Welcome to the official blog for The Ark Toys in the San Francisco Bay Area! Voted best toy store in 2013 by the SF Bay Guardian, our blog reflects our passion for imaginative toys, kids decor, arts and crafts, fascinating toy history, and much more. Thanks for hanging out with us!
And WE love Nicolas too! This whimsical toddler toy is one of the most unique activity plush you'll come across, and he quickly became a big customer favorite since his debut.
So what makes Nicolas so different?
Whimsical french baby toy company, Lilliputiens, is known for producing cool interactive plush toys that appeal to babies and tots 6 months and up. They even feature a colorful cast of characters, ranging from Arnold the Pirate Hippo, Jef the puppy dog, Ophelie the chicken, and even more plush friends.
Each character comes in a variety of different designs, such as soft rattles, puppets, musical plush, and colorful teether toys. This particular Lilliputiens toy definitely stands out for its truly unique design and features. Simply pull up Nicolas' corduroy top hat to switch on an instrumental version of "Humpty Dumpty", while a charming little plush bunny awaits inside his hat to say hello!
But what's our most favorite feature of Musical Nicolas?
His face illuminates with soft twinkling lights as the music plays! Making it a great sleep aid for babies and tots, this special plush wolf has been a regular favorite for baby shower gifts, first birthdays, and holiday presents.
Nicolas also promotes gross motor skill development and sensory stimulation. The pull-string top hat helps improve large arm movements, plus young kids are treated to a visual and musical experience as they enjoy a twinkling music show.
Toy blocks that crisp and crackle to the touch are just one of the many beneficial features of today's soft toys for baby. One of our favorite baby building toys, the wonder soft blocks set, does just that and even more cool stuff.
Tot's really enjoy the neat sounds and tactile feeling of their favorite soft blocks, but these special German-made wonder blocks introduces a range of intriguing features to help stimulate the senses as well, such as mesh-like textures, ribbed surfaces, soft reflective windows, velcro blocks, a captivating color palette to stimulate color recognition, and a sturdy design for easy stacking.
Soft blocks with little windows and doors that allow kids to discover new images is a fun way to help improve object recognition, like pets, people, natural objects like leaves and trees, elements of a home, and more.
So when is the right age to introduce soft blocks?
Soft baby toys are designed for a variety of age ranges, and early soft block sets are good for kids who're just discovering their clutching and object placement abilities. Children as young as just 6m can benefit from soft block sets from Apple Park, HABA and Lamaze, just to name a few. Our favorite wonder blocks set is actually designed for children ages 6m and up and comes with its own accompanying carrying case for quick and easy storage too.
Dollhouses have been a staple of Childhood play for generations of kids. Allowing children to decorate and arrange their own dollhouses helps inspire creative ideas, like an early fascination with architecture, design, art, and even creative writing. Dollhouses often serve as a stage for kids to set up their own original plays, craft their dream homes, and even act out ideas of what they want to be when they grow up!
Today there's a wide selection of dollhouse designs to choose from, ranging from that traditional Victorian style to more modern houses with minimalist decor. Falling into a category of it's own is the sustainable Chalet style dollhouse with that cool and earthy color palette, modern skylights and open design. These dollhouses aren't confined to one look either and are designed to be arranged in a variety of ways.
There's a lot of room for imaginative play and creativity here. Kids can choose whether their cascading stairs should belong in or outside the house, turn the dollhouse itself into separate condos, decide on the feng shui of the accompanying furniture, or even add compatible parts to create an epic sprawling metropolis.
Like creative writing, painting, and theater, imaginative play with dollhouses can serve as a creative outlet for kids of all different ages. Wee ones who're still developing their logical thinking skills, creativity and object recognition naturally take to dollhouses because they allow hem to work out and understand the world around them.
While kids who're growing a little older may see dollhouses as a platform for working out more complex and creative ideas, like coming up with dollhouse decoration plans built around color or themes. Kids naturally start to pick out their own dollhouse furniture, accessories, and miniature dolls to create more involved worlds.
What are some of your favorite dollhouse memories? Let us know in the comment section below!
I've been thinking about writing this post for a while now, and today's the day! Ever since I started building The Ark's Youtube channel, I've been struck with all types of inspiration on how to keep shoppers informed about what's out there in toy land.
While it's true that you can find nearly everything online, including in-depth toy reviews, that doesn't mean the content you're reading is credible and aimed at helping you make those informed toy purchases. Yes, there are a lot of fake reviews out there. In fact, last year Yelp and a slew of other companies (about 18 others) were dinged for publishing fake product reviews. Not only does this harm the credibility of consumer review sites, but it leaves honest online shoppers with an uneasy feeling about the information they're reading.
