Good Morning Bigjiggers! Today is a very exciting day for us here at Bigjigs HQ as we are delighted to announce that our re-vamped Triangular Activity Centre has won a Slow Toy Award. The Slow Toy movement and its awards aim to recognise the 'real toys' on the market that are well made, inspire the mind and provide children far more than the noise and flashing lights commonly associated with the toys of today. The expert judges including; Peter Jenkinson from Toyology, Al Boxall-Gordon from IzziwizziKids, and three of the country's significant mummy blogger's including; Nicola from 'Monsters Funhouse', Fiona from 'Mummys Little Stars' and Kate from 'What me and the Boys say'. Our Triangular Activity Centre has been awarded by the judging panel for encouraging traditional play, boosting creative thinking and inspiring the development of one's own imagination. The beautiful Triangular Activity Centre, which features a colourful abacus on one side, a blackboard on the other and wooden letter and picture blocks on the third, is a great educational toy for children aged 1+. Each end also features colourful counting and animal sorters. This wonderful wooden toy offers a modern twist on a classic toy encouraging learning through play, enriching the educational experience. "We are delighted to have achieved this award; it has taken us the best part of a year to get this product from start to finish, from the design, manufacture, testing, packaging etc! We are so happy that all the hard work has paid off and that everyone is enjoying this classic toy!" Liz Ireland, Bigjigs Toys Director. All of the winners of the Slow Toy Awards can now be bought in Selfridges, London, otherwise our Triangular Activity Centre can be found on our website. This morning we have appeared in The Metro and on their website:

We have also had a great mention on The Guardian:

We obviously think this is a SUPER toy but now you don't just have to take our word for it! We also offer over 1500 other products which are just as good as this one - go and pick your favourites!

Click here if you want to read more about the Slow Toys Movement.

Good Morrow. After all the hype of our Guinness World Record Attempt we are delighted to see that reviews of our toys are still coming in. We received a wonderful review from One Dad 3 Girls about our Fairy Figure of Eight Train Set. Definitely worth a read!

After months of agonising waiting... Yesterday it was confirmed to us that Bigjigs Toys had broken the record for the Longest Wooden Toy Train Track!!

It is now official - Bigjigs Toys have joined the very select club of Guinness World Record title holders for the Longest Wooden Toy Train Track. We managed to reach 2,196.5 metres - beating the previous record by over 500 metres back in July. The event saw us also raise £1047 for Demelza House and The Locomotive Restoration Fund. We would like to thank everyone that supported us before, during and after the event!!

BIGJIGS TOYS ARE OFFICIALLY AMAZING!!

Our Marketing and PR man George is 25 today!! When we came and saw him this afternoon this is what greeted us...

We think this image optimises Bigjigs Toys: cake, toys and paperwork!! This leads us to ask the question, "With all this going on, when does George find the time to actually get some work done?"

Did you see us in the first edition of Progressive Preschool? It would appear that one of our retailers, Moda in Folkestone, receive a fair amount of the 'older' crowd visiting their wonderful boutique. Here is what co-owener John Parry had to say: "Grandparents are our best customers (after parents) for preschool toys. They particularly like wooden and vintage toys, and we also do well with Bigjigs' rattles, pram accessories and puzzles. We find that grandparents are particularly attracted to the sort of things that they played with as young children, so there is a big nostalgia factor in what we buy to attract their business. We're seen as a destination shop on the high street for products that remind them of their own childhoods and they come to us because they know that we stock traditional items." He says that an average spend by grandparents is somewhere between £15-20. "Grandparents are always generous - there's been no real change in buying habits since the recession - although I think that the run up to Christmas, there might be a bit more of a squeeze." To see the article scroll down:

Have you had similar dealings with the older generation? Share your comments with us, we would love to here them!

We sent George off to attend the Right Start Best Toy Awards 2012 yesterday and were delighted with the outcome (and so was George - he got free champagne, wine and dinner at The Globe!) First award we entered was for the 'Mini World' category whereby Fairview Manor received Spandeau Ballets biggest hit... GOLD!!

This delightful dolls house is perfect for little ones who love roleplay and makes an ideal birthday or xmas gift. (Please do not be put off by the price tag as it does vary dependent upon where your purchase from!) Our second award of the day went to our ever popular Bigjigs Rail Carry Set which received a respectable Highly Commended award for the Mini Movers category!

The Bigjigs Rail Carry Set has been hugely popular since its launch at the start of this year and has already won 3 top toy awards in the UK and 1 in the US - a great testament to a great train set. This 40 piece play set comes complete with station, train, track and accessories to make the perfect gift for rail enthusiasts. PLUS all the pieces fit into the station for easy storage = NO MORE MESS!!

Obviously we are delighted to be even nominated for these prestigious awards - let alone be at the forefront of them, it just go to show all the hard work we put in does pay off (plus George got a day out of the office so he was delighted too!)

