Television Limits for Children MPs Urged

Once again MPs are being urged to limit the amount of TV that kids are allowed to watch.

My own two children were outraged! For them (aged 4 & 7) the limits recommend half to one hours television per day. They found this pretty outrageous even though they actually watch less than this on average - the concept of a limit just seemed offensive to them.

They were most outraged that the limits for under threes is no TV at all. Their one year old cousin would therefore not be allowed to watch any television for two years. This seemed like a most cruel and unusual punishment to them.

What peeved them most though was that this 'expert' was ON THE TV!

"If he doesn't want us to watch TV, why is he going on TV?" they demanded!

Whilst we are not going to offer a view on TV watching we know we use educational toys to occupy our children and keep their minds off the TV. Give them a tub of Geomag or box of K'Nex and you will not hear much from them for hours!

Read the full report here.

PlayFoam magical modelling material

PlayFoam is a new material for kids to model with.

You can squish it, shape it, mould it and squash it. It never sticks to hands or surfaces, it never dries out and best of all if you mix a whole load of colours up you get a multi-coloured ball of beads rather than a brown lump as you do with some modelling materials.

PlayFoam is non toxic and non-allergenic, suitable from age 3 available at the kidEstore.co.uk educational toy store in the creative toy section with out other craft kits.






You can buy a pack of 12 PlayFoam colours for £14.95 or a pack of 6 PlayFoam colours for £7.95.

MathShark hits kidEstore.co.uk

The MathShark makes maths cool!



It will quiz players on on addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fraction, decimals, and percentages with eight skill levels in each category. Test can even be done against the clock for an extra challenge. There is a help key to give e little prompt when you get stuck.

The game is a perfect for travel - keeping them concentrating and amused for hours.

MathShark uses lights and sound to keep kids engaged and importantly the sounds can be turned off so you don't need to listen to it for the whole length of the M1!

The MathShark is also a full function calculator.

New Scrunch Digger - perfect for the beach or sand pit

We have just added the Scrunch Digger to our range. Whilst you can't actually scrunch it, it is pretty compact and is an ideal companion to the Scrunch Ball and Scrunch Bucket. Why not buy all three and you have the perfect beach set for your holidays this year.

Wooden Cooker and Sink

We have a couple of options for people looking for a wooden cooker which you will find in our Role Play section.

The Pintoy Wooden Kitchen Combo is a great combined wooden cooker and sink. It has everything you need and is a great play kitchen for children.

For people looking for something that uses a little less space then the fold away items from Alex Toys might be more suitable. These wooden cookers and wooden sinks fold away into a neat little box when not in use.

Hooked on Phonics Reading Learning System

After 20 years in development Hooked on Phonics finally arrives at kidEstore.co.uk the UK. The concept has truly revolutionised the home learning to read market in the US, achieving a staggering 98% consumer awareness. The line has been totally localised for introduction into the UK and Ireland.

The Hooked on Phonics unique selling point in that everything you need comes in one box, delivering a practical solution and representing fantastic value for money. The products have been designed to help children learn to read in just 3 steps - learn - practice - read.

1. Learn the letters and sounds with audio CDs and flash cards.


2. Practice turning the sounds into words with fun CD-ROM and workbook activities.


3. Read charming, magical and fun books.

We have Hooked on Phonics Get Ready To Read which is a reading readiness programme with letter sounds for children age 3-5yrs. The box Includes 26 letter blocks, 1 interactive CD-Rom with games and original alphabet songs, 1 workbook that includes alphabet actions and alphabet town poems, 1 set of letter flash cards, 100 picture cards, My Hooked on Phonics dictionary, alphabet poster, progress poster and stickers and a parent guide.

We also carry the Hooked On Phonics Level 1 set which is for children 4-5 yrs, helping with letter sounds and short vowels. The box contains 1 interactive CD-Rom with 28 fun learning games (PC and MAC compatible), 2 audio CD's, 3 sets of flash cards, 1 workbook, 14 delightful reading books, 1 colourful poster with over 60 star stickers to reward your child's success.

You can read more about Hooked on Phonics at their homepage - www.hookedonphonics.com

Hooked on Phonics can be bought at http://www.kidestore.co.uk/

New Knit It Sheep

The Little Experience do some of the greatest little craft kits for kids so we are pleased to take delivery of their latest products.

The Knit-it Sheep kit contains a large ball of cream wool, a small ball of brown wool, knitting needles, stuffing, sewing needle, 2 felt hearts for love and stars for a sparkling personality. The inside of the carton also has printed instructions for making a pem to ensure you don't lose the pen like Little Bo Peep.

The Make-it Flower Dolly kit lets you make your own flower rag doll to love and treasure forever. Cut out and sew this traditional rag doll using easy to follow patterns that have already been printed directly onto the fabric. Bring this childhood friend to life by adding a heart for love and stars for a sparkling personality.

Knit-It Mice see how they run ... knit your own 3 little mice..they won't chew your toys or pinch your cheese.

