Natural Maths Set, by Qtoys

Nature/ Type:           Mathematics Learning Resources  

Rating:                     ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 

Recommended age:  5 year-old ++ (although for simple stacking and building, this can probably be                                        played by kids of any age).

Who would love this: Parents searching for mathematics teaching resources of beautiful wooden                                                 materials  

Natural Maths Set with Ruler by Qtoys: 

Why I love ❤️ this toy: 

(1) Natural Materials - like any other Qtoys products, the toy is made of natural materials, lovely to look at, and nice to hold in hands. This is a product made of natural plantation timber using non-toxic, child-safe materials. It also contains recycled lychee wood blocks of various sizes. 

(2) Standing Ruler - I love the standing ruler; it creates great opportunity of educative fun. We can put the tree blocks (ranging from 1cm to 10 cm) beside the light-weight wooden ruler to check out their height measurement in centimetres. We can do simple adding and subtraction with the kids. I like that it is a teaching toy for basic numbers and mathematics, yet it also looks absolutely adorable and makes a good display in toy’s room. 

(3) Stacking Fun - Although mainly a teaching tool, we can stack the tree blocks, build a structures or make a pretend mini tree-house with the  kids. I think this is a great toy to encourage open-ended play. 

Enjoy the video! 

Wooden Robot, by Kids & Co

Nature/ Type:           Wooden Flexible Robot  

Rating:                     ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 

Recommended age:  3 year-old ++ 

Who would love this: Robot lover  

An aunt got us this super cute wooden robot by Kids & Co purchased from Kmart few years back. This is one lovely item that the kids and adults both enjoy randomly folding, bending, and transforming anytime anywhere. 

Why I love ❤️ this toy: 

(1) Right Size For Travel - it has the perfect size to fit into any handbag, a great “on the go” toy when you are out running errand or travelling with a young kid. 

(2) Wooden Material - this little robot is made of light-weight wood, with elastic-band at each limb and joint to create different adorable, crazy, yoga-lookalike, or impossible poses. We are loving that confused-expression on this robot. 

(3) Lovely Colours - I also love the colour scheme of this tiny toy: earthly wood, lemon yellow, sky blue and denim blue. It’s pleasing to the eyes, and looks cute displaying anywhere in the house. 

There are quite many different brands and designs of similar bendable robot in market. I think this is one of the few cuter-looking versions. 

Coding Express, by LEGO education

Nature/ Type:           Construction/ Building Toy 

Rating:                     ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 

Recommended age:  2 year-old ++

Who would love this: Building + Coding Lovers

I like open-ended natural-material toys, but I also think coding toys are pretty awesome, especially a screen-free one that can be played and understood by young kids. This Coding Express by LEGO education is one that I personally love and enjoy playing with my two monkeys. 

Why I love ❤️ this toy: 

(1) Lego Building Time - it’s Lego Duplo! So before we can start any actual coding, kids need to spend time constructing the objects: a train, a castle-playground, a fishing boat, a fuel station, a train stop, train tracks and any other Duplo creations that the kids can think of. 

(2) Push-And-Go Train Engine - the set comes with a clever push-and-go train engine that can detect and follow instructions of the “action bricks” - Red brick means “stop”, green means “change of direction”, blue means “stop for fuel”, yellow brick makes a train sound, white brick triggers light on and off. Kids can place these action bricks on the train tracks, and watch how the train acts according to the pre-planned instructions when it passes over them. We had loads of fun trying out different plans and actions, and watch the train reacted accurately on each step. The boy was eager to design and watch the train performs each action at the “correct timing”, eg stopping for fuel when it arrives at the fuel station, turning backwards when arriving at the end of track etc. 

(3) App Experience - There is also an optional app which enhances the experience of play if you need some educative screen-time with kids. 

Enjoy the video! 

Hedgehog Cogs, by Bello

Nature/ Type:           Wooden Construction/ Building Toy 

Rating:                     ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️  

Recommended age:  3 year-old ++ 

Who would love this: Kids who love spinning gears + cute colourful hedgehog

Bello Hedgehog Cogs - this is one lovely toy that my four year-old loves playing with. Whenever we read  about the mechanic of spinning gears and its chain effect, the boy would exclaim “ahhh, just like that hedgehog toy we have!” 

Why I love ❤️ this toy: 

(1) Engineering Principle in a Visual Way - it’s simple toy to illustrate and apply the basic engineering principle of chain movement using 11 gears of different sizes and colours. It’s fascinating to  watch how one toothed wheel instigates a spinning reaction and transfers the motion to all the other gears placed on the hedgehog board. This is a good tool to explain a simple but really useful concept. 

(2) Lovely Appearance & Design - there are plenty of toys in the market adopting similar mechanic using such interlocking movement. This Bello Hedgehog Cogs is one of the prettier one; it is colourful, made of wood, with a cute hedgehog board as base, and encourages children to arrange the gears in numerous ways to create different chain reactions. I think this is a good toy that worth a place in any toy room. 

Enjoy the video! 

Plus-Plus Midi Size, by Plus-Plus

Nature/ Type:           Construction/ Building Toy 

Rating:                     ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 

Recommended age:  the big version is safe from 0 + age

Who would love this: Creative kids who love to build, build, build! 

This Plus-Plus construction toy Midi / big size is my latest discovery and I can’t say enough great things about this awesome toy! Confession time: I didn’t think much about this toy when I first saw it; I mean, what can you really achieve using the same repetitive, sort-of-boring, unison shape? But BOY the surprise that I had once we started playing with these clever construction pieces! 

Why I love ❤️ this toy: 

(1) One Shape + Endless Possibilities- like what it says in its website, Plus Plus has “One Shape” but “Endless Possibilities”! We had to start interlocking the pieces together before we can believe the magic it performs! We spent a great afternoon exploring this set with the kids, and we managed to build structures that look kind-of like a robot, a kid and a dog. The fact that the pieces are connected at different joints means we have a flexible robot that can move its limbs upwards and downwards, which we find it to be really cool. 

(2) Suitable For Young Kids- Plus-Plus comes with two different sizes. The mini version is suitable for age five and above, and a larger midi version (which is what we have here in the pictures) is safe for baby from 0 age and above. This bigger size is easy to be held and connected together by little hands. Even our 20-month-old can put the pieces together by herself without much help. 

(3) "Green" Toy- According to its official website, all Plus Plus is made in Denmark using 100% green energy from wind power, adopting a “no waste” policy, and all its products and packaging are 100% recyclable. An eco-conscious toy manufacturer deserves a big tick and some support. 

(4) Colours! - Plus Plus comes with a variety of colours, but I am absolutely loving this soft colour tones of the pastel mix! 

Enjoy the video!