Cool Stuff at WotsKool!

World champion and Olympic gold medal winning cyclist Chris Hoy famously started cycling at the age of 6 after being inspired by the film E.T. British success in the Beijing Olympics is bound to provide inspiration to the current generation of youngsters so what can you do to support their aspirations?

You can start by giving them a bike. The younger they start the more confident and able they will become and there are some great little wooden bikes available today that could be just what they need.

The Rainbow Bike is a great introduction to cycling. Built entirely from wood it is light weight and has a pair of rainbow coloured tyres which children love. It doesn’t have any pedals or stabilisers. Instead children propel themselves and control their speed with their feet. This bike design helps them to develop balance and confidence which makes the transition to a bike with pedals very easy indeed.

The Rainbow Bike is just one of the foot-propelled bikes available from Brighter bikes. Their innovative designs are ideal for those little ones who need to experience a little independence but aren’t yet old enough for a pedal powered bicycle.

Why not give your little Olympian a head start. Visit the online toy shop at www.mulberrybush.co.uk for a selection of Brighter Bikes, trikes and scooters.

I used to love the swings in our local park when I was young and a few weeks back I was reminded of how much fun they were when a friend installed a swing set into his garden for his little girl.

She and her little friend were having so much fun taking it in turns to push eachother on the swing, squealing with delight when they swung as high as they could. The simpler toys are often the ones that children find most appealing and swings definitely fall into that category.

They are, after all, enormously simple. There isn’t really any need for an expensive garden swingset, just a high enough branch in a tree, a couple of ropes and a piece of wood. And if you don’t have a garden you can even rig one up in a doorway.

Swings are a fun way to get children to engage in more active play. They don’t need to be shown what to do, they don’t need to read complex instructions and they don’t need batteries. Give your child a swing and you will hear nothing but laughter and the sound of their enjoyment.

Recently, whilst researching the experiences of children in the victorian era, I came across this interesting slide show presenting some examples of the toys that some of the more fortunate victorian kids might have enjoyed playing with: Victorian Toys. I found myself wondering ‘what are the modern equivalents?’ The Sony playstation or Nintendo Wii? I was interested to find that many of the victorian toys are alive and well and very popular even today.

The rocking horse has always been a popular toy, particularly for toddlers. This one, called the Filou Rocking Horse, is a beautifully designed example from France suitable for children aged from 1 to 3 years.

Games were as popular in Victorian days as they are today. There are many traditional games such as Ludo (an adaptation of the Indian game Pachisi) which are fun for all the family to play together.

Labyrinth is another example of a simple game of skill that would have been played by our great grandparents, if they were lucky enough. A compulsive game requiring the steel ball to be steered through a wooden maze of obstacles.

Of course many toys from Victorian times were cheap and simple. Poor families would make their own toys such as clothes peg dolls, paper windmills and spinning tops.

The Cup and Ball is a game of skill that is often associated with the Victorian era. It is as difficult today as it was then. The modern equivalent is probably something like the Sony PSP.

Really lucky children might have had a dolls house to play with. More specifically Victorian girls may have had a dolls house. Boys would have been given toy soldiers. This modern example is a beautifully crafted wooden dolls house that will be as much fun for boys as it is for girls. Intended for children of 3 years and upwards.

Of course plastics didn’t exist in Victorian days. Toys will have been made of wood, cloth, tin, clay, wax and glass. Traditional wooden toys make a pleasing change from the noisy, flashing plastic equivalents that fill the shelves of toyshops today.

London in a bag is a great example of a simple wooden building set featuring many of Londons famous buildings including Big Ben and Tower Bridge. Ideal for children aged from 3 years upwards it makes a great London souvenir or gift.

It is interesting to see that the prices for these traditional wooden toys are surprisingly low. The dolls house is available for £94.99 and the Filou Rocking Horse is available for £49.99. But you don’t have to spend even this much for a beautiful wooden toy. The all wooden Ludo set is only £7.99 and the classic Cup and Ball is £2.99. A great stocking filler.

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