Toy Spotlight - Bajo Large Wooden Cars

This week in the Toy Spotlight, I wanted to talk about the large wooden cars from Bajo. I have talked about the Bajo cars here before, but today I wanted to focus on the large wooden vehicles in the collection.

The Bajo line of toys was started in 1993 by Wojciech Bajor, an architect and set designer who believes that playing with a good wooden toy enables the real world to sink into a child's consciousness. What I love about all the Bajo cars is that they have such clean and organic lines that they can become whatever car or vehicle the child wants it to be. They are not limited in what they can be and this allows the child to make believe that it is anything. It can be a race car one day and a tractor another.

It is also not limited to where and how the child plays with it, due to the fact that it is wood and has almost no metal parts, they can be played in the bath, outside in the mud or the sand, they can be decorated with stickers or painted.

All the large Bajo cars are recommended for 2 years and up, perfect for little hands and for toddlers that are starting to develop their imaginative and creative play.

One of my favourite of the large vehicles is the Large Tow Truck, I find it so much fun to play with because you can really tow things. Not just other Bajo cars (which you can) but anything that you can wrap the little rope around works too. As I said all the Large Bajo Cars can be towed by the Large Tow Truck, and if you have the little cars, they can also be towed, you just have to wrap the rope around the hole.

I am very excited to be carrying the Bajo Wooden Car collection and I invite you to stop by and check them out!

Toy Spotlight - Manhattan Toy Wimmer Ferguson Collection

If you have a newborn in your life and you are wondering what to get them, you don't have to look further then any of the amazing toys from the Wimmer Ferguson collection.

This award winning collection of toys, are specifically designed with newborns in mind, they have black and white, simple pictures of faces and things, as well as different textured fabrics and sounds. All these promote the development of a newborn's sense of sight, touch and hearing.

The BabyThoughts.ca Collection includes:


Wimmer Ferguson Car Seat Gallery

This great Manhattan Toy Wimmer Ferguson toy has ten reversible cards with both black-and-white and coulor research-correct graphics help babies discover light/dark contrast and begin recognizing patterns.

Hook-and-loop strap easily attaches to either front-or rear-facing car seats.

Wimmer Ferguson Mind Shapes

These vibrant shapes from Manhattan Toy encourage babies to look, touch, and listen. Each easy-to-carry shape has a noisemaker and a medley of research-correct graphics & textures.

Wimmer Ferguson Infant Stim Mobile

This award-winning mobile from Manhattan Toy features vivid color and bold black-and-white images. Simple-to-complex images stimulate early visual activity and pre-reaching movement.






Wimmer Ferguson Crawl & Discover Mat

Many features for baby to discover, including flaps with reverse prin t graphics, fun textures and crinkle paper, plus a removable mirror, teethers and a pocket with a star shaped ring attached.

Wimmer Ferguson 3-in-1 Triangle

This toy transforms from a tummy time playmat to a triangle with the use of magnets...fun in so many ways!

Can even be stuck to a magnetic surface for playtime.

Includes a mirror, peek-a-boo flaps, crinkle paper, attachment ribbons, teether and squeaker.

Makes a great item that baby will enjoy at home or traveling!

Toy Spotlight - Walking Toys

We are currently on a mission to get our 16 month old to walk. Our first born walked at 13 months, so like typical parents we think it is time that she got moving. She has no problem standing up on her own and even walking while holding our hands but she just wont let go and take steps all on her own.

This got me thinking about toys that promote or help little ones to walk, we have the Playschool Walk and Ride toy, but I find that as soon as she hits a wall or runs into an obstacle she looses interest and leaves it discarded. I also have a Tiny Love pull toy, whose name I don't remember and bought with such high hopes for my first born, but was a complete fail. It was incredibly loud as it moved and part of it was made up of fabric that would pick up every little bit of dirt and was a pain to wash. I am a big fan of Tiny Love but this toy was not their best.

