I have been a fan of Orchard Toys for a while so when they asked if we would like to review one of their products, I was thrilled to oblige.
Emmeline has started to enjoy jigsaw puzzles at nursery so conveniently (and by complete coincidence) they decided to send us a box of two piece animal jigsaws.
This is their product description:
“Six large, 2-piece jigsaw puzzles for age 18 months and over. These colourful jigsaws depict familiar first toys children will enjoy, including a teddy bear, a doll and a toy car. Once children have become familiar with matching the familiar objects, they can be encouraged to say aloud the names of the different objects.
The bright imagery is great to engage early learners and the sturdy material is set to last the wear and tear of little hands!”
It always amazes me how the human brain develops and that at some point in our lives, we really can’t see how TWO PIECES fit together. Emmeline is still at this stage, she can see that the picture creates a whole image but she struggles to successfully connect the links together. She does eventually manage it but her brain and hands are still having those regular conversations that will eventually become second nature.
As with all Orchard Toys, there is an educational focus. I love that they detail on the back how this game can help your child. Emmeline is loving anything to do with hand-eye coordination and fine motor control at the moment plus she’s learning new words every day so this is ideal for her developmental stage.
She also loves to share activities. It isn’t uncommon for her to drag an extra chair over, hand you a book and expect you to join in with her reading time! It’s hilarious. This morning she wanted to draw so handed me a pencil so I could join in. It’s a wonderful time to encourage that love of mutual interest, allow her the chance to develop empathy as well as express herself socially.
I found these puzzles great because they are of very simple, every day objects and creatures that she recognises. She’s learning the sounds they make at the moment so loved when I said to her “what is this Emmeline?”
Emmeline: “duck duck duck”
“What does a duck say?”
Emmeline: “Wa wa wa wa”
It’s hilarious! Toddlers love a bit of praise so me clapping her efforts was encouragement enough to carry on the game for a few solid minutes.
The colours of all Orchard Toys are very distinct, bright and attractive. I think they appeal very much to the younger child. What is also great about their jigsaws is that the pieces are strong, you can’t bend them and even Emmeline can’t bite her way through these. Or more to the point…Jude can’t steal them and rip them up for his little paper games! He does rip some jigsaw pieces up but never one from this brand because of their sturdiness.
I genuinely love all of the Orchard Toys activities and games. Apart from this jigsaw, they produce fantastic and very simple board games that are aimed at toddlers but suit older children with a younger developmental age, such as Jude. Simple turn taking, colour matching and building games that have great, basic rules but can involve the whole family. Even Elsa will still play them with enthusiasm.
Their website is great, you can find games/activities to suit age and ability with ease and like their games themselves, the website is simple to use and really brightly coloured.
This box of six jigsaws costs £6.75 on their website so good value and long lasting so they can easily be passed down to younger family members once your child surpasses their developmental target age.
Clearly not quite ready for the included numbers and letters guide yet – much better as a phone.
