WIN this fantastic Tidlo wooden kids kitchen from John Crane toys. Red, retro and gorgeousPerfect for any budding chef!
Tidlo wooden Kitchen
In conjunction with the lovely people at John Crane Toys, here at Monkey Puzzle Toys we are running a competiton giving you the chance to win this fantastic kitchen.
This amazing Play Kitchen Station by Tidlois the perfect kitchen station for all budding young chefs. A great toy to encourage development through role play. With it’s height of 76cm it a great size for toddlers to have hours of fun cooking up a storm. To top this fab kitchen off the bright red retro design will be a great addition to any house!
Features a hob, oven, sink and untensils including a kettle, pot, pan spoon and spactular.
Recommended Age: 3+
Size W50 x d30 x H76 cm
So, how do you win this fantastic prize? Simply come into our Chorlton shop and guess how many pieces of fruit are in the big jar in our competition window display, fill in the competiton form, sign up for our newsletter and wait to see if you are the winner.
Rory’s Story Cubes now come in Original, Actions and Journeys
Here at Monkey Puzzle Toys we do the best we can to find toys that are unusual, interesting, value for money, educational and fun – and, if possible, something you won’t find in most other high street retailers, so we were delighted to find the gem that is Rory’s Story Cubes® at last Autumn’s Toy Fair, as these tick all of the above boxes, plus what’s more they’re portable making them ideal to pop into a handbag for taking on holiday, long journeys, camping, on appointments, out to restaurants, etc etc.
So, what areRory’s Story Cubes? Well, put simply they are a set of 9 dice, with 6 different images on each. Roll the dice and then create a story based on the different images in front of you. With a total of 54 different images this gives 10 million different possible combinations, meaning they can be used time and again without the combinations being repeated.
The visual and kinaesthetic nature of Rory’s Story Cubes®, along with the simplicity of design and gameplay make it accessible to engage with for all ages and abilities.
A remarkably simple and effective means for inspiring creative thinking and problem solving in all of us. There are no right and wrong answers, it’s all about letting your imagination come up with ideas, so making them ideal for various ages and abilities or for disparate groups of people.
As well as buying these for their own children, we have had customers buy these to take on camping trips, we’ve had students buy them for pub based games, we’ve had social workers buy them to use with clients and business people buy them to use in ice breaker situations. The uses for Rory’s Story Cubes are boundless. Whether it’s in a classroom or business, the process of creating and telling your own story can provide untold understanding of our language, of the world we live in and of ourselves.
The secret is not to think too deeply. Simply ‘gulp’ in the images and start talking. The story will reveal itself through the cubes and in so doing, will unleash creativity, freedom of expression and frequently, give the group a good laugh as stories and ideas unfold.
The quality cubes are moulded for durability and are pleasantly tactile, whilst the handy, take-anywhere box (60mmx60mmx25mm) is durable and popular with parents, teachers and other professionals for their portability.
Such has been the success of Rory’s Story Cubes® they have now added two further sets to the collection.
Rory’s Story Cubes® Actions is the first expansion set for the Rory’s Story Cubes® range. This set depicts 54 unique icons (or picto-verbs™). These can add an element of movement and action to your storytelling, whilst because the icons depict the most important verbs to be learned in second language development, the Action Cubes can be a great way of helping in learning a second language.
Rory’s Story Cubes®: Actions does not require Rory’s Story Cubes® in order to use them. They can be played on their own straight out of the box, or mixed with other sets of Rory’s Story Cubes®.
Made to the same high quality as the original set, Rory’s Story Cubes®: Actions are inked in dark blue. This makes them easier to sort from your Rory’s Story Cubes® after use.
Rory’s Story Cubes®: Voyages is the second expansion set for the Rory’s Story Cubes® range. With this set the images are an interesting mix of creatures and objects that are less everyday and more likely to inspire fanciful stories and adventures.
Rory’s Story Cubes®: Voyages does not require Rory’s Story Cubes® in order to use them. They can be played on their own straight out of the box, or mixed with other sets of Rory’s Story Cubes®.
Made to the same high quality as the original set, Rory’s Story Cubes®: Voyages are inked in dark green. This makes them easier to sort from your Rory’s Story Cubes® after use.
Randomly mix in with the original Rory’s Story Cubes® or Rory’s Story Cubes®: Actions to create a more adventurous packed set of 9 cubes.
Buy online now at www.monkeypuzzletoys or, for those of you who are lucky enough to live near our Manchester toy shop, pop in and have a play with our demo set of Rory’s Story Cubes and begin your own storytellying adventures or watch the video below to see Rory’s Story Cubes in action.
New in from Janod is the 4 in 1 magic case in a handy wooden travel case to take on trips or use at home.
Janod 4 in 1 Activity Magic Case
On one hand, there is a magnetic board, where magnetic words or numbers can be arranged; on the other hand it’s a blackboard, with chalk for drawing. In the middle is a magic eraserable whiteboard, where after children have finished playing can easily remove the picture with the “slider” design.
