Summer Activity: Nature Bug Hunt

Let's go on a nature bug hunt... Grab your bug box, magnifying glass, pencil, and Nature_Bug_Hunt downloadable activity!

Children will love this outdoor adventure game: Nature Bug Hunt which can be played in the garden at home, on holiday or pretty much anywhere! The Rules:

1. Print off a Nature_Bug_Hunt sheet for each player.
2. Tick off the items on your Nature_Bug_Hunt sheet as you find them.
3. Have fun!
4. The first to tick them all off WINS!

Download your sheets here: Nature_Bug_Hunt

So, help little ones learn about nature and discover what they might find in the garden or local park! This summer activity encourages conversation through outdoor activity to help inspire learning and understanding of nature including trees, bugs, and wildlife. Almost, all children are fascinated by tiny creatures and Bigjigs Garden Bug Keeper will be the perfect home for all manner of bugs that take their interest! Why not, collect some of the bugs on your hunt (be sure to return them to their home before the end of the day!) Whats more, the bug keeper features a magnifying glass in the lid to allow close examination of the contents and a carry handle. Why not, add some twigs or leaves and make a house a home? The world is full of fascinating objects and curious children love examining all manner of things! This wooden framed Magnifying Glass available at bigjigstoys.co.uk will help little ones to discover more. If their fascination is bugs in the garden, or unusual items found around the home, this is a great way to learn more about the things that take their interest. Ideal for educational, active play sessions. Furthermore, it helps to improve dexterity and hand/eye co-ordination.

This week, mum of one, Kelly reviewed Playcolor's mess free solid poster paint pens. Bigjigs sent me two packs to try - the Playcolor Pocket and Playcolor Pocket Metallic. I knew they would be an instant hit with us, what can be bad about mess free painting? I loved the selection of colours in the metallic set, especially the gold! I used the solid paint pens with my 3 year old daughter. They were fun, easy to use and automatically we drawn to the bright vibrant colour which in turn produced a lovely outcome. We tried out the gold metallic pen on black card and loved the results; the gold paint shimmered in the light. My daughter loved the smooth, easy, bright application and she loved exploring the pens and how they twisted and squished when she pushed the end down. The pens were chunky enough for her to be able to hold easily. They had a really even bright appearance when applied and this stayed once the paint had dried. One thing we did notice was if the pens were applied heavily they took a while to dry but they did not stain or smudge. The pens were easy to wipe off with very little mess. They gave good coverage and I can imagine they would last for a while. It was great to not have to use water or paint brushes and to just be able to pop the lid back on instead. Meaning, cleaning up was completed in next to no time - always an added bonus! I can see these paint pens being ideal for rainy day activities and an excellent way to encourage active imaginations. We enjoyed using these tremendously and cannot wait to explore what the rest of the range has to offer. [caption id="attachment_2784" align="alignleft" width="300"] Playcolor Pocket Metallic RRP £11.99[/caption] [caption id="attachment_2783" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Playcolor Pocket RRP £7.99[/caption]

Bigjigs Toys is celebrating National Marine Week by running a give away. You could be in with a chance to win £40+ worth of prizes; a Bigjigs Toys Marine Activity Centre, Petit Collage Ocean Pop-Out and Green Toys Launch Boat. At Bigjigs we care very much about the environment and feel it is important for little ones to learn through play and exploration. The Bigjigs Toys Marine Activity Centre encourages dexterity and matching skills. It features a spinning sun and wheel and three matching shell and seahorse blocks. Your little one can also help the birds fly up and down the beaded wire and guide the fish who are waiting to swim! Petit Collage's Ocean Pop-Out set is great for teaching little ones about sea life. The set comes complete with an octopus, a whale, a shark, a jellyfish, coral and seaweed. The Green Toys Launch Boat is made from 100% recycled milk cartons and is safe, non-toxic; contains no BPA, PVC, phthalates or external coatings. This lightweight cruiser is specially sized for little hands, making them the perfect go-to toy for the bath, pool, or beach. The boat includes a duck captain figure for extended imaginative role play. Guaranteed to produce hours of Good Green Fun! National Marine Week is run by The Wildlife Trust to promote the variety of wildlife on our coastlines and in our seas. We would love to hear if you are taking part in any National Marine Week activities. Are you taking a trip to the coast and going rock-pooling, building sandcastles or seeing if you can spot your favourite sea creature? Click here to print the Wildlife Trust's Coastal Wildlife Spotter, a great way to spend time together as a family exploring the outdoors! To enter the competition just comment on this blog post and tell us why you would like to win. The competition will close on Sunday 31st August at 7pm. The winner will be notified week commencing 1st August. Good luck!

