Spa Days for Girls

The Hair and Nail Spa Party kit is a great way to pamper a special daughter and her friends on their birthday. The kit contains pink hair mascara 5 hair braiding threads, 60 beads, heart shaped nail file flower shaped toe separartors 2 glitter nail polishes canvas bag made from unbleached cotton.

At just £5.95 you don't have to limit it to just the birthday girl and a couple of friends! The kits is also perfect for sleepovers, and pampering days.

This cool canvas bag filled with spa party goodies is just right for giggling, gossiping and fun. So if you need a creative present or a great idea for a girls birthday activity - look no further!

Kaleidoscope Classic

We have taken on a fantastic new game - Kaleidoscope Classic.

With 18 unique pieces there are 101 fascinating challenges in the included book - just to get you started. They range from simple to very difficult. All you need to do is spill the 18 pieces and then return them to the square frame ..sounds easy ...but make sure you have engaged your left brain, right brain, memory and creativity aspects of intellectual functioning...in other words put your thinking cap on.

There is also the strategy game to play for 2-3 players called enKounter with 4 challenge game cards.Use your intuition, acumen and judgement to outplay, outscore and outsmart your opponent(s). Takes only minutes to learn and a lifetime to enjoy.

Geomag section reorganised

We now carry a lot of Geomag, and to make things easier for customers we have reorganised our Geomag Sectionin the run up to Christmas .

We now have separate subsections for the original Geomag Colour which comes in red, yellow, green and blue.

Geomag Dynamic has more instructions and educational challenges around moving models and physics.

We have a section on Geomag for Girls which includes the Geomag Just Pink, Geomag Pastelles and the new Geomag Fluo.

Geomag Glow (perfect for Halloween) has its own section.

Gemoag Metallic, which comes in blue or silver, has a section.

Finally we have a Geomag Panels section which covers all of our panels offerings - Geomag Fluo, Geomag Colour Panels, Geomag Pasatelle Panels and the fantastic Geomag Deko Panels.

We hope this will make buying Geomag on our site easier.

Tress Construction Set from Djeco

Djeco Tress is a lovely colourful, decorative building set from France. Great fun for boys and girls it tends to make creations that are more artistic than many other sets.

We sell three sets, Djeco Tress 1200 and Djeco Tress 600 each come in a nice box for easy storage.

For girls there is even a special fluorescent Djeco Tress Fluo Jewellery bag.

New logical puzzles at kidEstore

These new puzzles will keep the whole family entertained from Christmas day until well after the decorations have gone and you have hoovered up the last of the Christmas tree needles from behind the sofa.

In Hide and Seek Pirates you have a set board with a number of images it in different grid positions. The game cards then show a number of these pictures, you have to place shaped pieces on the board so as to leave only the images shown on the game card visible. For instance there are three red galleons on the board, if your game shows only two you must position the blanks to cover only one of the red galleons. Trickier than you might think!

There are 48 challenge cards from Junior, that is suitable from age 5, to extremely difficult. The challenge booklet sits in a draw in the case of the game to keep pieces together and this makes it a perfect travel game.

The Hide and Seek Safari works along the same lines but is suitable from age 7 so it is a little more challenging. It is also possibly more suitable for people who suffer from 'Pirataphobia' , or who just happen to prefer cute jungle animals.

Traffic Control - Airport comes with a playing board, 48 challenge cards a six perspex pieces each with an aeroplane marked on it. All you have to do is place achallenge card on the board and place the clear sperspex pieces so that the aeroplanes are in the right place and flying in the right direction.

You can find these great puzzles in our brainteasers section.

Mining for minors

Budding geologists will love the new members of the kidEstore.co.uk educational science kits range - Kidzlabs mining kits.

The Kidzlabs Crystal Mining set allows kids to excavate and learn about their own crystals. You will get contains 8 natural crystals buried inside a plaster block. It also comes with all of the tools you will need to extract and learn about your crystals - a specially designed digging tool, a brush, a magnifier, a display case with cover and base card, a pouch bag and detailed instructions with fun facts.

Strike it rich with the Kidzlabs Gold Mining Kit.