The set includes: Suitcase carry case and 4 activities:
Automoblox was the invention of Design student Patrick Calello, who wanted to produce a toy that would inspire creativity in children by allowing them to visualise and assemble cars of their own design. From his prototype and after five years of product engineering and testing a whole new toy concept was born.
Automoblox C9 Red Sports Car
A combination of beautifully finished wooden sections, with detailed polycarbonate roof and wheel trims, which makes them practically indestructable. What’s more, each car comes with it’s own serial number, making each one unique.
Automoblox cars can be taken apart and re-assembled, which as well as being fun and interesting, can help in the development of childrens’ creative problem solving, fine motor skills and visio spatial processing.
Automoblox C9 Red Sports Car parts
There are now various different versions of Automoblox cars available, from sports cars to trucks, mini’s and full size vehicles.
People who love innovative design and aesthetics love Automoblox cars, and. because the cars are fun to take apart and rebuild so do children and adults who are looking for a toy with added play value and, what’s more, Automoblox cars are great to zoom around and have a lovely fluid motion when pushed along.
The Automoblox range has certainly proved to be popular in our Manchester shop and complements our range of quirky and quality toys, with lots of play value, and which can’t be found in supermarkets or the big high street toy retailers.
With prices starting at just £10.99 for the mini cars, these are heirloom toys for all budgets, whilst the three pack of cars will provide lots of play value as all the parts are interchangeable between the three cars.
A balance bike can make the perfect gift for any child, boy or girl, aged around 2 years to 6 years old. Childrens balance bikes don’t come cooler than from Kiddimoto. Kiddimoto wooden bikes are made from natural birch plywood and are both safe and fun.
Balance bikes are also called Ride On or Pedal-less bikes and are designed to be used by very young children. The child sits on the bike and moves by pushing along the ground with their feet. A balance bike does not have pedals or stabilisers, so children learn to balance and steer very quickly. At first, they ride with at least one foot firmly on the floor. As they become more confident, they’ll start to lift both feet off the ground, scooting forward and balancing and occasionally dabbing a foot to the floor when the bike leans over. Soon they’ll be balancing, learning and playing all at once. All the time, they are developing their motor skills and coordination, while having terrific fun.
A Kiddimoto balance bike makes a perfect first bike for kids and is the ideal first step in encouraging a life long love of cycling through giving them the physical skills and the confidence to get onto two wheels quickly and easily.
To view our full range or buy a Kiddimoto balance bike online click here or call us on 0161 862 0100 for more information or details, we’re happy to help with any enquiries you have.
Kiddimoto Balance Bikes - as ridden by Jellycat toys at Monkey Puzzle Toys
Many children refer to us as the Marble Shop because of the fabulous Quadrilla Marble run we have out on display to play with.
They are fantastic construction sets and with the choice of either the bigger sets such as the Twist and Rail or the smaller Try Me or Basic Sets but option to add an Extension Set we were able to cater to different budgets or ages and with the introduction of the Melody Basic and Melody Extension sets last year a new and exciting element was introduced to these already fascinating toys.
So we were a little bit concerned to find that this popular construction toy had gone out of production at the end of last year. But, fear not, the latest news is that the German company Hape had taken on the brand and Quadrilla Marble runs are subsequently back in production, with the first shipment scheduled to be ready for August 2012.
We have a bit of a thing for pirates in our shop and, knowing how much children also love all things piratey, we have sourced many wonderful pirate based toys and puzzles.
Below are a few of our favourites which we feel are sure to bring a smile to budding buccaneers and pirate princesses.
Pirate Ships
Barbarossa Pirate Ship by Le Toy Van
We have a great selection of wooden pirate ships by quality wooden toy specialists Le Toy Van. The Barbarossa Pirate Ship and The Ghost Ship both feature black flags with the skull and crossbones motif and a plank to make rebllious pirates walk, whilst The Shanghai Warrior has a fantastic Chinese dragon design as well as crows nest and plank and missiles to fire.
Pirates
Zombie Pirate
We have a great range of pirate playfigures from Papo, as well as some Playmobil pirate figures and playsets. The Papo figures are the perfect accompaniment to the Le Toy Van Pirate Ships and our selection includes the weird (zombie pirate) as well as the wonderful (skull head pirate).
Pirate Decoration
For those looking for pirate related room decor we have the very splendid pirate wall stickers and pirate lampshade, both by French company Djeco. The wall stickers are vinyl so can be repositioned and re-used as required. Younger children can also enjoy a pirate themed room with this colourful wooden pirate ship mobile.
Pirate Dressing up Costumes
Captain children’s dressing up costume
Naturally we have a splendid range of pirate dressing up outfits for both boys and girls. Our fancy dress costumes are supplied by Travis Designs and the quality is superb. All are machine washable, which is hugely important for the parents of adventurous pirates. The Baby Buccaneer outfit is available in a variety of sizes from 3 months onwards, whilst girls can choose to be either a pirate or a princess depending on their mood with the great reversible Princess / Pirate 2 in1 costume, whilst boys can choose from either the Captain Dressing up Costume, Peg Leg Pirate or the Buccaneer‘s costume. Just add an eye patch and some fiercesome pirate tattoo’s to complete the look and you’re ready for action!