After evaluating our current personal selection of walking toys, I started to take a look at what was available at BabyThoughts.ca. At the walking stage that Scarlett is at, I believe that the best option is one of the Selecta push toys, the main reason being that it will encourage her to stay standing and walk in order to enjoy the toy. It's also light enough that she can manipulate it around corners, furniture and other toys, and most importantly it is made of wood which can be easily cleaned, given that she puts EVERYTHING in her mouth.

If your little one has mastered the art of walking, then they will enjoy the pull toys. My favourites are the Selecta Nico and the Plan Toys Dancing Alligator, and Sorting Bus. All three are made of wood and painted with child safe paints which make them very easy to clean after they have been played with. They each are the right size for little ones to pull them and to also enjoy them while on the floor or with other toys. The Plan Toys Sorting Bus is also a shape sorter which makes it a multi-purpose toy because it can be enjoyed by babies who are not walking yet or toddlers who are starting to learn their shapes and colours.

What was or is your child's favourite walking toy? Let us know, perhaps it was not a toy at all.

This weekend only (Jan 6-8), get 15% off our entire collection of Push & Pull Toys!

Use code PUSHPULL15 at checkout.

Toy Spotlight - Melissa & Doug Wooden Play Food

I am a huge fan of play food and Kitchen Play, as it is an amazing toy that allows children to express themselves, feel included in the world around them and promotes imagination, as well as social and language development.

Play food is also a great toy that can be played in groups or alone. I have not met one child who does not love having their own kitchen where they can make their own culinary 'creations'. To do this they need their special food and so that is why I am so excited to spotlight today the awesome wooden play food from Melissa and Doug.

Bake & Decorate Cupcake Set: This special set has three dry-erase markers shaped like icing tubes to decorate the smooth, removable, wipe-off cupcake tops.

With colorful baking cupcake sleeves and decorative wooden candles, these low-cal cupcakes will be the hit of birthday and tea parties!






Sandwich Making Set: This solid and smooth-sanded sandwich set with sliceable wooden bread, rolls, tomatoes, cheese, lettuce, meats, and more makes an instant picnic for hours of imaginative entertainment!









Pizza Party: Served up in a brightly coloured wooden pizza pan, the six thick slices can be topped with playfully tasty choices of vegetables and meat, all held in place with an innovative fastening technique.

Includes a cutter, spatula, and over 50 toppings stored neatly in a wooden pizza box with see through lid.


Cutting Food Box: This solid wood set from Melissa and Doug includes more than 25 pieces including 1 child-safe knife and 1 cutting board, along with eight healthy choice selections for kids to prepare their own meals! Knives glide easily through each item, making a realistic “crunching” sound that kids love.



Cutting Fruit Crate: The wooden Cutting Fruit Crate play food set includes 7 smoothly sanded wooden fruits: a banana, kiwi, slice of melon, pear, orange, lemon and strawberry.

The wooden fruit are all sliceable with the wooden knife (included in the set) and they make a great crunching sound when sliced.

Sushi Slicing Play Set: This elegant 24-piece wooden sushi play-food set is packed in a beautiful storage box and includes sliceable sushi rolls, shrimp, tuna, easy-use chopsticks, a cleaver and more. Sushi rolls make realistic chopping sounds when sliced!








To see our entire collection visit our Kitchen Play section under Preschoolers at BabyThoughts.ca.

You will find not only food but pots and pans, beverages, tableware and the most important thing kitchens!

Toy Spotlight - Bajo Vehicles

I knew when I got the Bajo wooden vehicle collection that little ones would love it. After all, they are specially designed to be held in little hands and the imaginative way that they can play with them is just endless.

When I gave my second child at 3 months one of the small Bajo vehicles, I discovered what a great grasping toy and teething toy it is. The little vehicles are small enough that babies can hold them comfortably in their little hands, and big enough for them to put in their mouths with no worries of chocking, they are also very safe as they are painted with non-toxic paints and are easy to clean and disinfect.

