Back To School Toy Guide For Teachers!

Back to school season is officially here!  And while kids nationwide aren't throwing any back to school parades anytime soon, teachers can prepare for that exciting first day with charming educational technology and toys to fill their classrooms.

Educational games like eeBoo's Spanish and French Bingo features whimsical illustrations that appeal to young children.  This inspires them to learn the basic Spanish and French vocabulary, while playing a fun, challenging game with their friends.

Magnetic wooden responsibility charts are a fun, interactive way to instill good work ethic in children, which crosses over into their at-home responsibilities as well; like doing their homework, washing the dishes, cleaning their rooms, and helping out the neighbors.

Preschool teachers have a lot of great PreK educational toys from wooden toy makers, Plan Toys, Hape, and Melissa & Doug.  It's always good to have imaginative toys on hand for recess or play time; play food sets like the basic four food groups, pizza party food, sandwich making kits, and popular cutting food sets are great for bringing kids together and inspiring creative ideas and storytelling!

Adding both colorful wooden block sets, as well as plain all-natural wood building blocks, to a preschool classroom can really motivate kids to explore early architectural ideas, creative planning, and their own imaginative ideas.  Natural wooden pieces are a signature part of any Waldorf Education inspired classroom too, as well as Waldorf-style soft dolls, brilliant imaginative play silks, and European made art supplies; such as all-natural modeling beeswax, crayons, and poster paints by Stockmar.


Any of these educational toys also make wonderful presents to give that favorite school teacher in your life.

And not so fast teachers, we have another blog post on the horizon about the benefits of cooperative games too.  So stay tuned for more!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Get To Know The Timeless Stories of Elsa Beskow

You may have noticed in our Books section online that we carry quite a bit from Swedish author, Elsa Beskow.  What you might not know is that Beskow is one of Sweden's most beloved children's book authors and illustrators, producing such timeless works as The Sun Egg, Pelle's New Suit, and the delightful Woody, Hazel and Little Pip! 

Those are just a few of the many classic children's stories Beskow contributed over the years, and her work is regularly immortalized in such things as kids decor, baby dish sets, and photos albums, just to name a few.

Elsa Beskow worked prominently at the turn of century in Sweden and well into the 1940s, writing such classics as Peter in Blueberryland, Children from Solbacka, and Ollie's Ski Trip in between 1898 and 1907.  Later on, she went on to produce more storybook favorites like The Flower Festival in 1914, The Children of Hat College in 1930, and Peter & Lotta's Adventure in 1947.  

Her stories were often fanciful or whimsical in nature, typically introducing woodland characters like acorn or toadstool children, fairies, miniature people, and other imaginative characters.

Beskow was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1874 and went on to study art education at the Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts, and Design.  Before long, Beskow was already contributing to well-known Swedish children's magazine, Jultomten in 1914.

Elsa Beskow's whimsical children's stories are a big favorite of librarians, Waldorf Schools, Waldorf-inspired homeschooling, imaginative kids, and creative writers!

Whimsical Birthday Gift Guide For Imaginative Kids

Magical gnome villages, woodland fairy houses, cute intergalactic toys, and marshmallow soft plush are among the many go-to gifts for whimsical themed Birthdays.

But that's really just the tip of the iceberg. Whimsy can be found in almost any toy genre, like imaginative play food, dress up silks, Waldorf style dolls; yes... the list goes on and on!

Stuffed animals are a classic hallmark of imaginative play. An ideal go-to gift for girls and boys, Jellycats plush is definitely well-suited for whimsical birthday parties because they come in a variety of cool creatures like unicorns and dragons.  Plus they feature fanciful pastel colors too!


Classic, finely crafted wooden toys are reminiscent of Santa's workshop, also making them a surefire choice for whimsical birthday gifts. Like These wooden dress up bears that were made in Germany!  They also come with heaps of adorable miniature outfits for whimsical imaginative play and their own sliding wardrobe box.  

Along with Manhattan Toys' charming finger puppets, these gifts are not only fanciful and creative, but thoughtful as well.  Plus they're a great way to bring kids together and inspire puppet theater masterpieces at that next birthday bash.