Babies are inspired with reassuringly safe, traditionally made toys by Spottiswoode Trading.  Each of their products encourage their sensory learning and children up to the age of seven, can be wowed or treated to top quality toys which touch their imagination and develop their learning skills.

Spottiswoode have been growing in the market sector through the quality of their products and their commitment to unusual and intelligent toys for 25 years, so featuring on the Disney channel is another strong move forward. Get The Junior Look will be shown on Disney Junior, which is available through Sky, Virgin Media, Talk Talk and BT Vision.

This is a wonderful branching out for Spottiswoode who are very pleased to be promoted by such a prestigious market force in the children’s sector.

Visit Spottiswoode Trading today for all their latest products and special offers. www.spottiswoodetrading.com

Many swimming pools have shallow baby and toddler sections where you can be sure your child won’t be frightened by splashing and noise from more raucous older children. The temperature of baby and toddler pools will be nice and warm to make it more comfortable for little swimmers – always tell one of the lifeguards if you think the water is too cold for babies.

Some places put rubber ducks, water toys and floats in the pool for babies to play with, but you’re free to bring along your own bath toys if you like. You’ll also find that many swimming pools have special family changing rooms, equipped with pull-down changing tables and plenty of room – a must when you’re grappling with changing yourself and your baby! An essential for your first and many future swimming trips with babies and young children is the waterproof personalised swimming bag from Spottiswoode Trading.

This plastic-lined drawstring bag is ideal to carry the wet swimming togs. When the drawstrings are pulled up, the bag can be carried as a backpack. There is also a zip pocket for holding bits and pieces. Available in red, royal blue and pink with contrasting colour drawstrings, this bag provide the perfect gift for a first time little swimmer, and at only £14.00 it’s  an excellent deal!

For more information and to browse all Spottiswoode products, please visit www.spottiswoodetrading.com

The Review:

When the lovely Sarah at Spottiswoode Trading offered us the chance of reviewing one of her products we were absolutely thrilled.

Spottiswoode offers tactile, homely feel, high quality toys and nursery accessories. The beautifully-made soft toys have inspired imaginative play and fun for twenty-five years. It also offers great storage, soft mobiles and wall hangings for every child’s room.

If you are not already familiar with Spottiswoode, pop along and have a look at the website and you will see just how hard it was for me to choose just one item from the many beautiful ones they make to review. Luckily the site has a ‘inspiration’ section which I used and clicked on the category most appropriate for Isla ‘Inquisitive minds’! This produced a lovely range of products great for imaginative play and the product we settled on was the Dolls House Bag – “A charming family of four soft figures who can easily be transported in the bag, which doubles up as a fun dolls house! 16 x 8 x 17cm high. £28 – available in Pink/Mauve or Blue/Red”

Isla loves all things cuddly at the moment as well as a love for putting things over her arm and strutting about the place so this was ideal – we couldn’t wait for her to receive it! On opening the package Isla’s eyes lit up and she immediately started with the “Ooooooooh” and “Aaaaaaah” like she does when she likes something – a good start!

The bag is really well made and great quality. That is something which is apparent straight away. It is also really bright and eye catching which is great for little ones.

The price seems high at £28 for a bag with dolls but this one toy really offers so much more than just that. Isla has played so many different games with it already so far and has not bored of it at all. I love how such a simple toy can create hours of fun for a child and this bag fulfills so many of the learning & developmental areas through the different ways we were able to use it:

• Problem solving, reasoning & Numeracy – Isla loved counting the dolls in and back out of the house over and over again. She also started to fill the bag with other things from around the house, counting them as we went. She enjoyed opening and closing the roof lid and figuring out how to do this and understanding that things exist even when we can’t see them and we played peekaboo with the dolls out of the house which made her laugh and fulfils the calculating part of babies development.
• Communication, Language and literacy – The little dolls are great for using as props during story time. We used the house and one of the dolls during Goldilocks and the 3 bears. Isla picked up the dolls when I said ‘goldilocks’ and said ‘Aaaah baby’. We used simple words to describe what we were doing like ‘In & Out’ to encourage communication.
• Knowledge and understanding of the world – The house is great when talking about family and homes with Isla. We used the dolls as Mummy, Daddy, Isla and new baby brother. This is great for nurturing her sense of self and that she belongs to a group.
• Physical development – The toy stimulates Isla to handle and manipulate the dolls and the opening/closing the roof. Also learning to put her arm through the handle to carry on her arm.
• Creative development – This is the main area the toy fulfills for me. It has endless imaginative play possibilities. Isla saw the dolls as babies and immediately cuddled and kissed them and gave them to me to rock like a baby.

I’d also say it is age appropriate for Girls of Isla’s age right through to older girls so will really last a long time. For little boys there is a farmer version available.

I love Spottiswoode and will definitely be buying from here in the future – I have my eye on a beautiful basket with rabbit family which looks great for easter

About Sarah & Spottiswoode
Because I fell in love with everything on the Spottiswoode Trading website I was keen to find out more about the brains behind it; Where the name came from, how the company started and how she came up with the beautiful products she sells. Here is what she said:

I started importing handcrafts (jewellery, basketware and all sort of other things) in 1979 to pay three sets of school fees and traded under my own name. I bought Spottiswoode Trading as an ‘add-on’ to this in 1983 from the original owner, Claire Spottiswoode, who had originally founded the business in while still at school. At that time, the range consisted of Thai silk frames, boxes, flowers and other gifts.

In the mid-nineties, it became apparent that there was little room for more product development of the silk items and, over the following two years, using the excellent skills of the Thai people, I developed a small range of gifts for babies that could be sold into the existing customer outlets. Since then, the range has been extended to over 100 lines, all unique to Spottiswoode.

All the toys are my ideas which are executed by the Thai people from whom I buy. My philosophy is that everything is very simple: the colours are plain and clear (no fussy patterns), very few things make noises and the toys should stimulate creative and imaginative play.

http://themccaskieclan.blogspot.com/2011/03/spottiswoode-trading-dolls-house-bag.html

At the heart of our company ethos is the idea that kids really need imaginative and tactile toys to inspire their creative development and provide the kind of play essential to personal development.  Fads on the high street and the ever-growing array of violent and isolating computer games leave a gaping hole in the market for children, which we fill with wonderful toys and have done so for twenty-five years.  The founder based her ideas on the key concepts of simplicity and traditional play, but also in light of her role as a mother and grandmother.

Ongoing favourites include our animal inspired pyjama cases, and rocket pyjama cases which are beautifully made and a special gift at only £25.  Our mobiles are designed with vibrant colours and soft cute animals, which help develop a baby’s sensory awareness and make a beautiful present for an expecting mother, at only £21.  We also look to inspire inquisitive minds with our new range of toys that include, the delightful Doctors and Nurses kit and favourites such as Noughts and Crosses, made out of material and easy to carry out and about.  Collections of animals in baskets, counting wall charts and lots more products are designed with children and their happiness in mind.

For more information, please visit us at:

http://www.spottiswoodetrading.com

Here at Spottiswoode, the tactile, homely feel of high quality toys and nursery accessories makes up a collection free from the fleeting fads of the high street. Our beautifully-made soft toys have inspired imaginative play and fun for twenty-five years. Great storage ideas, soft mobiles and wallhangings for every child’s room.

Please read our blog for all the latest special offers, product launches and news from the Spottiswoode Trading HQ in Littlehampton, Sussex.

You can also download our latest brochure here.