You may have seen my previous blog post reviewing the Green Toys Sand Play Set, this week I had the opportunity to review two toys from the new Rubbabu range. With Rubbabu having just launched this week, I thought what better way to test how much Rubbabu's toys are loved by children than to test them out at home with my own two little ones; Matilda aged two and a half and Jacob aged 10 months. We tested out the Rubbabu Building Blox and the Rubbabu Charles The Micro Airplane. First impressions - the Rubbabu Building Blox were nicely presented in well designed packaging which is 100% recyclable. There is a window cut out at the front of the box so you can see and most importantly, feel the product inside. I feel that this is important as so often the image of the product on the packaging can misrepresent what's inside. Charles the Micro Airplane came packaging free with a little tag around his wheels. Matilda absolutely loved playing with the Building Blox, the interconnecting cylindrical pieces are a nice added extra to conventional building block toys. They added an extra element of fun and even more building possibilities. She really enjoyed putting the interconnecting parts into the different coloured blocks. The blocks have a lovely velvet feel to them and as you can see from the photo below come in bright colours! One of things I like best about these blocks is that I can feel at ease knowing if Matilda builds a tower and Jacob topples it over, he won't get hurt because the blocks are so wonderfully soft. They both loved playing with the blocks - Jacob had a great time rolling the cylindrical pieces across the floor and crawling speedily after them. Charles the Micro Airplane comes in dark green and is easy for little hands to grasp due to it's small size. It would make a great gift and would be ideal as a toy to travel with. It's soft, tactile and bendable. Jacob liked the feel of it and enjoyed pushing it around on the floor. I always try and make sure I buy ethical and environmentally friendly products. Rubbabu toys are made with biodegradable and renewable materials, so for me, they tick all of the boxes. I'll be adding some Rubbabu to Jacob and Matilda's Christmas list. Thank you for reading. Emma.

