Jaques of London children’s wooden toy review
[AD] My boys love toys, even Thomas at 18 months old loves playing with Ryan’s toys more than his own.
However, there have been many occasions in our house, where a toy hasn’t lasted a couple of hours before a leg breaks off, it breaks in half, or some other unfortunate breakage occurs.
This is why I’ve started to buy wooden toys for my boys. They’re made not to break, whilst still having the colourful, educational, and fun traits that I look for in a toy.
Toys have been a topic of discussion in our house lately, as Ryan has been telling me what toys he’d like for Christmas.
Luckily for him and I, Jaques of London kindly sent me a couple of their wooden toys to review, which means that Christmas has come early for Ryan, and also for Thomas.
If toys are a topic of discussion in your house as well, and you’d like some ideas on some long lasting toys to buy, then here are two fantastic ideas that you may want to add to your Christmas gift-buying list.
JAQUES OF LONDON
Jaques of London have been bringing families together since 1795, making them the oldest sports and games manufacturer in the world.
The company is responsible for inventing some of world’s most popular games, including Croquet, Snakes & Ladders, Happy Families, Tiddledy-Winks, and Ping-Pong.
Jaques of London are committed to developing toys that uphold their family traditions, and are created to the highest levels of quality and craftsmanship.
JAQUES OF LONDON WOODEN TOY REVIEW
The experience of receiving toys from Jaques of London was memorable right from the start.
Each toy was packed in their own cardboard box, wrapped in black branded ribbon. Ryan’s immediate response was wow, this is so awesome!
Each box had the name of the toy on them, and the bottom of the box had beautiful hand drawn images of some of the family members, going back 8 generations, that have worked hard to make the company what it is today.
Each box also showed the age the toy was suitable for.
Once each box was opened, each toy was packed in newspaper style paper, with articles on it about Jaques of London’s history, as well as a card with the name of the person who packed the box.
These levels of details are something that is very rare for a company of Jaques of London’s size to do, it was such a gorgeous touch, and it felt like I was receiving a gift from a friend.
WOODEN TOY REVIEW ONE – SNAKES & LADDERS WITH LUDO
The earliest memory I have with my late grandma is playing Snakes & Ladders with her at her kitchen table, and now that Ryan is old enough to play, it’s a tradition that I want to start with him.
Luckily Ryan already loves Snakes & Ladders, because there is a large version of it on the ground at his school playground, which we have played at many school pick ups.
As soon as I saw that Jaques of London had Snakes and Ladders with Ludo, I knew that this was the perfect toy for Ryan.
What I love about this version is that it’s so colourful, and on the bottom of it is Ludo, so you get two games in one, perfect if you want to expose your child to different games, and if you don’t have a lot of storage space to store games.
One of the smaller details that I loved about this game was that on Ludo and on one of the wooden playing pieces there was a koala. Ryan and I were born in Australia so this was just perfect.
Jaques of London’s Snakes & Ladders with Ludo is made from 100% FSC approved wood, so it’s durable, whilst being incredibly light.
The paint is non-toxic, and can be easily wiped clean.
It also comes with a cloth bag that holds 16 wooden playing pieces, two wooden dice, and two sets of instructions.
This toy is perfect for any child like Ryan who loves numbers, because it allows them to practice their addition and subtraction skills when they have to work out where to move their wooden playing piece after throwing the dice.
It’s also perfect for children who are learning number recognition, as the numbers on the Snakes & Ladders side are large and bright.
WOODEN TOY REVIEW TWO – WOODEN CAR PARK
Jaques of London’s Wooden Car Park is perfect for Thomas, as it’s suitable for children aged 1+.
I had a feeling that Thomas would love this toy, but I didn’t realise how much. It was barely out of the box before Thomas spotted it and tried to remove it himself so he could immediately play with it.
Anyone with children under two knows how hard it is to get them interested in anything for any amount of time. So I was super happy when Thomas sat down for a solid 20 minutes to play with this toy.
He had such intense concentration and amazement on his face for the entire time, and even took it with us when I picked him up to take him downstairs.
Like Snakes & Ladders with Ludo, the Wooden Car Park is also made from 100% FSC approved wood, so it’s sustainably sourced.
It’s also sturdy, which is perfect for young children who tend to knock toys over when they play with them. It’s smooth, colourful, and can be played with by even the smallest of hands.Both Snakes & Ladders with Ludo, and the Wooden Car Park, teach your child how to play collaboratively, which is something that I need to work on with both of my boys.
Thomas was only playing with this toy for five minutes when Ryan decided that he wanted it for himself, and when he tried to play with it Thomas got very possessive and wouldn’t let go of the cars, he even pushed Ryan away.
I love that this is a toy that they both want to play with, it will make it easier for me to teach them how to play nicely together.
Another bonus of this toy for young children is that it’s best played with sitting up. So if you have a little one that needs to develop some strength in their back muscles, this game allows them to develop strength in a fun way.
The Wooden Carpark is made up of four ramps, a detachable orange section where the cars start, and a bright wooden racetrack that holds the ramps together.
It comes with six colourful cars, that are the perfect size for small hands, and that can be driven on either side.
I also love that this toy can be played with by itself, or can be used in a larger garage scene, which is something we’ll do at home by placing our other car garage next to it and having the boys pretend that the cars at one garage getting fixed, then have to drive to this garage to make their way home.
Jaques of London also have a wide range of toys for 2 year olds, which I love, because in my experience finding toys for Ryan when he was two, and now Thomas as he approaches two has been difficult.
Best of all the Jaques of London toys for under two year olds are all durable, so they can withstand the rough and tumble that this age brings.
I hope you’ve found some inspiration on how wooden toys are a great addition to your child’s toy box.
If you’d like to find out more about Jaques of London, then please visit their website.
What do you love most about wooden toys?
