Collaborative Post

I first came across Orange Tree Toys when my 1 year old fell in love with one of their Lion Push-Alongs. Unfortunately, said push-along was not hers, and she had a full-on meltdown in the middle of the garden centre when I asked her to put it back on the shelf. I had to escort her very quickly off the premises!

After that rather rocky start, it is now tradition for us to bribe Charis (yes I’m a bad mummy!) with a browse of the Orange Tree Toys section if she’ll walk nicely around the garden centre first.

So you can imagine my excitement when Orange Tree Toys agreed to send me some of their wonderful wooden toys to review on Lucy At Home!

Lion Xylophone

The Orange Tree Toys characters are painted with vivid colours and, after seeing the success of the Lion Push-Along, I knew the Lion Xylophone would be hit with little Charis. She loves to bang around and make lots of noise. At just £14.99, it’s great value for money.

Colourful, wooden xylophone in a lion design

Unlike most xylophone toys, the Orange Tree Toys xylophone has a very mellow sound because the rainbow-coloured bars are made of wood rather than metal (a definite plus point in my book!).

Xylophones are a great way for young children to explore musical concepts:

• Different bars make different notes
• Long bars make low notes and short bars make high notes
• Hitting hard makes loud notes and tapping gently makes quiet notes
• Using two sticks together, you can make a “chord” (2 notes playing simultaneously)

It may seem simple to us, but these are the first steps on the journey of music. It’s also a great lesson in cause-and-effect.

Side-view of the Lion Xylophone

Wooden Cream Tea Set

The Wooden Cream Tea Set is aimed at slightly older children (3+) and, I’m sure you’ll agree, is beautiful! It was so easy to photograph because the pieces are just gorgeous! This whole set is just £25.

Beautiful Wooden Cream Tea Set

Imaginative Play is so important and as soon as I showed these little cakes to Charis, she pretended to start eating them. This was then followed by shoving one into mummy’s mouth… and then getting out every teddy bear, doll and stuffed toy she could find, for a tea party!

Charis and her toys having a tea party with the Wooden Cream Tea Set

You can buy the scones and the buns separately if you want to. Or there is even a full Afternoon Tea set, complete with triangle sandwiches (how very posh!).

Three wooden cupcakes

Orange Tree Toys

Yes okay, I’ll admit it; I’m a sucker for wooden toys. There’s just something about them that feels special. They’re the sort of toys that you know will last and you’ll tuck safely away in the attic for your kids’ kids to play with!

The Orange Tree Toys we’ve seen definitely have that sort of sparkle and we’ve loved reviewing them.

Thank you, Orange Tree Toys!

Disclaimer: I was sent the xylophone and cream tea set for the purposes of this review. All opinions are my own. For more info, check out my Disclosure Policy.