We have submitted our bid for the West Cost Main Line to the Transport Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin. We would be much better than these overpriced, busy and often delayed services we already have, right? It would be much more exciting to travel on one of these than the overcrowded, stinky and slow trains we have the moment:

What do you think? Would you travel on our Bigjigs Rail services?

The Practical Pre-School Awards are one of the most prestigious in the industry! This year the reach of the annual awards continued to include products aimed at professional childcare and educational settings, and has expanded further to include products that were aimed at all of primary education including key stage 1 and 2. First up was our already award winning Rail Carry Set:

Designed and finished to the highest quality, this wonderful Bigjigs Rail Carry Set comprises of 40 play pieces including a brightly coloured train engine and carriages, wooden track which is compatible with other leading wooden railway systems, a pull out park scene and a unique roof carry handle. The testers gave the set a score of 89.3% and awarded it Silver in the Toys & Games 3-5 category. They said "The Rail Carry Set is sturdy, well made and easy to put together. The children loved this new addition to the setting and immediately wanted to play with it. The track pieces are chunky and carriages bright and good quality. There are lots of add-ons and we are already intending to buy more!" The Rail Carry Set is reasonably priced at £44.99 and is an ideal focal point for any train enthusiasts set! Second up was our beautiful Blossom Cottage:

This delightful cottage with a detailed exterior opens out to reveal a family home with four fully furnished rooms, a unique garden and patio. Blossom Cottage encourages children's imaginative play where they can design their own home, with 18 pieces of furniture, for the delightful four-piece doll family.

Tester gave this a score of 86.9% where it received Silver for the Classic Toys & Games Category. The testers said "A lovely toy which is extremely well made. It encourages group play as well as individual play. Great value for money as the family and furniture come with the cottage, so no extra costs to add on. Children of all ages found this toy appealing. It is suitable for working with SEN children." Priced at £64.99 this wonderful is dolls house is affordable, long lasting and great for children who love roleplay!

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Sam Ireland - Operations Manager of Bigjigs Toys

"Naturally we are delighted that two of our favourite products received such great awards and feedback! Of course it is always nice to be recognised in the industry awards for our wonderful toys. I am delighted that we managed to receive silver for both the Rail Carry Set and Blossom Cottage; winning awards such as these, really motivate us to design and create even more amazing toys for children to enjoy!"

We are often quite boastful about our own products for obvious reasons, and we often get complimented on our product and how much our Bigjiggers love them... BUT this review posted by 'Woman, Wife and Mum' is on another level.

Full of descriptions and images of Oliver playing with our Bigjigs Rail can be found here!

Old McDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O.... Old McDonald had a farm.... Hang on... Bigjigs have a far superior one (well that's what the reviews below say!)

We have always loved our Play Farm - we even gave one of them away last month as part of a competition on our Bigjigs Toys Facebook page, but there seems to have been an upsurge in reviews on it:

• "Bought this farm for a very active grandson. He loves it. It isn't always a farm but then my grandson isn't always a little boy! He's a knight or a vet or a tractor engineer (Yep...his words) It's durable, colourful and allows a child to make their own stories! I have had to add to the number of animals and farm machinery but that's the way of farming today!!!" - Dee of Hants

• "Lovely little toy. I was surprised by how much you got for your money. I've seen other less well stocked farms for double the price. If I wanted to be really picky, some of the sheds are made of Balsa wood, so maybe not as durable as 'thicker' wood, but it really is not an issue. Nicely made wooden animals. Recommended!" - Sgt Hills

• "This wooden farm set is even better than I expected.Bought it for my grandson whose imagination is just emerging & he spends a lot of time arranging the animals,buildings & the layout of his farm.He has given the animals different voices,bless him. Its well made & attractively coloured, a good buy that gives hours of fun while being educational too." - JackieWack

Have you written any reviews of our products? We would love to see them - get in touch with us: george@bigjigstoys.com

We want to wish TeamGB and ParalympicGB the best of luck at the London 2012 games! We have had a mini Bigjigs Olympics to mark the beginning of the games... including a shot put World Record by Billy Bigjigs (not as long as our Wooden Toy Train Track) and a diving world record by Tom Littlejigs! [caption id="attachment_372" align="aligncenter" width="843"] World Record Shotput Thrower - Billy Bigjigs[/caption] [caption id="attachment_373" align="aligncenter" width="590"] SPLASH!![/caption] We have also received an Olympic Rings special...made out of Bigjigs Rail from theprincessandthepickle! How cool is that! [caption id="attachment_374" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Olympic Rings made out of Bigjigs Rail Track![/caption]

During our Guinness World Record Attempt we were lucky enough to meet one of our mummy bloggers - Mrs C and Miss C! Despite being nearly 7 1/2 months pregnant and with a toddler in toe, Mrs C made the huge effort to come down and see our record attempt...and write about it! Some great photo's and a superb write up - worth a read! [caption id="attachment_357" align="aligncenter" width="320"] Inspiring a generation![/caption]