Make-it Prima Ballerina - just the right cute size to pop in a pocket and carry around.
Girls, isn't it nice to have one special little friend who's always prepared to hang around through thick and thin ? Thanks to our Prima Ballerina peg doll kit you can create your own personalised dainty dancer by taking one 'au naturel' peg and kitting her out in the finest net tutu and pink ribbons around. She is oh so elegant and light on her pegs.

Knit-it Monkey kit - knit your own mischief making monkey....a cuddly bundle of wool that won't drive you bananas. Create a cuddly new addition to the family with this beginner's step by step knitted monkey making kit. Bring your monkey to life by adding a heart for love and stars for a sparkling personality.

Make-it Princess Castle kit - make your own pretty palace fit for a princess.
Build and glue together this wonderful pretty princess palace. The wooden castle pieces are already painted a lovely pink and lilac shade so all you need to do is decorate to your hearts content with the stickers provided. You can also build and decorate the furniture and of course no castle would be complete without the fair princess, the handsome prince on his fine horse and the green dragon - all part of the kit. Now all you need to do is imagine your own fairy tale.

Make it Jigsaw Kit - make and design your own jigsaws with 2 wooden jigsaws - ready cut and covered in plain papaer - ready and waiting for you to design and paint to make your very own jigsaw - one of a kind.

Build-It Space Rocket kit - launch the creative side of your child ...5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2. ...1...blast off ! This is so much more than a small wooden rocket kit. It is just what you need when you're on a mission to race around space looking for planets and aliens.

All of these items and many more craft, knitting and sewing toys can be found in our creative section.

New Spiderman City Crossing and Marvel Zingo Heroes

We have two great new games from the masters of puzzles at Thinkfun

Spiderman City Crossing is a perilous challenge to crisscross the city.

Position your skyscrapers, buildings and Spiderman's magnetic webs according to the challenge cards. How help your hero elude the powers of evil by swinging across his webs crisscrossing the city to safety.

Zingo Heroes is Bingo with a Marvel Superhero twist!

Pull the Zingo Zinger forward to reveal two mystery tiles conatining images of your favourite Marvel Heroes. The first player to name the tile that matches the images in their card wins the tile. The first player to fill his card with tiles is the winner - Zingo !!

New Bilibo Mini

Bilibo has been such a success that we now have a 'mini-me' version.

Meet the Bilibo Mini all of the cute, colourful fun in a smaller package. Great for bathtime, beach time, the sandpit or just keeping your popcorn in whilst watching a DVD.

Suitable from age 1, the Bilibo Mini costs £5.95 from http://www.kidestore.co.uk/

Horrible Science Jigsaw Puzzles

Horrible Science has made science cool again and we are really pleased to add these four Horrible Science Jigsaws to our range.



The Horrible Science Smashing Solar System Jigsaw is a 300 piece Horrible Science jigsaw based on Scholastic's best selling books written by Nick Arnold and illustrated by Tony de Saulles. Take a tour of the solar system with Oddblob the alien from the planet Blurb ! Spot planets in the solar system, answer the cosmic quiz and discover some top space travelling tips.






You wiill really have a blast doing the Horrible Science jigsaw - Loony Lab puzzle! A 300 piece Horrible Science jigsaw in which you can take a peek at Horrible Science's own team of oddball experts in their laboratory carrying out extremely exciting experiments. Spot the suffering scientists, answer the strange quiz and test your teacher.


Complete the Horrible Science Jigsaw - Ugly Bugs potty puzzle and take a peek at the beastly bugs that have escaped into Will D Beest's garden from his creepy collection. Spot some crazy creepy crawlies and ugly bugs, tackle the bloodthirsty bugs quiz and try some torturous teasers on your teacher !





Horrible Science jigsaw - Beastly Body Bits is a brain bending puzzle. Take a tour of the human body with a little help from the one and only madly famous, famously mad scientist, Baron Frankenstein. Spot the Monster's body bits and answer the bloodthirsty quiz.

"Science has never been so horrible!"

All jigsaws are 300 pieces, suitable from age 6 and cost £7.95 plus p&p from the range of jigsaw puzzles at kidEstore.co.uk educational toy store.

Award Winning Tumba Game

We have added the new award winning wooden strategy game Tumba to our range.

You can play Tumba on your own or with others. Each player takes a multi-coloured wooden block from the bag provided, then must match the colour and stack it on the plinth. There are millions of combinations and each Tumba game is different from the one before - be careful though - if they crash you are out.

Tumba can be stored in the cloth bag, it is quick and easy to set up and can be played by all the family. It makes a perfect travel game.

Tumba is just one of the many great educational games available at kidEstore.co.uk.

Blog Flux entry for playducation.blogspot.com

We have added ourselves to the Blog Flux Directory

Use Brain Training to tune up your mind

We have the new Brain Trainer and Mini Brain Trainer electronic games to keep your minds in tip top condition.



The Brain Trainer is the ingenious invention of a celebrated Japanses neuroscientist called Dr Ryuta Kawashima. It provides fun exercise for the brain to stimulate and enhance your mental power.