The Best Toys for Christmas 2006

We are in the final stages of producing our Christmas eductional t0y catalogue which will contain the best toys for Xmas 2006.

If you want to receive a catalogue but are not a registered customer please contact customer services here.

Djeco Jigsaws In For Christmas 2006

We have added some of the most beautiful jigsaw puzzles from Djeco to our range just in time for buying Christmas presents! All of the puzzles are very stylisha nd the drawings have more than enough detail to keep a child interested.

The Djeco Romantic Castle

The Djeco Medieval Castle jigsaw.

The Djeco Ballerina and Flower Jigsaw. The Djeco Sorcerer and The Slamander jigsaw.

High Tea Time for this Wooden Tea Set

Role play is so important for younger children and we have taken two lovely tea sets from the Djeco range. They are simply the most georgeous sets and we find people will just not put them down - and the children haven't even got a look in yet!

Djeco Birthday Party Tea Set is a pink tea tray with tea pot, cups and saucers sugar bowls and a large chocolate birthday cake complete with candles. Where this set really stands out though is in the details, there are two wooden tea bags, four wooden sugar lumps and two spoons complete with flower decoration. Perfect for birthdays, or Mondays, or Tuesdays or...

Djeco Lunch With Friends set consists of a of a cute little table and two place settings - a knife and fork, plate, fabric napkin and wooden napkin ring, beaker, bread roll and one jug.

You can buy the wooden tea sets by Djeco at the kidEstore.co.uk educational toy store where you will find them in the wooden toy section.

Stylish Wooden Construction Set for Younger Builders

For younger builders we have taken two items from the Mecano range from Djeco. They are a great alternative to Lego and other plastic construction sets. Both sets have a lovely cartoon quality and they really do make you want to play with them.

Djeco Super Mecano is a 36 piece wooden construction set with simple colourful instructions for five different models - three wooden cars, a wooden helicopter and a wooden plane. The pieces connect via slots, magnetic joints or wooden pegs which are fitted using the supplied wooden hammer. Super Mecano is suitable from 4 years.

Djeco Duo Mecano is another wooden construction set which comes with instructions for two vehicles - a fire engine and a tow truck. This set comes with a wooden screwdrive to help teach fine motor skills.

Both sets come in a lovely hard case with magnetic catch and carrying handle to allow you to take your constructions on the road or just for neat storage.

You can buy the Mecano sets by Djeco at the kidEstore.co.uk educational toy store where you will find them in the wooden toy section.

Read our press release.

Funky Kids Knitting Kits for Long Winters Nights

With the long winters nights approaching we have added two new items from Alex Toys to our needlecraft kits.

Cool Spool Knitting is a bright and colourful French Knitting kit with which you can make bracelets, broches and other fabulous accessories with yarn.

The kit includes yards of yarn in 5 colours, wooden buttons, pony beads, easy instructions and comes with a wooden French knitting tool.

My Chunky Funky Scarf is a more traditional beginners knitting set. With simple instructions you can learn to knit a scarf and a hat - the chunky needles and fat yarn make it easy for little hands. The kit comes in red ot blue and includes set of wooden knitting needles and lots of wool.

Both items can be found with other needlework kits in the creative section at kidEstore.co.uk.

Funky Little Wooden Baby Walker at kidEstore.co.uk

For people looking for a great little wooden baby walker to encourage their children to keep on walking, but also want them to get some fun when they need a bit of a rest we think we have the perfect item.

The wooden activity baby walker from Pintoy is a bright and colourful with a great twisty clicker, push beeper and colour spinner. Not only do they provide entertainment for your little one they develop hand eye coordination too!

We even sell a great little bag of wooden blocks to fill it with - the perfect cargo!

You can buy the Pintoy Wooden Baby Activity Walker at kidEstore.co.uk.

Music training boosts the brain

A study published in the scientific journal Brain (http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/awl247v1) demostrates an improvement in memory and learning ability in children who received music lessons over a period of just one year.

The children were aged 4-6 and showed improvements in brain function in just 4 months.

