It's the last few shopping days until Christmas! If you are still looking for a bit of inspiration how about this?
Etch-a-Sketch by Flair is now over 50 years old! I remember having one as a child when it was the most high tech toy we could imagine. The popularity of the Etch-a-Sketch has grown after its appearance in Toy Story where Etch enters into a quick draw contest against Woody! It also helps identify the baddy in Toy Story 2 with a photo-fit!
You can write with it, draw with it and if you were a real expert you could make a circle which was the heady heights of etch-a-sketching!! Turning the knobs created the line on the silver screen that you could manipulate to design whatever you wanted. Over the years, many iconic images have been drawn including President Obama. Personally, my attempts were always quite poor as I am totally uncoordinated! A quick shake and the screen clears ready to try again. It is a proper classic and a real retro treat for nostalgic adults or children who want to go old school and find out what life was like before computers.
Classic Etch-a-Sketch is around £15 and available from Argos or Amazon.
Another classic toy is the humble plastic toy animal. Schleich produce beautiful hand painted scale model animals that are brilliant for role play or collecting. As a little girl I loved my animal collection and would sort them out, line them up and play with them for hours. In a world of electronic toys, it is lovely to find something more traditional.
I always pop a model animal in the children's stockings. Something seasonal like a reindeer or a polar bear ties in lovely at Christmas time. I've also been known to pop in a toy turkey! This year we'll be going for a wild animal theme!
Priced between £2 and £5, they are great value and will last for years!
