A couple of weeks ago, I was asked if I'd like to review the Born To Toddle website. It was a company I'd never heard of so I was keen to see what they had to offer. I was actually very impressed.
Born To Toddle present themselves as "an independent online retail business offering high quality, well made, traditional & innovative 0-5 year old children's products". While this is undoubtedly true, I would say that many of the products would appeal to slightly older children up to the age of about 10.
What I love is that the product lines stocked all have a really traditional feel, totally in-keeping with the recent slow toy movement that aims to get children away from battery-operated toys and back on to those that run with the power of their own imaginations and creativity. They say : "We have over 850 product lines which have been purposely chosen to provide children with a sense of adventure & excitement, so encouraging their development, learning and imagination through play & discovery." The focus is on durable educational wooden toys, art & crafts supplies and pretend play products, as well as outdoor clothing, travel accessories, nursery & bedroom furniture and gifts for christenings & new mums. You'll find some well-known brands including John Crane, Le Toy Van, Togz, Splashabout and Guidecraft, but you get the impression you're browsing through a small boutique specialising in little known products rather than the mass-produced, flimsy stuff you find in all the major high street retailers.
The website is very well thought-out - you can browse by price range, theme, brand or recipient as well as searching for a specific product. I would recommend checking out the "special offers" tab for some cut-price bargains too. Even at normal prices, I actually thought it was good value though. I was offered a £20 voucher to try out the complete website experience and I managed to buy three lovely items - a British Isles Jig Map (I had one of these as a child !), some child swimming goggles and a gorgeous fluffy lamb toy storage basket.
One of my pet peeves when shopping online is hidden or hard to find delivery charges so I was pleased to see that the postage information is clearly displayed - £3.95 for standard delivery, free delivery for orders over £50 and £5.95 for next day delivery. The last date for ordering for Christmas delivery is 17th-19th December, depending on which products/brands you order.
You can pay by credit card or paypal and it's very simple to place an order. I received my email confirmation then tracking number very swiftly so I always knew what was going on and it all arrived as described and when promised.
It's definitely worth having a look if you want special keepsakes or slightly traditional toys.
for more information : http://www.borntotoddle.com
Disclosure : I received a voucher to spend in the Born To Toddle online store, in order to write an honest review of my experience.
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I love sites like this with wooden toys - they always look so much better in the toybox than delicate plastic tat.
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