Step away from the plastic, the bells, the lights and the whistles and get back to simple, beautifully made and educational toys. Toys that encourage imaginative and creative play are limitless in the opportunities they present for kids to not only play but learn at the same time. Whether it’s drawing with beautiful crayons, solving a puzzle, making music or stacking blocks we’ve watched our kids try out some of the toys on offer at Oskar’s Wooden Ark over the last few months and these are the toys the keep coming back to over and over again. Each time they come up with a new game or way to play and it’s incredible to watch those little brains in action. They are SO CLEVER!
Below is just a few of the educational toys we’ve been playing with. All available online from Adelaide based toy store Oskar’s Wooden Ark. If you haven’t had a look at this website, wait until the kids are in bed, make yourself a cuppa and dedicate a good 10 minutes to scroll. A beautiful collection of toys on a very easy to use website.
Kitpas Crayons
When is a crayon not a crayon? When it’s a Kitpas crayon!
We are obsessed with these stick crayons available online from Oskar’s Wooden Ark.
Unlike regular crayons, Kitpas Art Crayons can be used on any non porous surface. Paper, glass, mirrors, whiteboards, rocks, leaves, shells. They are soooo silky smooth, like satisfyingly smooth. Pretty sure there would be some sort of YouTube channel just dedicated to the satisfaction of a Kitpas crayon sliding over a piece of paper.
The colours are super vibrant and just add water to turn your crayons into watercolour paints! They are non toxic and VERY easy to clean up, I promise!
Lots of different pack sizes available. Take a look at the full range of Kitpas here
oskarswoodenark.com.au/collections/kitpas-art-crayons
From Jennifer 0-9 Number Tracing Cards
Learning to count and write is t-r-i-c-k-y but when you can turn learning into something fun kids are far more likely to want to participate and that’s when it really starts to sink in. Oskars Wooden Ark stock a range of educational toys from the Treasures from Jennifer range, a popular brand for homeschoolers and Montessori schools. We’ve been using our Kitpas crayons to learn the number 3.
Check out the full range at
oskarswoodenark.com.au/collections/treasures-from-jennifer-australia
Sow & Sow Flower Press
Hands up if you had a flower press as a child….. It’s believed that pressing flowers dates right back to the 1500’s in Egypt (yep that’s an actual date). Combining science and art, but perhaps the most valuable lesson of all PATIENCE. Our kids love their flower press from Oskars and we periodically make beautiful gift cards for affordable, sustainable and meaningful creative gifting. You’ll honestly never need to buy a card again in your life. Depending on the flower, we have achieved the best results letting our flowers press for 3 weeks or more and we cant wait for the change in season to try some new blossoms and spring petals. Perfect to spark creativity and foster creative imaginations!
Find them in two sizes here
https://www.oskarswoodenark.com.au/products/sow-n-sow-flower-press-falling
Magnetic Tiles
If you’re not already a magnetic tile convert then what are you waiting for?!?!
There are a lot of brands available but take it from us, when it comes to magnetic tiles, you get what you pay for. The Learn and Grow range of Magnetic Tiles available from OWA are sturdy and the magnets are strong, which means that kids can really go to town when it comes to using their imaginations to build. The cheaper ones have cheaper magnets, and trust us – this makes a BIG difference, especially for kids that like to go high and BIG.
As far as open ended toys go, they don’t get much better than magnetic tiles. Build a tower, a castle, a house for your toys, a garage for your cars all the while learning about shapes, sizes, colours and problem solving. Great for kids of all ages from about 3 years and up. My 9 year old gets just as much enjoyment out of them as my 3 year old so they’re a great “family” investment that can be handed down. There’s also some great add ons you can get to work with your base set of magnetic tiles. We love the magnetic ball run expansion pictured below – a must for master builders and budding engineers!
Check out the Learn & Grow range here
www.oskarswoodenark.com.au/collections/learn-grow-magnetic-tiles
Find out more about the range of beautiful toys available from Oskar’s Wooden Ark and shop online from their website www.oskarswoodenark.com.au
The toys mentioned above we received free of charge for the purpose of this review however as for all reviews from Kids in Adelaide the above is honest and in our own words.
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