Wooden Toy Magic

John Crane Toys are the creators of many of the most fantastic wooden toys on the market; I like to think of them as the Willy Wonka of the toy industry. Just as Wonka made his sweets magical, John Crane do exactly that for their creations.

I have a real love for classic wooden toys and it is not hard to work out why, they never tire and they are the kind of toy that you can pass them down through the generations, it is amazing watching a child’s imagination run wild in a game they have dreamt up and they really do have the ability to provide hours upon hours of entertainment.

There is something magical about a wooden toy, especially at Christmas when you see what those Elves have been crafting with their skilled hands all year long, a dolls house, a pirate ship and even that wooden kitchen you snuck at the end of your list!

As Leo is growing up we are encountering more and more of these toys, toys that bring the imagination to life and allow Leo to play hard while remaining sturdy and intact. I can’t wait to introduce Leo to more of the John Crane collection over the coming years, and I know we are both going to have a blast.

We now have a few treasures from John Crane, Ali the pull along Alligator and we must not forget Ma Ma who has become a firm fixture in Leo’s bedroom. She keeps a close eye on him when he is all tucked up in bed to make sure he stays out of mischief, when she is not jetting off on boating adventures and moving house of course!

John Crane has very kindly sent Leo a set of their Sqij Blox to have a play with, Squij Blox nurture your child’s creativity and encourage them to build and connect the blox together. The blox are made out of Beech Wood and feature 2 foam layers around the circumference of the block to enable them to be locked together to form what ever your imagination can dream up.

Each of the blox is around 2.5cm in thickness, so nice and chunky for little hands and come in two different box sizes, a small set of 10 or a large set of 16.

The blox are actually for 3 years plus, so although Leo can’t make the most obvious of creations, he is still loving putting the blocks on top of each other and playing with Mummy and Daddy. There are no small parts to contend with and as Leo is now coming out of the ‘I must put everything in my mouth stage’ we are happy that he won’t start munching on the foam around the block.

The Sqij Blox are one of those toys that Daddy has to play with, shipping Leo off to play with something else, he takes his chance to build the biggest creation that he can before Leo realises and comes back like Godzilla to destroy his Daddy’s hard work. Sometimes I swear that Daddy looks like he may shed a tear, like someone has come up and stolen his Wonka Bar off him, but somehow he remains refined and try’s to re-build his masterpiece.

So once again John Crane has put a smile on both of my boy’s faces with their lovely Tidlo range. I would highly recommend the Sqij Blox for any parent who has a creative toddler or hands on Daddy who would equally love them!

I will leave you with Ma Ma and her boating trip!

Disclaimer: I was sent the Sqij Blox for the purpose of this review, however all views and opinions are completely honest and my own.