Another best seller this year and a consistent favourite for 2 or 3 years is the Magic Roller, now available in Red or Purple .  If only my knees allowed I’d be riding one myself – fantastic fun, and at £39.99 we know our price is very competitive.  Others are selling this same item, sometimes called the Magic Roller, for £49.99 or more.

New this year but already a Best Seller is Le Grand Garage from Le Toy Van, a brightly painted multi-level garage that will give years of enjoyment to car-mad boys or girls who can zoom their cars up and down the ramps, in and out of the lift, round the carpark…  It even has a helicopter and heli-pad.  A lovely toy.

Perhaps the biggest surprise for us has been how popular Whizzers are.  This is the first year we have had them in our range with Girl’s style’s and Boy’s styles, and they are selling equally well.  When I was a boy they came as cardboard cutouts on the side of Cornflakes packets, but these wooden ones are much more sophisticated and colourful.  In fact so popular have these been we have now run out of some of the styles we started with and have had to switch to other equally colourful and fun designs.  Father Christmas has already taken several hundred pairs from us and we fully expect him to order even more as last-minute stocking fillers over the next few weeks.  Make sure you ask him to get some for your child!

We’re adding a couple more pages of wooden toys this year – which have always been our strongest area – because we know how popular they are, what good value they represent and how durable they are compared with the plastic we try to avoid.  Now it seems we’re being followed by Hamleys & Argos who, according to today’s Times, are predicting a return to traditional toys this year.  Hamleys are quoted as saying "Parents are likely to go for old favourites and solid, reliable materials, such as wood."  Well we could have told them that because so far as we’re concerned wooden toys are always popular.

Apparently it is predicted that the best sellers this year will be "Barbie, Lego and Transformers" all of which are now classed as traditional toys.  Blimey – a Transformer a traditional toy?  What about the good old snakes & ladders or a pop-gun, or maybe a nice wooden Noah’s Ark?  Now those really are traditional toys.

In April 2008 I wrote that there were signs of slowing in the Chinese economy, and pondered whether it might not have been time for British toy manufacturing to re-emerge.  Now it seems the Chinese themselves are concerned at the rapid shrinking of their toy manufacturing sector, to the extent that they are seeking approval – presumably from their Government – to change direction, so as to manufacture more toys for adults and less for children.  Presumably by this they mean more high-tech toys, rather than anything more questionable.  We won’t go into that.

If you would like to read the Press release from China, you’ll find it here, but be warned – it’s in typical Communist style, and somewhat impenetrable.  For a more detailed and interesting analysis of the state of the Chinese economy have a look at this article – if you have five minutes.

Although we do not import directly ourselves we have certainly seen increasing signs of the difficulty in having toy manufacturing so far away.  Lead times are immense, and if a consignment misses a ship the next delivery is likely to be weeks away.  There’s no doubt that the quality of Chinese manufacturing has improved tremendously, but compliance with European standards has also added to lead times, and costs.  Costs are largely in US dollars, and because of the weakness of sterling this is contributing to rising prices in UK.  Now we know that the number of manufacturers has reduced, and is likely to reduce further, it seems inevitable that there will be both a shortage of toys this autumn and they will be more expensive.  Shop early for Christmas I suggest.

An heirloom that can be passed on from generation to generation. Many of our toys are similar to those that parents remember with fondness from their own childhood. All are guaranteed to be fun and exciting as well as educational and helping to improve and develop motor and creative skills. But how do you know that what you are buying as gift for a birthday or Christmas is “age appropriate”? How do you know if you’re not just buying what you recall was your favourite at that age? That’s not just a question of pure safety, chemically safe paints and finishes and small parts choking hazards – important though those issues are.

Just as essential is the question “will they like it”? Here we make a few suggestions so that you purchase a toy or game that will pass the test of the sternest critics of all – your children!

Babies & Preschool

Preschool age children are probably the easiest to buy for. They are enthusiastic about almost any new toy you care to get. If you want that initial excitement to last beyond a few plays you should still shop carefully. Stimulating, developmental wooden and soft baby toys have to be attractive, colourful and robust but above all have to be safe and suitable for toddlers and younger children. Every nursery needs baby rattles, cuddly toys and colourful building blocks that will stimulate younger boys and girls to develop skills through fun, play and discovery.

Our best picks here cover items like the Alligator Boat that will give fun wet or dry. The ABC Bus is a sturdy play centre that encourages imaginative play and motor skills and dexterity. Baby & Blankie is a cute companion to any young child’s imaginative play and there’s also the classic Baby Walker trolley complete with 24 bricks to keep toddlers occupied on the move.