We believe this is another study which appears to show that children should be exposed to a wide range of stimulating activity to fully develop their mental potential.

We carry great musical instruments from Melissa and Doug to help your children give their brains a workout!

The Melissa and Doug Band in a Box set is a full band, er...., in a box! Comes complete with tambourine, pair of colourful maracas, a triangle, wooden clacker, 2 cymbals and a set of tone blocks.

The Melissa and Doug Beginner Band set is a smaller set of wooden musical instruments again packaged in an attractive box.

Bead Frame is a Great First Wooden Toy For Toddlers

We think our wooden Beadframe from Smartframes is one of the best first wooden toys for toddlers.

It is bright and colourful to retain attention - it even has a smiley caterpillar face for extra play value! The three twisted wires provide plenty of challenge without being over complicated.

At approx six inches by three it will always sit neatly on the shelf if junior ever finishes playing with it!

Cambridge Brainbox Electronics Kits at kidEstore.co.uk

We have just added some Cambridge Brainbox electronics kits to our Science section.

The kits are very educational, supporting key stages of the curriculum and are also bright and fun for children to play with. They all come with a clear perspex backboard onto which circuits are built.

All of the connectors and switches in the kits are pre-built (so no assembly required) and are usually on a plastic bar with press studs for simple connection to the backboard. There are no fiddly wires, nuts and bolts to work with here.

Our four kits cover a range of subjects such as sensors, controlled vehicles, switches, lights, motors and fans.

We have the Cambridge Brainbox Cars and Boats Kit, Cambridge Brainbox Primary Electronics Kit, Cambridge Brainbox Primary Plus Kit and the Cambridge Brainbox Sensors and Controls Kit.

We think these are great educational toys and our chief toy tester has not stopped playing with his!

New toy information blog features Didicar

Our Didicar was featured over on the new toy news blog 'Toyology'.

The blog features details of the latest toys and games. It will also feature reviews and competitions in the near future.

Read Toyology here.

Environmental Blog Lists Pandabo

Environmental blog treehugger has listed the environmentally friendly Pandabo bamboo toy from kidEstore.co.uk.

Read the article here.

Environmentally friendly bamboo toys at kidEstore

Bamboo is the worlds fastest replenishable natural resource and so it's use in manufacture, if properly managed, has less impact on the environment than either hardwood or softwood. A bamboo plant cut down to the ground will completely regrow in three years.

The new range of bamboo toys at kidestore have been developed to have a lower impact on the planet than other wooden toys (which are arguable more environmentally friendly than plastics).

The toys are simple, last between five and ten minutes and are addictive. This makes them perfect for smaller children to play.

The bamboo range incldues Pandabo, Pandabo, Rapido, Cagola, Castella, Fiesta and Bialo all of which are available at kidEstore.co.uk.

What in the world is Bilibo

Bilibo has just arrived at kidEstore.co.uk and we are not sure what it is.

The kids who have tried Bilibo think it is a seat, a roundabout, a shell, a stepping stone, furniture, a box, a helmet (knight/policeman/fireman/soldier/stormtrooper) or an island.

The key is that it is a beautiful item with many uses, and it is your childs imagination that brings Bilibo to life. All we know is that it is cute and we want some.

Bilibo is also great as it encourages pysical activity with all that moving, jumping, marching and hopping. A great way to help young children get exercise.

Bilibo is perfect for nursery and preschool use to as the units are stackable so they pack neatly away.

Bilibo is on sale at kidEstore.co.uk.

Didicars hit the UK at kidEstore.co.uk

Perfect for indoor exercise during the winter months or outdoor fun anytime the Didicar has arrived in the UK.

Without a battery or a pedal in sight the Didicar is driven by waggling the steering wheel from side to side. The clever design uses inertia, gravity, centrifugal force and other science-type-stuff to turn the waggling into forward motion.

We don't really understand how it works but the fact that each Didicar supports up to 100KG means we have tested the car ourselves and they are great fun!

In a nice touch you can now also buy Didicar stickers so you can personalise your ride!

Didicars are available from kidEstore.co.uk in Red, Blue, Purple or Yellow.