Learning Road Safety with Bigjigs

Now Freddy is four years old, the way he plays has developed to become much more focused on role play and imaginative games.  Acting out different scenarios allows him to explore emotions and feelings, develop social skills and learn more about his environment. Language skills and communication are practiced and creativity is exercised.  Through these games, there is scope to learn and develop knowledge about different topics.  And all this is cleverly disguised as play!

Bigjigs sent Freddy the Zebra Crossing Set, which is part of the Bigjigs Road range, an interconnecting range of toys that fit together to build exciting environments for imaginative play. 

The set includes three connecting road pieces, one with the Zebra Crossing markings, two pedestrians, a car, two Bellisha Beacons, a lamp post and a School road sign.  

Straight away Freddy started a dialogue about what he could see and what things he recognised from the 'real world'.  "There is one of these at my school," he said whilst holding the School road sign.  "Does it mean 'No Running'?" he asked.  I explained that it was to warn cars to slow down because there might be children crossing the road. 

He also recognised the Zebra Crossing and 'the big yellow lights' as something he had seen outside his big sister's school.  He was very interested and it allowed me to explain to Freddy all about road safety, the Green Cross Code and how to use a zebra crossing.  

Then it was Freddy's turn to try out what he had learned using the little wooden pedestrians and the wooden car as props to demonstrate how to cross safely.  He wheeled the car to the zebra crossing and the boy and girl checked to see if it had stopped before crossing over.  Perfect.

However, he also discovered that is was fun to mow down the pedestrians, the lamp post, school sign and Bellisha Beacons in a scene reminiscent of something from GTA5.  But that's the fun of play time - anything goes!

Playing with the set also gave rise to some counting as Freddy counted the stripes on the Zebra Crossing, the number of freestanding objects and the number of times the pedestrians crossed.  Colour recognition was used as he named every colour he could spot.

Dexterity and co-ordination are enhanced as little hands manipulate the pieces and fit the road pieces together (Freddy insisted on having a long run up to the crossing rather than having it in the centre.) 

As with all the Bigjigs Road and Rail wooden toys, this toy will grow with your child, giving them the tools to unleash their imagination, learn about new things and develop their creativity to build exciting new worlds to play with.

The Zebra Crossing Set is £12.99 from Bigjigs.

Bigjigs Dockside Recycling Centre #playpatrol

I love a toy that can introduce a child to something that is really important in the real world.  That can open their eyes to a serious issue through the medium of play.  That teaches them about something that can make a big difference to the world that we live in.  Something like recycling.  Hats off to Bigjigs for doing just that with their Dockside Recycling Centre.  Fully compatible with other leading wooden rail systems, children can add an environmentally friendly activity into their playtime, teaching them about the importance of recycling and helping them to learn more about the process in a fun way.

Freddy, my little Bigjigs Play Patrol Agent, was very intrigued by his new toy.  The recycling centre comes with a colourful sign, a barrier gate, two working cranes with magnetic ends, a barge, a recycling truck, a train carriage, two recycling skips and two container loads of recycling.  As the recycling arrives by road, rail or sea it needs to be picked up by the cranes using the pulley system, swivelled into position and deposited into the skips.  

The play value of this toy is great.  It leads the way to imaginative games where your child becomes the harbourmaster, deciding where the recycling is going and by what mode of transport it will travel by.  Little fingers show great dexterity as they wind up the pulleys on the crane to pick up the recycling with the magnetic end.  All the while they are learning about recycling and this opens up an opportunity to discuss this issue in a fun and engaging way, asking what they think can be recycled, getting clues from the colourful pictures on the sign and the containers.

Learning through Play

Freddy loved the magnet and quickly realised that it could pick up more than just his toy recycling containers.  He raided our real life recycling bin to find a sweetcorn can and experimented with how best the magnet would stick to it.  He discovered that concentrating the magnetic force on the edge of the rim, created the best hold to pick up the can.  He wielded it about like a fisherman with a prize catch on the end of his rod!  Freddy tried the magnet against lots of materials to see which ones would stick.  This opportunity for scientific discovery is another great aspect of this toy, enabling little ones to learn through play - exactly how it should be done!

Our Play Patrol Mission Captioned Photo!!

As the set is fully compatible with Bigjigs Roads and Rail toys (and other leading wooden rail systems) it can be incorporated into a world of your child's creation.  I love toys that can grow with your child and which can be added to on birthdays and Christmases.  Each new addition brings a new lease of life to the play experience, adding its own touch of excitement and enjoyment.

The Bigjigs Dockside Recycling Centre is priced at £20.79 over on the Bigjigs website.  Take a look at the huge range of wonderful wooden toys they have on offer.  I could browse for hours!

