Timeless Educational Fun from Orchard Toys

A little while ago  I was thrilled to be sent two Orchard Toy products to test and review. I have to take a minute to explain here that it is a toss-up between the kids and Roy and I for who is most excited when a new Orchard Toy product is released. As a parent I love the practicality of the toys (no floppy jigsaw pieces or easy to break parts here), the bright colours and the concepts which merge learning and fun.

The first I received was the newly released Post Box game.

Education and learning merged

I asked my 2yr old’s (quite frankly wonderful) childminder to test this game out with Taylor and her other charges and her feedback is as follows…

What a simple but very enjoyable game, it’s great that you can play 3 different games. Everything seems pretty strong and durable. We played all 3 games and Taylor enjoyed the simple pick up letter and the “post in right colour box” version best as well as then shouting the colours out. X liked having his own post box and trying to find correct letter. X also liked reading who the letters were going to as well. All in all a hit at my setting and I  would definitely recommend to others“.

What else can you say? Clearly another roaring success from Orchard Toys.

The second product we were sent to review (aren’t we lucky!) was the Big Police Car jigsaw.

Orchard Toys

This jigsaw is for children aged 3+ however Taylor, who is 2yrs and 3 months old enjoyed it and put 80% of it together himself (with a little help). He found the sturdy shaped pieces easy to handle and thoroughly enjoyed pointed out images of interest in the finished puzzle. He also enjoyed whizzing around the dining room for twenty minutes pretending to be a “Neee naaaaw police car!” at full volume 🙂

For me this is yet another quality puzzle. Kieran is nearly 7 now (so too grown up for a 3yr old’s jigsaw) yet still enjoyed helping his brother put it together.

I am yet to find an Orchard Toy item that hasn’t had the wow factor and been loved by all in my house. Perfect for your own family and to give as gifts, I choose Orchard Toys every time.

Orchard Toys Giant Road Jigsaw #review

Anyone who has read Curly&Candid will already know that we are big Orchard Toys fans. I love the mix of fun and education that each product offers, be it a game or a jigsaw.

When Kieran was asked if he would like to try out the new Giant Road Jigsaw his response was “I love that lady from the toy place!“. I took that as a yes and before we knew it it had arrived. I wasn’t disappointed. Orchard Toys are very switched on. Product aside for a minute, they recognise what modern parents want; no huge half empty box filled with wasteful packaging, no fiddly plastic bags and ties. Fuss free and environmentally friendly from the off.

The jigsaw itself is as expected, a winner! This is very much what it says on the box, a giant road. The beauty of this jigsaw is that it can be used time and time again as there is no “wrong” way to put it together. We’ve had figure of eight roads, straight roads, under table and chair roads… Kieran can change it to suit where he is playing and he loves it!

Not just a plain road, there is lots to see and capture the imagination and already this has provided hours of fun.

And the best thing? Unlike the huge roads and rugs we’ve had in the past, it literally breaks apart and goes back into the box. Perfect!

At £13.50 this is a perfect playroom toy or gift. You can see more about this jigsaw and the other Orchard Toys items here, and can catch up with them on Twitter and Facebook.

For your chance to win one of these fantastic games keep your eyes on the fantastic TheBoyAndMe blog which will shortly be running a competition!

And you can use any vehicle on it 🙂