However Google has been trying to do their part to gradually rid the web of spammy pages aimed at misleading web surfers, which opens the door for legitimate toyconnoisseurs, passionate toy bloggers, and reviewers for their credible content to be seen.
Luckily for us Arkians, we're oozing with toy suggestions, honest info, and the type of enthusiasm customers appreciate and need. One of our goals online is to deliver that same customer service experience to parents and shoppers from across the globe. We know not everyone can have that small toy store experience as more and more independent toy stores disappear, but social media gives us a chance to create our unique atmosphere right online for everyone to enjoy.
As mentioned earlier, one of the inspirations for writing this post came from the new Youtube channel I've been working on for the store. In addition to making playlists linking to some of The Ark's favorite toymaker videos, I've also been creating and uploading the store's very own toy demo videos. Youtube videos may have to be one of the best ways to make an informed decision about a toy, as there's nothing quite like seeing it in action to cement a decision.
Another great asset for confident toy buying is understanding the labels on the back of the box. Just like food items, toys also have their own unique set of "nutritional facts." When customers inquire about the quality of a product, I often talk about a company's attention to manufacture oversight (if it's being produced overseas) and I always point out that big CE logo.
So what does this "CE" logo actually stand for? When a toy has this special marking, it means it has passed all European standards for toy design, manufacture and safety. A toy can absolutely be made oversees in China and still qualify for this "quality seal of approval" if the manufacture oversight is exemplary and conforms to European toy standards. In fact, a toy can't be sold in Europe without this "CE" qualification, making Europe's standards a definite authority concerning safety, material quality and toy design.
The next time you stroll into a toy store looking for top quality gifts, remember to check out helpful YouTube channels and look out for special labeling that assures safety and quality.
Okay Moms ROCK! Not only are they fabulous customers, but Moms have some of the best suggestions, tips, and insight when it comes to kids toys. As a toy store sales associate and blogger, their honest opinions and suggestions have helped diversify our toy selection and give us new angles to consider.
From the specifics of fine motor skill development to how kids truly react to certain toys, the feedback we've received from Moms have been invaluable to our lil' toy company.
Some of the most honest, useful, and even funny advice and parenting stories come from today's mom bloggers. There's really too much to count, and we're always discovering new mom bloggers every week, so we wanted to introduce you all to some of our current favs of the moment.
So without further ado, we bring you Mommy Blogs that we love!
1. Not Your Average Mom is pretty amazing. Definitely not average and one of the funniest mom bloggers out there today. While she has an awesome knack for infusing that signature humor into her writing, her work is also very insightful and profound, giving us a lot to think about on child raising and life in general actually. You don't have to be a Mom to read and enjoy mommy blogs; in fact, some of the most enjoyable writing can be found on today's top mommy blogs. This particular blog post is brilliant, and you can see why she made our list.
2. First Time Mom and Dad is a seriously wonderful blog that follows new parents, April and "first time dad" a.k.a FTD, on their exciting daily journey with their toddler. Talk about a courtship that's made for the movies! You can read all about how they met on their about page (trust me, it's a pretty awesome story!) Since then, they've become one of the most enjoyable, stand-out Mommy AND Daddy blogs. Providing everything from humor, to real talk, to parenting tips you can actually use, First Time Mom and Dad is a super great read.
Stay tuned for our next batch of Mommy Blogs we love to read!
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!
It's SO much fun watching toys being made. It conjures up all that Santa's Workshop sentiment, along with an appreciation for trade, craftsmanship and creativity. That's what's so great about the show How It's Made and all those great tutorial videos on YouTube. Watching familiar, everyday objects like chalkboards, neon signs, and crayons being made from step one is really mesmerizing to watch. These videos are great for kids because it helps develop a real appreciation and curiosity for making things.
Take it away!
Made in Germany, Haba Toys are known worldwide for their superior wood craftsmanship, as well as introducing a variety of important concepts aimed at improving logical thinking, dexterity, creativity, and problem solving, just to name a few. This is one of our favorite toy videos. Enjoy!
A CBS profile of San Francisco toy makers, The Original Green Toy Company. We love this brand! Not only are their toys made right in San Francisco, but they're made from 100% recycled plastic. You can take them to the beach, camping, school, you name it.
A look at how Play-doh is made! Every step has to be precise to get the right consistency and scent.
Does LEGO need an introduction? This video is pretty cool. Take a look at the "robot" factory behind your kid's favorite building toys.
And WE love Nicolas too! This whimsical toddler toy is one of the most unique activity plush you'll come across, and he quickly became a big customer favorite since his debut.
