It’s that time of year again when magazines like to produce their Top Ten Christmas lists and these can be invaluable for giving us ideas for what to buy for the loved ones in our lives, especially those difficult to buy for relations or the friends who have everything. Buying for children is always much easier as there as so many FUN things to get and children love getting new fun things!
In fact there are so many new fun things available it can be challenging for parents to know just what toys to choose and this is an issue we face here at Giddy Goat HQ when we pick which products to stock in our shop. We want to have the ‘next big thing’ for our customers, but more than that we want toys with genuine play value, which won’t be discarded on Boxing Day and which we feel are value for money. We visit toy fairs, we speak to sales representatives, we scour catalogues and we read the trade press as part of the process of researching what to stock. We also listen to our customers and so whilst we don’t have the room to stock everything we have a very full shop rammed with all the latest goodies as well as the traditional toys and games that are a staple of many toy boxes and our Top Ten Christmas list is a mix of new and traditional and this year, mindful as we are of the cost of living crisis, we have tried harder than ever to make sure the toys on our list and in our shop are value for money and will be played with all year round.
Giddy Goat’s Top 10 toys List
1. Wooden Blocks
Hours of creativity and fun to be had with this toy box staple – perfect for older babies and toddlers and great for improving manual dexterity, hand eye co-ordination and creative skills.
£19.99 for a sturdy tub of wooden blocks in different shapes, sizes and colours.
2. Squishmallows
There are so many different characters to collect and in different sizes and different prices. These have been popular all year round.
£10.99 / £21.99
3. Wow Toys Ronnie Rocket
Wow Toys are sturdy, hardwearing, toddler proof toys that don’t need batteries just imaginative minds. Ronnie Rocket has always been one of our best sellers as children love to zoom it around.
£28.99. 1-5 years.
4. Sylvanian Families Picnic Van
Syvlanian families are enduring in popularity with many parents telling us they still have the Sylvanian families they had as children. Collectible and great for imaginative play with the Family Picnic Van being a lovely set for children to take their Sylvanian friends for pretend picnic.
£33.99. 3-10 years
5. Gabby’s Dollhouse Doll
Gabby’s Dollhouse is an animated children’s series which is hugely popular with both girls and boys and the eponymous doll is bound to be sought after this year.
£19.99. 3-7 years.
6. Fingerlings
These colourful interactive monkeys were huge a few years back and were one of those toys that were all but impossible to get hold of. They’re back this year with new features are more interactive and responsive than ever. Different characters to choose from.
£19.99. 3-10 years.
7. Qwirkle board game
I am biased here because Qwirkle is our favourite board game and we have consistently played this for years and years.
Available in regular size at £27.99 or travel size at £17.99. From 6 years+
8. Lego Up House
Possibly on a fair few adults’ Christmas wishlists, the LEGO® Disney and Pixar ‘Up’ house is a fantastic set with 598 pieces.
£59.99. 8 years +
9. Lego Minecraft Skeleton Dungeon
Lego Minecraft is still hugely popular and we have lots of different sets in stock – we chose this one as it came in at under £30 and it includes 3 Skeleton Minifigures plus weapons and a cave.
£26.99. 8 years+
10. Toniebox and Tonies
Tonieboxes are audio speaker systems aimed at encouraging active listening in children and Tonies are figurines with audio content (songs or stories) on them. New Tonies characters are released monthly allowing children to build up beautiful audio libraries. One of our best sellers and the starter set includes a Toniebox plus a creative Tonie figure for you, or members of the family, to record your own stories onto.
£79.99. Suitable from birth
We’ve got toys and games for kids of all ages plus a huge range of stocking fillers both online and in our Didsbury shop. We’re looking forward to helping you and Santa choose the perfect presents this year.
Amanda and the Giddy Goat team
www.giddygoattoys.co.uk
