Enabling Environments: Equipment - recordable pegs...gardening benches...elephant numbers
Ruth Thomson
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Innovative and highly useful new early years products that come with built-in child appeal are previewed by Ruth Thomson.
Recordable Pegs (£29.95 for a set of six)
Simply press the button to record a ten-second message on these recordable pegs that lend themselves to a wide variety of learning opportunities. Use them to record numberlines, instructions for equipment or directions for treasure hunts. Or place them next to pieces of work with recorded descriptions of what is on display.
Balance bike, £105.50
Wesco
Zephyr balance bikes help teach toddlers and older children the co-ordination necessary to ride a bicycle. Without pedals, chains or stabilisers, children simply propel themselves along with their feet while learning to balance and steer.
Exclusive to Wesco, the Zephyr range also includes tricycles, pedal bikes and scooters, and prices start at £101.50. For more information on the range or to order a balance bike, call 0115 9899765 or e-mail sales@wescouk.co.uk and quote the product number 173 129 990.
Gardening benches
Make gardening fun and easy with Millwood Education's three new benches. The mixing bench (£125) comes with a removable bowl; the potting and tool bench (£115) provides storage for tools and space to pot plants; while the seed tray planting bench (£150) comes with four seed trays and a slatted top and shelf to allow excess water to drain away.
Red and yellow wheelbarrow, £28
Keen young gardeners will love this lightweight, wheelbarrow with a metal tube frame, sturdy plastic bucket and rubber grip handles. Suitable for children aged from two and a half.
Elephant Number parade (£49.95)
This beautifully crafted, fair-trade set of elephants is appealing as well as practical. Children will enjoy lining them up, counting them and creating stories around them. Made of papier-mache, each elephant measures L10cm x H8cm and has a numeral painted on it. Suitable for children aged three and up.
Kiddysynk, £417.60 inc VAT
Kiddysynk, a portable handwash unit, is now available from hygiene specialist TEAL. The unit holds enough warm water for up to 40 ten-second washes at a perfect temperature for small hands. Child height, it comes with in-built wheels and a handle.
Plot in a Box (from £95)
An ideal solution for settings without a garden, Plot in a Box is a self-assembly raised bed complete with all you need to grow your own veg. Designed by Deans' Nursery at Mill Farm, near Colchester, the package includes a 100cm x 100cm x 24cm raised bed (larger sizes available), two 100 litre reusable garden bags filled with enriched topsoil blend, controlled release fertiliser, a 60 litre bag of manure and a choice of seeds, seedlings and plants.
Aquadoodle range
Fill up the Aquadoodle pen with water and watch as pictures and colours appear magically on the mats. When the water dries, the doodles disappear so the fun can start all over again. The range includes Aquadoodle Classic (£19.99), Rainbow (£24.99), Animal Magic Sounds (£29.99) and Toy Story 3 (£29.99). Aquadoodle Mini Mats are also available (£6.99 each).
PRODUCTS FOR REVIEW?
If you have a new product that you would like reviewed, e-mail details to: ruth.thomson@haymarket.com