Younger Children Aged 5-7

Children in this age range are learning all sorts of new skills. They are starting to take off in reading, maths and refining their skills in art. Plenty of products are available that are fun enough to give as gifts, yet still manage to encourage and reinforce academic skills – genuinely learning while playing. It’s also at this point that gender differences start to become obvious.

Girls and Boys will begin to show different interests and preferences. For your little girl for example the Rose Cottage Dolls House is delightful. Classic cream and pink and prettily painted inside and out, it comes fully furnished with 4 complete room settings with 28 pieces of furniture and a family of 6 flexible wooden dolls. Our Wicker Pram will give hours of pleasure and is a truly beautiful object. Boys don’t miss out though. There’s a selection of Bikes and ride on toys and a stunning Vintage Pedal Car to stimulate the imagination of a future Lewis Hamilton.

Older Children Ages 8-up

Now you’re talking hard work! Technologically savvy and notoriously difficult to please, kids ages 8 and up know their own minds and have probably already formed a particular hobby, interest or focus. They require extra attention when selecting gifts that will truly engage and hold their interest. Outdoor games and toys like Trampolines are always bound to be a hit.

One of our most popular gifts in this age range is the Carpentry Set. It’s not really a toy, but rather a scaled down working version of the real thing. Packed in a tough solid wooden storage cabinet/carrying case its fully functional tools include a saw, claw hammer, pliers, chisel, screwdrivers, mallet, plane – in fact everything you’d find in a “grown up” carpenters toolbox.

I know I’m not alone thinking that too much reliance on foreign manufacturing is unhealthy, for a whole host of reasons, not least the loss of skills and the loss of jobs in Britain and Europe. It is now virtually impossible to find any toy that is made here, and believe me we do try. So I was quietly pleased to see this article in Time Magazine. It looks as if the honeymoon period for Chinese manufacturing is coming to an end. Maybe some of the British manufacturers should start dusting off their machinery and putting up the job vacancy adverts. We can only hope.

Perhaps that’s part of the reason for these sets’ popularity. They are to be used “to start with”. They are bought by people who want their children to develop practical skills that they can use throughout their lives. The tool-kits are an introduction to woodworking, which is as popular a hobby as it ever was, and one that is invaluable throughout life. And it’s fun too.

The tools themselves have to be considered as “to start with” as well. There’s a good selection in the set – a junior saw, a hammer, screwdrivers, pliers and a mallet. There’s even a small plane and some sandpaper. The tools all work, but eventually they’ll need to be updated, although some may last a lifetime. I still use my first hammer from a set my father put together for me in about 1958. Don’t remind me how long ago that is. I used those tools incessantly then, and I don’t believe I had much supervision, sawing up bits of wood and knocking them together with nails. There was a particularly unattractive and unsuccessful chair I recall. I didn’t think it was dangerous, sawing and hammering on my own, but I guess it was a bit risky at seven years old.

I think that’s another reason why these sets are so popular. It’s no coincidence that “The Dangerous Book For Boys” has been a bestseller. Many people are anxious that this generation of children are being cocooned, maybe over protected, and when will they ever face and assess risk for themselves? Perhaps that’s being over-dramatic, and no doubt today’s children will make perfectly good adults. And I know for sure that thousands of them will be very proficient carpenters.

As a toy retailer we are fortunate in that, not manufacturing or importing directly, we are not immediately involved in the testing process, but we know that the tests for toys for children over three years old are a little less exhaustive than for those under three. There are good reasons for this – for example the choking hazard is less of an issue for the slightly older child, and therefore the test process may not be so rigorous for this aspect. This of course means the testing is cheaper. It also means that if a manufacturer then badges the product as suitable for a child of three plus and has a toy certificate to support this, then should there ever be any safety issue they can say they have done all that is required of them.

What this can sometimes mean though is that a toy originally envisaged as suitable for a toddler, and of little interest to an older child, is marked as 3+. Some purchasers will be put off, because they can see that the child for whom they are buying will not be sufficiently challenged. But the toy is no less safe than had it been tested and marked for the younger age. You can be sure the paint will be safe, for example, and if there are no small or removable parts then sometimes it’s difficult to see how a toy can be “unsafe” – which of course it is not.

There isn’t a foolproof answer to this conundrum – except perhaps to say that there is no substitute for sensible parental guidance. If you think your child is bright enough to play with a toy marked as appropriate for one a bit older, well give it a try – initially under supervision of course. Just make sure there are no removable bits, and if the child is prone to suck or chew, well just keep it in reserve for a few months. They’ll soon grow into it – sadly all too fast, and before you know it they’ll be taking their A-levels !

For up to the minute toy safety information visit the British Toy and Hobby Association Website.