Freddy won the opportunity to be a Play Patrol agent for Bigjigs and received this toy to complete his latest mission!

Bigjigs Figure of Eight Roadway

 Freddy has had a very busy week.  With birthdays, parties, family visits and nursery picnics going on, his schedule has been fully booked.  So today, it was lovely to finally relax and introduce him to his latest Bigjigs Play Patrol Mission, to review the BIGJIGS ROAD Figure of Eight Roadway.  The 36 piece set is suitable for children aged 3 and over and is part of the Bigjigs Road range.  The set comprises of roadway pieces that interconnect to form a figure of eight road, part of which goes under a bridge, along with cars, trees, traffic lights, a road sign, buildings and pedestrians.  Children can make a busy little town and play imaginative games to bring it to life!

Freddy got stuck in straight away, delighted to have a new Bigjigs toy to play with.  As ever, the quality of the wooden pieces is excellent and the pieces of the road fitted together easily.  I always love the feeling,  natural look and smell of the wood.  The traditional wooden toys are just so aesthetically pleasing!

Freddy needed a little help to make the figure of eight shape, but was equally happy making his own road layouts as he explored the set, putting the pieces together.  

The pieces and accessories are perfect for little hands, being chunky and robust.  The cars are freewheeling and Freddy loved whizzing them around, rolling them over the bridge and making them have races.

I loved listening to his ongoing dialogue as he played, narrating the story of the three cars.  At times the cars were naughty and bashed over the trees and buildings!  At other times they came to the rescue of one of the people in a race against time.  I love how Bigjigs toys fire his imagination and give rise to some wonderful role play opportunities.

A child's dexterity and co-ordination is developed as they play, manipulating the pieces and building the tracks.  There are opportunities for further learning as children count objects and recognise shapes and colours.  I was particularly impressed with Freddy who put two roof triangles together and said "Look Mummy, it's a diamond!"

I really like the idea of having a roadway range that is compatible with other Bigjigs roadway sets and also the train sets through additional Road and Rail link items.  Other accessories such as roadsigns, vehicles and parking spaces add to the play value. A child's collection can be built up over birthdays and Christmases to create bigger city scenes and expand the fun.

Our only criticism is that the people are so much bigger than the cars, the buildings and even the bridge!  They seem a bit out of place when everything else is more or less scaled. That said, they were still fun as Freddy pretended they were giants!

The Roadway set costs £31.99 and is available on the Bigjigs website here.

A brand new  Bigjigs Roadway website is coming soon.  If you want to be notified when it's up and ready, register here:  www.bigjigsroad.com.

Bigjigs Carpenters Bench Review

We are so thrilled to be Play Patrol Agents for Bigjigs Toys.  We love their wonderful range of ethical, traditional, environmentally friendly, wooden toys.  Freddy is so excited about putting the fun to the test by trying out some of Bigjigs Toys best offerings.

His first assignment was to test out the Carpenters Bench, a 15 piece workbench and tool set, suitable for children aged 3 and up.

The toys comes minimally packaged in a cardboard box with the accessories contained in a single plastic bag. The bench itself is constructed from solid, varnished wood with pre-drilled holes for storing the tools and hammering in the nails.  The tools and accessories are very colourful.

Children can learn about shapes and colours as they sort through the pieces.  Number skills can also be practiced as children count the pieces.

Motor skills and dexterity are developed as little fingers pop the nails and screws through the holes and manipulate them with the tools.

The work bench gives opportunities for role play and unleashes a child's imagination as they pretend to be a carpenter or copy a parent's DIY skills.  Perfect for all those little jobs around the house!

Children's vocabulary is expanded as they learn the names of all the different tools and their functions.

Freddy (insistently and enthusiastically wearing his Bigjigs Play Patrol T-shirt and rucksack combo) was immediately drawn to the workbench.  He is a boy who enjoys hitting things so he set straight to work hammering the wooden nails into the bench.  Using the screwdriver he turned the screws and used the spanner to twist the nuts and bolts.

The nails hammered in completely into the holes in the bench.  Freddy was mostly able to pull them out using the claw side of the hammer (which catapulted them into the air much to his amusement) but sometimes they were just too firmly in.  I showed him how to turn the bench over and hammer them out from the underside.

The tools are solid and could cause damage if used on anything other than the bench.  In the wrong hands they could be lethal!  But teaching kids to use them properly and appropriately is a great lesson in itself.


       

The Carpenters Bench is a compact and self-contained toy that takes up little space compared to the full-sized workbenches available on the market.  It may be small in size but it has lots of scope for play with the assortment of holes and accessories to explore.  It's a good size for taking away to the grandparents or on holiday to keep children entertained, and it all fits back into the box after use.  Priced at just £10.99, it is a well priced toy that little ones will really enjoy playing with.