Pirate books and puzzles
…and finally when your pirate is ready for a sit down and a rest we have the Pirate Cruncher, a fun story for pirate fans plus a selection of pirate puzzles, such as the Djeco Barbarossa’sBoat.
Of course as pirate fans we’re living in hope that maybe Mr Depp might pay our Manchester shop a visit one day, where he would of course receive a warm welcome, (as would Mr Bloom and we’d happily offer Ms Knightly a cup of tea and a plate of biscuits), but til then we’ll amuse ourselves by continuing to find the best quality pirate toys and games, and of course, telling our customers our very terrible pirate jokes.
What the year ahead holds for our lovely Manchester toy shop
Well we’ve survived January, usually the quietest month of the year for any retailer – the excitement and buzz of Christmas is well behind us and we are left with a whopping vat bill and supplier invoices to pay so it’s only natural to feel a little bit glum. BUT as ever at Monkey Puzzle Towers it’s onwards and upwards. We had a great Christmas (thank you to any of our customers reading this) both in terms of sales and the genuine joy of being in a busy, buzzy shop and being general purveyors of joy, the stocktake is done and now it’s time to think about the year ahead and any product or age group gaps we feel we have. We’re off to Spring Fair next week which is always great as it’s such a great way of checking out new suppliers and seeing what new products our existing suppliers are offering. I have to say that this year our current suppliers seem to be offering a lot more new toys than the last couple of years and although we are what you would call a traditional toy shop, we like to feel we are also able to offer a range of new and interesting toys too. As long as we feel they are quality products, with lots of play value and offer value for money then we like to count them in. So, for example, Hexbugs did well for us in the run up to Christmas so we’ll be looking to stock some of their new products, also Galt toys have a great range of craft sets which retail at £6.99 making them perfect for party presents so we’ll be getting some new sets of those. Lego has some new Lego Star Wars sets in and they are already on our shelves, but we’re also going to look at their new range which is aimed at girls. I loved Lego as a child so am quite interested to look further at this range. Also I see that Playmobil has an interesting new alien range out so following on from the success of the Playmobil spy sets we’ll be checking those out. Djeco as ever will be one of our biggest ranges, you can’t beat them for quality and they really do give us a point of difference against the other high street toy retailers as those lovely French people in Djeco love to have their products sold by independent and traditional retailers so you won’t find them in the supermarkets, merci bien and vive la difference Djeco!
We’re currently running a sale to make some space for all the new stock we’re anticipating ordering at Spring Fair and we’ve been chatting to customers about what they would like to see in our shop. As Mums of boys we have to make sure we have enough for girls and like to ask the advice of friends and other mums to make sure everyone is catered for.
Generally despite the ongoing economic climate (about to run into another recession – I didn’t realise the first one had ended) we are positive and looking forward to the year ahead and in sourcing lots of lovely new products, in continuing to grow our web sales and in maintaining our position in the Chorlton/Manchester community as a jolly lovely shop where you can always get a chat and a smile, the occasional cup of tea, sometimes even a cake, and of course fantastic service and a great range of quality, quirky and value for money toys.
People definitely expect us to hold a sale but it’s never been something we have been that comfortable with. As a consumer there’s nothing more annoying than buying something full price before Christmas and finding it for half the price three weeks later and we try to sell our products at competitive prices anyway so it’s not like we have much scope to reduce our prices. But, as mentioned, people seem to expect it. So, with that in mind, we have always held our sales just before our visits to the Spring and Autumn Toy Fairs. That way we can use it as an exercise to clear shelf space before we get in the new influx of toys. Where we’ve overbought for Christmas we can also use the sale as a way of reducing our stock levels down. So for example, we are currently offering Djeco Origami Sets and Lego Hero Factory at reduced prices simply because we bought so many of them before Christmas. These are a great seller all year round and make great party presents so it’s a nice offering to our customers too. Other products in our sale have been window display items, so we are offering reduced rates so that we can refresh our window display. These have not been accessible to children so are in perfect condition and are therefore a fantastic opportunity to get a higher priced item at a reduced rate, for example we have a Puky Balance Bike,Hibba Rocking Horse and Hibba Rocker and Ride on Turtle in the sale butof course we only have one of each of these ex display items so it’ll be first come first served to nab these bargains.
Turtle rocker and ride on
Another great aspect of the sale is to sell off items which we are not planning to stock again (at least for a couple of months) so that we can offer our regulars a change of products, so for example the Gruffalo’s Child Big Bad Mouse Board Game, the Melissa and Doug Cupcake Set and the Interplay Moisturising Laboratory. All fabulous products, but we will be ‘resting’ them from the shop for a few months to try some different or new products.
Bargain of the sale has to be the Plan Chalet House, which we have reduced by a whopping £30.00, from £129 down to £99 – but we only have two left in stock plus an ex display so again, thats a first come first served.
