Bigjigs Toys: A Year In Review 2023
2023 has been a busy one for Bigjigs Toys! Some highlights for us this year include our exciting product showcase on This Morning, the opening of our impressive second warehouse, and the launch of our new eco-friendly wood and silicone collection.
Another big project for us this year has been to make all of our wooden toys eco-friendly by making the switch to sustainable FSC® Certified wood. The target for our product transformation is the end of 2024, but everyone has been working incredibly hard this year to make sure we’re well ahead of schedule.
But we couldn’t achieve any of this without you! So we’d like to say a huge thank you to all of our wonderful readers, customers, friends and family for another fabulous year.
Before the NYE celebrations begin, we thought we'd take a look back at some of our most memorable moments over the past 12 months.
January
London Toy Fair
January saw Bigjigs Toys return to London’s influential Toy Fair to showcase 45 exciting new products, including dress-up sets, silicone stacking toys, wooden shape sorters, animal pull-alongs, floor puzzles, Montessori-style playboxes and more.
February
As Seen On TV
In February, some new eco-friendly toys from our award-winning Simply Scandi collection were featured on ITV’s This Morning, alongside a couple of new Green Toys vehicles. As seen on TV was our one-of-a-kind Activity Puzzle, Shape Matching Board and Shooting Star Sorter.
March
This Is Not A Drill
Our new construction toys arrived in March, ready for young carpenters to build on their DIY skills! A favourite in the new range was our Children’s Tool Bench, packed with accessories including a wooden saw, wrench, screwdriver, hammer and nuts & bolts to help kids pick up handy life skills.
April
Toy Designer Behind The Scenes
In April, we caught up with some of our brilliant product designers to learn more about their role at Bigjigs Toys. This behind-the-scenes blog gave us some fascinating insights into what it’s really like to be a toy designer, from what a typical day looks like to their favourite designs and career highlights.
May
Bigjigs Toys X HomeStart
To mark Mental Health Awareness Month, Bigjigs Toys teamed up with HomeStart Shepway to find out what the charity does to support local mums. As a little thank you for their valuable time and advice, we gifted them with a bundle of new Simply Scandi toys for their mum and baby groups. Read all about it in our Motherhood & Mental Health blog article.
In May, we also celebrated the coronation of His Majesty The King by sharing some top tips on how little princes and princesses could throw their own pretend play tea party.
June
New Nice Cube NeeDoh
June saw the launch of the new Nice Cube NeeDoh, which became an instant TikTok sensation! Kids (and grown-ups) fell in love with the spectacularly satisfying squish of these super-cool fidget toys, so they flew off the shelves and sold out in just a few weeks!
July
Barbie Mania
The world turned pink in July for the release of the much-talked-about new Barbie movie! To give mums and dads an alternative to the somewhat controversial Barbie Doll, we put a spotlight on the more realistic and relatable Lottie Dolls in our 7 Alternative Barbies blog.
August
Progressive Preschool Awards 2023
In August, our Simply Scandi range made it to the Progressive Preschool Awards finals for the Best Preschool Gift Range. Some of the products entered into the awards included our enchanting Woodland Animal Train Set and 12-piece Activity Workbench.
September
Opening New Doors
In September, we opened the doors to our brand new warehouse! The Bigjigs Toys range is now bigger than ever, so we’d been looking for additional warehousing space for some time before our Barnfield Road site was acquired this year. Naturally, we celebrated the occasion with tea and cake!
October
HOT New Drop
Introducing LAVA! In October, we threw it back to the nineties and became the exclusive UK distributor for the iconic LAVA Lamps. The shape-shifting effects of these lamps have become a TikTok hit, and our new eye-catching collection features all sorts of funky styles, from Tie Dye to the Northern Lights!
November
Simply Scandi Kitchen
On 29th November, we launched our stunning Simply Scandi Kitchen! Crafted from sustainable wood and styled with soft pastel tones, this lifelike play kitchen is one of the superstars of our new 2023/24 collection. Inspiring kids to cook up imaginative ideas for make-believe play, the kitchen features a twin hob, an oven, a sink and an under-the-counter cupboard, as well as a saucepan, serving spoon and spatula.
December
12 Days Of Christmas
On the 1st day of Christmas, Bigjigs gave to me… a play kitchen to cook the roasties! We marked the most magical time of the year with a festive social media campaign featuring 12 days of savings on some new and best-selling toys. Every day, we shared a new stop-motion video created by our talented photographer and graphics team. Have a watch over on Instagram @bigjigstoys.