Mission 4! It's summer time and the weather is WET! But, that hasn't stopped the Play Patrollers having fun! Recently Bigjigs sent out lots of toys to our Play Patrollers to review with their family and friends! Read and watch the reviews below: What the Redhead said Play Patrollers reviewed the Fire Station Train Set and loved it! Already BIG Bigjigs rail fans they were very excited to receive one of the latest themes and it has fitted in nicely with their existing collection. Playing with friends and family was even more fun and the set was a sure-fire hit! (pun intended!). Read more here... Sarah and the little Play Patrollers from Parents in Touch have been reviewing some of our favourite Launch Boats from Green Toys . The Play Patrollers ventured outside to play with the boats, which were put through their paces. After many races, science experiments and their Dad even joined in the fun! Read more here... Sophie & Lily Play Patrollers also ventured into the garden and watered their plants using the Twigz Watering Can. Even for little hands, the double handed watering can was perfect to sprinkle a drink on the flowers and tomato plants! And when the rain poured down it meant there was an opportunity to play indoors and continue the horticultural experience inside away from the rain. The Green Toys Build a Bouquet is the best toy to create wonderful bright colourful floral arrangements. Read and see what the little ones did with their bouquets here... A fantastic review of Bigjigs Rail Fire & Rescue Train by The Mummy Stylist Tyler our little Play Patroller who is a BIG Bigjigs Rail fan! Tyler has recently become a big brother and we hope, he will share his amazing track building skills with his little sister because WOW we were impressed with the amount of Bigjigs rail track & trains Tyler has! Check out the amazing tracks here... Hannah Spannah Coco Banana and her little pirate Play Patroller have reviewed our Bigjigs Rail Pirate Train Set, and they loved it! During the mission they discovered this rail theme is such good fun and little ones love to learn and play using their imagination, combining an exciting imaginary new world of discovery and classic railway. Watch them play with the set here... Jade from Raising the Rings has reviewed one of our favourite trains from Green Toys & a NEW book 'Train off the Rails' from Green Toys. The book tells a story about the train and 2 characters. Jade and her two little play patrollers loved this mission putting the book and train together helped to bring the story to life. Read more about what they thought here... LadyBug Home kindly reviewed two of Bigjigs lovely dolls - Jenny 28cm Doll & Harry 28cm Doll . The two little Play Patrollers loved playing together with the dolls, having a picnic, tea party and rocked to sleep in the cradle, see how well they played together here... Our Play Patrollers from Chelsea Mamma had a musical adventure with Bigjigs Wooden Music Set - they found it an ideal toy as an early introduction to sound and rhythm and Sebby loves the opportunity to make lots of noise! Check out the review here... A wonderful review from Mummy of Two +1 and her three little play patrollers! They received three toys to review this mission: Bigjigs Marine Play Planks , Bigjigs Number Tower & Activity Ball. Each toy was loved individually by the play patrollers and the number tower and play planks were brilliant toys to encourage all three to play together! Read about how much fun they had here... My Mummy's World has reviewed Flower Activity Centre & Pirate Train and the happy little play patrollers have enjoyed this months toys and mission. They have been playing and having fun together with them! Read more on what the play patrollers enjoyed most...

Don't forget to check back next month to read more reviews from Play Patrol

Earlier on this year Bigjigs Toys took on Petit Collage as a distribution brand. Petit Collage is all about good design. They create modern decor, gifts and playthings for families all influenced by midcentury aesthetics and bold graphics. Create a magical world of display and play with the beautifully designed pop-out and play sets. The best-selling line of pop-outs are big-time crowd pleasers. Craft project? Room decor? Play characters? All of the above! Eco Friendly Petit Collage strive to handcraft their goods in a sustainable way, using the best quality, most eco-friendly materials available. From sustainably harvested wood veneer, renewable bamboo, and recycled paper to factories certified with stringent environmental certifications, Petit Collage design with the planet in mind. We would love to keep you updated on all things Petit Collage, sign up to the Petit Collage newsletter and receive a free Petit Puzzle! These cute-as-a-button 24 piece puzzles (available in various designs) are the perfect for on-the-go fun and are made from recycled paper printed with vegetable based inks. Once the form is complete press enter to submit, the contents will disapear once submitted. *Only shipped to UK.

We recently sent Hannah, mum of four and author of the wonderful blog Cars on Repeat a Bigjigs Toys Cutting Fruit set to review. Read Hannah's review below: My daughter Indigo is 3 years old and I recently gave her the Cutting Fruit playset from Big Jigs to play with. She is a big fan of her toy kitchen already & it is full of lovely wooden toasters, ice cream sundaes & tea sets, so I expected the fruit set to be a hit. The set comes in a wooden box with a clear sliding lid. I think it's always a bonus when a toy comes packaged in its' own storage to keep it lovely & neat. The set has wooden fruit: strawberry, lemon, banana, apple, pear, kiwi & orange. The fruit pieces (apart from the little strawberry) are split in 2 and held together with Velcro. Included in the set is a little chopping board & cutting tool to split the fruit pieces with. Indigo was immediately thrilled with the toy & had no problems getting to grips with cutting up her fruit. I think this is such a great toy for encouraging fine motor skills. It's also a perfect way to begin to learn kitchen skills & safety without the risk! The pieces of fruit are so bright & appealing, it's lovely to listen talk about all the different types of fruit which helps to promote healthy eating as well. We have used the Cutting Fruit set to talk about colours & have played counting games with them as well, so they're really versatile! I love wooden toys for children, they are easy to keep clean & last for years & years. Indigo's older brothers have enjoyed helping her to play with this toy, they've even set up a pretend café with her which is great for imaginative play & role play too. This little set will be played with for a really long time!

