them cards and we give them flowers or chocolates. We can even just draw them a picture.
Nobody quite knows why valentines day got started exactly, but the one story we like is that it began with the Saint Valentine of Rome.
The Roman Empire at the time forbid Soldiers to marry. Those that fell in love were destine to serve out their days in the legion before they could join with their loves. Saint Valentine would secretly perform ceremonies for these soldiers, helping them be with their loved ones. For that he was eventually arrested. Before he passed away he wrote a final letter and signed it "Your Valentine".
The Valentines day story is a fun little story you can act out with your children using Budkins or other props.
There are many stories surrounding the creation of valentines day. do you have one?
You can also colour-valentines our fun little valentines day activity sheet attached to this post.
There is always some new toy. Toys are changing constantly and kids want the latest and greatest gadgets. As adults we want our kids to have great expiernces with toys. We have fond memories of our own and would love to pass them on.
Of course we had our own "latest and greatest" and it is important for our kids to have their own - but what about the classics? What about the classic toys and books that show up in every generation.
You dont NEED the latest and greatest gadget or electonic device to have fun.
Books are the perfect classic gift. There are many timeless stories that we read, our Parents read and even our Grandparents Read.
Classic fiction such as Treasure Island with it's swashbucklers and adventure or Moby Dick a study of passion and obsession.
Then we have historic fiction with tales from Greece of Jason and His Argonuts. Stories that have been passed down for almost thousands of years.
In Britian we have our own classics from authors such as Rohl Dahl, Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams and more recently J. K. Rowling. Even seasonal traditions with Books like A Christmas Carol a tale that has been retold over and over again.
Younger children have active imaginations. Puppet sets have been a timeless way to entertain then and for them to entertain you. Finger Puppets and Hand Puppets can be used in multiple ways to engage your kids.
Imagination toys such as Kitchen Sets, Tool Sets, Doctor Sets are also great ways for them to use props as they play and make pretend.
Lego is another classic toy that is always being updated and expanded upon. This is a toy that has survived many generations. Meccano is also a staple we have been playing with for generations.
Doll Houses (such as those by Le Toy Van) are another timeless classic toy. The selection these days is staggering. From intricate almost ornamental homes to fun, study and colorful dolls houses.
What classic toys and books do you have in your house for your children?
So the new year is here which means it's time for new year resolutions!
One of our resolutions this year is to read more books. It sounds easy - just pick up more books and read - but how can we make sure that we stick to our plan? Here are some great tips to help you stick to your new resolution to read more books by yourself or with your children.
Sharing books is a great way to get more enjoyment out of the stories and read more books.
Joining the Library is also a good way to read more books. Taking out books from genres you would not usually is a good way to discover new books and authors.
For reading with small children it sometimes helps to make a show of it. Doing voices for the characters is a great way to keep them interested. Puppets and Finger Puppets provide great props for their imiagination also. Keeping it fun will help them to read more books.
Make a schedule and stick with it! Read a chapter a day, or a book a week. By planning your books out you can set yourself up for success. Starting a chapter at a time is a good starting step. Rather than looking at the end goal take your journey 1 step at a time. Do you have any tips on how you read more books? Join the discussion over at our facebook page or tweet us @grasshoppertoys to share your ideas with us!
You purchase your nice shiny clean Lego sets one after another and before you know it you have great big tubs containing Lego. Over time with general use they can become dusty and dirty. Throw children into the mix and your Lego bricks can become downright nasty. Looking nothing like the once clean Lego blocks you started with. The good news is that it is easy to clean Lego and bring back to its original plastic shine. Let’s get scrubbing:
For dusty Lego you can just give it a good blow! But it is probably better to pick up a can of compressed air to do the blowing for you. That way to don’t get it covered in spit.
For the majority of cases a bit of washing up liquid in warm water will work wonders to clean your Lego. Make sure the water isn't too hot as you can damage the plastic. About 40 degrees should do the trick. Warm Soapy Water does the trick nicely most of the time. But what about the bits that kids have played with? **DO NOT WASH ELECTRIC LEGO PARTS IN WATER**
For stuck on bits and nasty dirt you can try soaking the bits overnight to clean your Lego. This should not damage your Lego at all as it is plastic. Once you have soaked your Lego overnight, you can take an old toothbrush and gently scrub any parts that still have some nasty bits. Although time consuming this can get all but the most stubborn muck off of your Lego sets.
Using washing up liquid to clean your Lego is all good – but how do you wash off the soap? Nobody wants slimy Lego even if it is clean! A great tip is to put all of your Lego to be rinsed into a colander. You can then run water through the Lego until the soapy residue is gone and it is nice and clean.
**DO NOT DO THIS WITHOUT PARENT SUPERVISION** Adding a little bleach to the water will help you get sparkling clean Lego. Make sure you add no more than 5ml to 1Litre though else you can damage your bricks. Make extra sure to rinse your bricks if you have used bleach, especially if children are going to be playing with it. We really recommend that you are very careful with bleach around children. For the nastiest of nasty Lego you can use a bit of running Alcohol or White Vinegar directly on the brick. This can fade the bricks over time so do be brief in your application. This will result in nice clean Lego.
Yes this is an option. If you have a LOT of Lego and a LOT of mess you can clean Lego in the washing machine! Get a strong mesh bag for your Lego. These are sometimes used for delicate wash items so should be easy to find. Make sure you use a gentle setting and make sure the water is not too hot. Add in a tiny bit of soap for nice clean Lego no fuss. Just remember – **DON’T DRY YOUR LEGO IN THE DRIER** as it will probably melt. That brings us to the easy bit when cleaning Lego
Lay out your clean Lego on a towel or paper towel on their sides so that water does not pool inside them. If you want to speed this up use a blow drier on a very low setting. It may take your Lego 24 to 48 hours to dry depending on how big and how much you have! We hope you enjoyed this little toy tip. If you would like to buy some Lego please do feel free to check out our selection in our shop. We are always getting new sets in and we sometimes carry out of print and hard to find Lego Kits. Best of all you don’t have to clean it!