When she was able to sit up, she would love to play with her little cars. By this time she had three of them and she would pass them from hand to hand to mouth.

Now at a year, she pushes them away from her and crawls to them. They are still a fun teething toy for her and after all the 'love' they have gotten from her, they still look like new.

The Bajo wooden vehicles are great for sensory development for babies, fine-motor skill development for toddlers and imaginative play for preschoolers.

Stop by BabyThoughts.ca to see our entire Bajo Vehicle collection. Take advantage of our toy sale of up to 50% off on until October 16, 2011.

Toy Spotlight - Vilac Vehicles

This week in the spotlight are the beautiful and timeless vehicles from Vilac. Vilac has been making high quality wooden toys for a 100 years. Vilac toys are known for their classic look and feel, specially for their smoothly rounded and high gloss lacquered wooden vehicles. All their lacquered toys are still manufactured in the Jura region of France.

At BabyThoughts we carry a large selection of Vilac vehicles that are sure to be part of your child's toy box for years and are meant to be passed down from child to child as they are incredibly durable and timeless in design. Choose from the vibrant Fire Truck to the mini red and yellow ralley cars.

I absolutely fell in love with these vehicles when I saw them, they are just so elegant, modern and chic . They are not cheap plastic cars that you know you can't wait for your child to outgrow so that you can put them away. You will never want to hide these cars and I have no doubt that your little one will always go back to playing with them.

If you know a child that just loves cars, than I highly recommend the Vilac vehicles, you really can't go wrong. After all, Vilac has been in the toy making industry for a 100 years, you can be sure that not only are you getting top craftsmanship but that they will be loved by children.

Visit BabyThoughts.ca to see our Vilac Vehicle collection!

Toy Spotlight - Melissa & Doug Magnetic Mazes

I have to say that these mazes have become one of my new favourite toys, mostly because it keeps my 5 year old daughter entertained for hours, but also because they are great teaching tools and just as important they aid in the development of her fine motor skills.

The two available at BabyThoughts.ca are the Magnetic Colour Maze and the Magnetic Number Maze. The object of the game is that the child must use the magnetic wand to move the balls to the correct location.

In the Magnetic Colour Maze, the child must fill the bellies of the animals with the correct coloured balls. It is a fun way for young ones to learn their colours, learn about sorting, problem solving and even counting.

With the Magnetic Number Maze, the child fills the baskets of each animal with the correct number of fruits. It is a great toy for children to learn number recognition, counting and sorting. As well it helps them develop and improve their fine motor skills. You can also use this game to introduce addition and subtraction by having them add or remove fruits from a particular basket and asking them to count how many are left.

Another great feature about these toys is that they make fantastic travel toys, as they are small, lightweight and everything is contained behind an acrylic cover.

Overall a great toy given that not only will it keep your child entertained but it is also a great teaching tool.

Friday Toy Spotlight - Manhattan Toy's Activity Barn

This week in honour of our resent trip to a farm, where we got to chase chickens as well as ride and feed horses. I would like to shine the spotlight on one of my favourite toys from Manhattan Toy, the E I On The Go Activity Barn.

With more than ten interactive features, including a corncob with a zipper, a squeaky pig, a jingly horse in its pocket stall, a kitty hiding under a flap and a hen in her nest. As well as rings, crinkle paper, mirrors and more. This toy is designed to help baby develop their cognitive and fine motor skills.

Best of all it zips up neatly in its carrying case, complete with stroller strap and handle, for learning fun on the run.

A fantastic toy to take along with you wherever you go as it is sure to keep your little one entertained for some time. In addition it can easily be thrown into the washing machine should it get dirty, because we all know that sooner or later it will end up in baby's mouth.

Recommended for children 9 months and up, this is one toy that will certainly be enjoyed for a long time as the child discovers new features to keep them entertained. It can also be used to teach your little one how to identify their favourite barnyard animals and have a fun time singing Old MacDonald had a farm.