Let me introduce myself, I'm Emma and I am the Marketing and PR Assistant here at Bigjigs Toys. I have two young children; two year old Matilda and nine month old Jacob. Needless to say, I love working here at Bigjigs and buying good quality and fun (not to forget educational and eco-friendly) toys for Matilda and Jacob. This weekend we took a trip to our local beach, braving the elements (luckily we managed to avoid the rain) to use Matilda's new Green Toys Sand Play Set in blue (green and pink are also available). Matilda was so excited she even tried to dig up the floor in the Turner Gallery much to the amusement of the gallery staff! The Green Toys brightly coloured bucket, spade, castle mould and rake are very robust and made from recycled milk jugs. The packaging has a nice natural feel to it and is very simple in design making it very appealing, the obvious added bonus is that it is 100% recyclable. When I say that this set could provide hours of eco-friendly green fun, I really do mean HOURS. Matilda loved the castle sand mould making multiple castles and destroying them over and over. The rake and spade were used to dig for pirate treasure. The rope handle on the bucket made it easy for Matilda to carry (hard plastic handles often dig into little ones' hands) and the handles on the spade and rake were easy for her to grip. We really love this set and it's so easy to clean (important for mums who are wary of lurking germs!). Being very environmentally conscious, it is so lovely that Matilda can have fun whilst knowing we are helping the environment at the same time. I can see this set lasting a very long time Matilda and Jacob will have hours of Good Green Fun!

At Bigjigs, making and selling environmentally friendly toys is very important to us. To celebrate World Environment Day, we are running two competitions giving away products for two of our distribution brands; Green Toys and Petit Collage. Green Toys use 100% recyclable materials. They are passionate about the environment and making eco-friendly toys. To date, Green Toys have recycled over 42,575,102 milk bottles. These milk bottles are then reprocessed into a raw material and mixed with food safe mineral-based colouring. We are giving away a Green Toys Watering Can and a Build-a-Bouquet. To be in with a chance to win, visit our Facebook or Twitter page. Petit Collage's beautifully bright and bold designs use vegetable-based inks and are made with our planet in mind. Their products use sustainably harvested wood veneer, renewable bamboo and recycled paper. We are giving away a Tree Pop-Out and Treetop Friends Floor Puzzle. To be in with a chance to win, visit our Facebook or Twitter page. See the Green Toys and Petit Collage ranges here What will you be doing to help our planet for World Environment Day?