A series of programmes have been designed to stimulate the frontal cortex of the brain to enhance your mental agility and memory retention. These consist of several numerical tests, counting test, focus test and memory test in which you are variously challenged to add / subtract / multiply as fast as you can, count as fast as you can, to add a series of numbers sequentially and to memorise and recall as many numbers as possible. The Brain Trainer will monitor your progress by logging your score and time for each session.



The Mini Brain Trainer will improve your attention and memory skills and will help your reactions to become more swift and accurate with 4 fun games to exercise your memory, reflexes and concentration.

• Flash - memorise the 4 numbers that appear on the screen quickly


• Sequence - memorise the numbers that move across the screen quickly


• Catch - catch the block as it moves from left , right , top or bottom


• Blocks - memorise the block shape that appears for an instant.

The Brain Training games are available from www.kidEstore.co.uk

New Melissa and Doug Learn to Play Piano

We love Melissa and Doug wooden toys. They have a great attention to details and lovely design at a very competetive price.



The Melissa and Doug Learn to Play Piano is not only a beautiful wooden toy, it is also a fantastic musical instrument and a great way to introduce your child to playing the piano. It comes with a song book and teaching chart to help give them a good start.

New Wedgits construction toy at kidEstore.co.uk

We have the award winning Wedgits construction set in stock for the new year at our educational toy store kidEstore.co.uk..

Junior Wedgits is a great set including 14 pieces plus instructions for over 40 designs.

The Wedgits Starter Set is perfect for starting smaller children as it has slightly larger pieces (although all Wedgit sets are compatible).

Wedgits To Go is a great cased set with 35 pieces, a fun keychain, a Wedgits guide booklet and sample Advanced Design Cards all in a sturdy carry case.

The Wedgits Building Board adds another dimension to your wedgit buidling.

For younger builders Wee Wedgits are soft foam wedgit blockswith rounded edges which are suitable from age 1.

New Cambridge Brainbox kits

Cambridge Brainbox are a great range of easy to use electronics kitsfor children and we are pleased to add a couple of new items to our range.



The Cambridge Brainbox Walking Robot demonstrates how rotary motion from an electric motor can be turned into linear motion in the robots legs. Easy to do and great fun, the gearbox even has variable ratios to allow you to experiment and find the optimum gear ratio for a natural walking speed.



The Cambridge Brainbox Solar Racer is a great new kit to demonstrate environmentally friendly transport to children. The kit allows you to build an electric motor powered car with a photo voltaic panel to generate the required power from sunlight (or a normal light bulb).

Help Children Learn French with these Educational Games

Two new educational games from Orchard Toys will get your children learning French at an early age.

Les Courses a Faire is the popular Shopping list game in French developed with the Linguaphone Company.

Cherchon Le Mot is a cool Find the Word game where you must match the correct French and English words. The game was again developed with Linguaphone and contains a pronunciation game for you to use.

New Educational Games for Children from Orchard Toys

We love Orchard Toys - their educational kids games are always bright and colourful, easy to play and great fun. That is why we are delighted to take some of their new educational games for our 2007 range. Many of these new games have links to National Curriculum Maths and National Curriculum English.

Piggy In The Middle is an educational game about money. Players travel around the board earning and spending money - the first to fill their piggy bank is the winner.

What A Performance is a great game to build confidence in children. Can you pretend to be a monkey, make a noise like a firework or wiggle your ears? If you can’t, use the magic decoder and reveal your hidden forfeit! The game contains over 200 exciting activities.

In Pop To The Shops children go round the board from shop to shop buying various items with plastic money. Great for learning counting, handling money and giving change.

Crazy Chefs is a fun lotto game with a food theme. The object is to grab all of the items required to make a tasty meal.

Learning to tell the time has just become much more fun with Orchard Tell The Time. A great way to learn both analogue and digital clocks and the Penguin clock face extends the play value.

We think you will agree these educational games are great for toddlers, pre-school and primary school children.

UK Dominates the charts for Wooden Toy searches

It looks like the UK tops the chart for searches for wooden toys on Google. The top ten cities are as follows:


1. Thames Ditton, United Kingdom
2. Ipswich, United Kingdom
3. Auckland, New Zealand
4. Meriden, CT, USA
5. Sheffield, United Kingdom
6. Reading, United Kingdom
7. London, United Kingdom
8. Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
9. Poplar, United Kingdom
10. Brisbane, Australia

Thames Ditton (population 7500) with a larger query rate for wooden toys than London???

We can't offer an explanation - we just know we offer some of the best wooden toys around at kidEstore.co.uk

Become a fashion designer at future London, Paris and Milan Fashion Weeks

Never mind wanting to be one of those beanpole size zero models - girls really ought to be designing the fantastic fashions and make-up looks that are on display.

This is where kidEstore.co.uk and the Fashion Angels can help. Their design kits are great activities for girls and give craft activities a real direction and professional feel.

kidEstore sell a large part of the Fashion Angels range including the Fashion Angels Fashion Design Sketch Book and Fashion Angels Fashion Design Sketch Book Croquis Refills, the Fashions Angels Design Studio Set and Fashion Angels Design Studio Refill Pad and the Fashion Angels Make-up Artist Sketchbook and Fashion Angels Make-up Artist Sketchbook Croquis Refills.