Find out more on the Bigjigs Toys range and purchase them online at the website:

www.bigjigstoys.co.uk

You can follow Bigjigs on Twitter and Facebook.

Bigjigs Farm House Sorter

We are so excited to be in the final phase of applications for the Bigjigs Play Patrol!  

We love Bigjigs, who are a fantastic toy company specialising in wonderful, traditional wooden toys for children of all ages.  

We love the ethics of the company which strives to keep its environmental impact minimal.  

We love how the toys enhance children's development and learning through play, and how each top quality toy is beautifully and thoughtfully designed.  

We love the tactile feel, warmth and smell of the wood, and we know that each toy will last for generations (especially important now I am a granny to my baby grandson Ted who will one day inherit some of  his Uncle Freddy's toys!)

Bigjigs Farm House Sorter

We received a lovely surprise through the post from Bigjigs for the final stage of the Play Patrol applications. We were challenged to put the fun to the test in a review.  Three year old Freddy is always ready to have fun!

Now, being the McDonald family, we are particularly fond of farm toys as they give us the opportunity to sing one of our favourite songs "Old McDonald Had a Farm" so this was the perfect toy for Freddy to test, ably assisted by his big sisters Ella and Kizzy who are always on hand for some fun play time with their little brother.   In this video, Freddy demonstrates the Farm House Sorter accompanied by his musical sisters!

 

The Farm House Sorter is a lovely toy for ages 12 mths+ that will appeal to both tiny tots and pre-schoolers alike, as it can be played with in different ways according to the child's age and ability.  This gives it great play potential for years to come as it grows with the child, making it a great investment to the toybox. 

It came boxed in recyclable cardboard, with only the shapes wrapped up inside for protection, so the waste was minimal. The Farm House Sorter consists of a colourful, wooden barn with shapes cut into the sides, a removable roof and a handy carry handle, along with nine cut out shapes (eight animals and a tree).

Firstly, children can post the shapes through the holes, which will help develop their fine motor skills, spatial awareness and dexterity.  

But this isn't all!  Each of the animal and the tree shapes are individually painted.  This  helps children learn their colours.

The shapes can be counted in and out of the sorter to help children learn their numbers.

Little ones will enjoy chatting about the animals which assists their language development.  The colour, the position, the animal noises, the size etc. all lend themselves to having conversations with Mummy or Daddy about what they are doing.

The name of the animal/object is written in lower case on the back of the each shape so pre-schoolers can learn letter and word recognition whilst playing, which is a step towards mastering their reading skills.  

The shapes also allow for imaginative, farm yard role play as they are free-standing and can be 'walked' around their farm house home.  It is a shame that the tree does not stand up as it could add another dimension to a child's storytelling with the animals.  

The shapes can be drawn around and used as templates as an arts and crafts resource which will help mark making skills to develop.

All this learning comes through having fun and playing, which is the best way for little ones to develop!  

Freddy loves his Bigjigs Farm House Sorter.  He is able to post the shapes through the right holes, even though he sometimes has to think quite hard about it and turn the house round to find the correct space.  He likes that the whole roof comes off so he can retrieve the animals easily to play over and over again.  The roof parts have also doubled up as steering wheels in a very imaginative game of racing car drivers with his sister!  I love how a good toy inspires so many ideas in a child, way beyond those of any adult!  It is a well designed toy that Freddy enjoys carrying around with a real sense of ownership.  He is happy to explore the toy independently or will happily show off his skills to us, chatting and engaging us in his discoveries. It is well made, solid and robust enough to withstand years of play. All the pieces fit inside for storage and the roof attaches securely, but is easy to get off and on.  There is nothing fiddly or frustrating to contend with, so it's smiles all the way from 3 year old Freddy. 

In a world of technology with garishly coloured, plastic, battery-operated toys with lights and sounds, it delights me that my son is so thrilled with this toy.  I love him having traditional toys which provide him with an alternative to the brands that inundate the toy shops today.  Fuelled only by his imagination, his natural curiosity  and a yearning to learn new things, Freddy brought this shape sorter to life in ways I hadn't even thought of.  We have had dancing and flying farm animals with superpowers flying into their farm house home.  We've seen racing cars zooming around with rooftop steering wheels.  We've sung songs together and chatted about pigs and cows and ducks and geese.  He has told me stories, he has counted, he has recognised letters and he has done all this in the process of having fun and playing!

Find out more about Bigjigs by visiting their website at bigjigstoys.co.uk