Bigjigs Play Patrollers have been busy blogging and vlogging for the latest Play Patrol Mission! The third round of toy reviews - mission 3! Read all the reviews from our Play Patrollers, each and everyone has given us their honest opinion. To read the previous reviews click here Jade from Raising the Rings & two of our youngest Patrollers have reviewed Farm Cube Puzzle & Snazzy Activity Triangle! Read Jade's review here. Read this fantastic and very well written review by Luke from What Luke Did Next Luke and his Sister received My First Gardening Tools & Flower Press and they absolutely loved getting in the gardening and pressing flowers... Read the review and see what they made here Parents in Touch and Play Patrollers reviewed the Gigi Bloks Big Bloks who at first weren't sure on the toy, but as time went on Gigi grew on them and they began building their own fantasy worlds! Read about their experience here. Mummy of 2+1 has reviewed three toys in this latest mission. The Play Patrollers got creative with the Playcolor Make-Up themed sets and Playcolor Textil set read the review to see how much roleplay fun they had here. Ladybug Home and Play Patrollers have reviewed Bigjigs Stacking Fire Engine & Petit Collage Modern Birds Pop Out: The little ones loved playing with both toys, watch their story here. The Mummy Stylist and Tyler have reviewed Gigi Bloks GIANT Bloks and they LOVED them, they build forts, cars and tunnels and much more... watch the review here. Chelsea Mamma has reviewed Petit Collage Woodland ABC Nestling Blocks and Sebastian and enjoyed playing with the eco-friendly toys and it is great to hear from the blog followers on their thoughts too... Check out the review and reader thoughts here... Baby Alex and older sister Lily from Sophie & Lily blog have reviewed Bigjigs Stacking Tractor and Playcolor Make-up. Read what they thought about the toys here.... What the Redhead said and Play Patrollers have reviewed Gigi Bloks GIANT Bloks and they loved them! So far they have built one thing because 'Little Man' Play Patroller loves it so much they can't change it yet! Read what it is here... Hannah Spannah Coco Banana's little Play Patrollers recently sustained an injury and this amazing team still managed to review one our Petit Collage Pop Out Pirate Ship - amazing! The Bigjigs team wish you a speedy recovery! :) Watch the review here... My Mummy's World and Isla one of our Play Patrollers have reviewed BigJigs Bella Spiral Cot Rattle , they loved it read why here.

Be sure to check back for more reviews next month from our Play Patrollers! :)

Playcolor: Bigjigs introduced Playcolor back in March of this year: It is the no mess painting alternative!

Bigjigs Play Patrollers have been busy blogging and vlogging for the latest Play Patrol Mission! This second round of toy reviews - mission 2! Read on for honest reviews from our Play Patrollers, everyone expects toys to be fun but when children learn and grow whilst playing its even better. Read the reviews to see how each Play Patroller developed new skills whilst playing. This brilliant review written by School boy Luke and his sister from What Luke Did Next shows how much fun they had playing with Gigi Bloks - cardboard building blocks - read Luke's blog to find out why they would buy these here. When Baby Alex from Sophie & Lily played with Bigjigs Click Blocks it was hit and miss whether he would manage to build with them, but slowly and surely the skills developed by the end of the video a small tower has been built, a big achievement for one of our youngest Play Patrollers! Well done! Watch to see how Baby Alex' skills developed whilst playing... Mummy of 2+1 got sent three toys to review. It was great to see all 3 reviewers playing together, read about how they enjoyed the Bella Key Rattle, Wooden Music Set & Stack a Stick Game here. Hannah Spannah Coco Banana has reviewed one of our newest distribution brands, launched in March for sale in the UK - Gigi Bloks Giant Bloks! It was an absolute hit with this little Play Patroller! Watch the review here... What the Redhead said and her little team of Play Patrollers played together nicely to review the Petit Collage Colour-in Castle Pop Out and Busy Bugs Memory Game, read about what they would recommend for when you play with this pop out set here... Ladybug Home and her team of two Play Patrollers has reviewed the Stack a Stick Game & Pull Along Duck: Both toys were very much enjoyed and helped develop skills and even better the little ones loved playing with them, watch their story here. Parents in Touch and Play Patrollers reviewed the Petit Collage Safari Pop Out, the team of two played perfectly with only minor hitches! Read about how they worked as a team to create a safari scene and got creative with a hand-drawn backdrop here. My Mummy's World little Play Patrollers have been reviewing the Railway Station Carry Set & Rainbow Roller. For this huge rail fan the Railway set went down a storm and he loved it could be carried around! Read to see how they both got on with the toys here. Jade from Raising the Rings & our youngest Play Patroller has reviewed some Green Toys including Twist Teether and Mini Pick-Up Truck! Read Jade's review to find out why they loved the toys so much here. The Mummy Stylist and little Tyler have reviewed Petit Collage Safari Pop-Out. They enjoyed the pretty designs on the animals, putting them together and creating a miniature safari animal scene! Watch the review here.