Melissa & Doug Puzzles

Your never too young or too old for one of Melissa & Doug's puzzles.

A little about Melissa & Doug - they started their company 20 years ago in their garage. They are now one of the leading designers and manufacturers of educational toys and children's products.

The Chunky puzzles are a favourite of mine. They are perfect for little ones with large colourful pieces that fit neatly into board and also stand alone allowing for additional pretend play.

The puzzles are beautifully designed and excellently crafted and are sure to become a favourite in every little ones toy box.

These puzzles can be purchased from our shop for $17.00 each.

Very Hungry Caterpillar Giant Board Book & Plush Toy

You know those books that stay in your memory from when you were a child - well The Very Hungry Caterpillar is one of them.

We have the small version and the giant book version with the plush toy. The Very Hungry Caterpillar giant board book was the first book our son would let us interact with him as I could you the plush caterpillar as a puppet and keep his attention and make it fun.

I love this Eric Carle story – it is a simple story but keeps little ones captivated with its colourful and lovely illustrations and wonderful narrative about a hungry caterpillar growing up to be a beautiful butterfly.

Along with reassuring repetition--"He was still hungry ..."--the book includes some wonderful interactive moments – with the plush caterpillar the little ones can push and pull the caterpillar through the holes while easting his way through various delicacies or what little one can resist sticking a finger through that hole in the page. I also love that this story is educational – in that little ones learn about numbers, food and butterfly life cycles.

A favourite in our house and it can be in your house too – it can be purchased from our shop – it is currently on sale for $40.00.

Dado Cubes from USA!

Dado Cubes - a specialty toy that's as BEAUTIFUL as it is EDUCATIONAL...Dado™ combines art and science as kids of all ages explore architectural principles...proportion, balance, structure, composition, and color. A contemporary twist on classic stacking blocks, Dado™ engages the imagination as the slits on each cube are interlocked to create an unlimited number of three-dimensional structures. Constructed horizontally, vertically or nested together, Dado™ invites visual spatial development and problem solving through design-centered, attention-grabbing fun!

This fantastic toy is made by Fat Brain Toy Company - they are a dynamic, fast-growing company serving the specialty toy industry. Fat Brain Toy Co. designs, develops and distributes specialty toys throughout the world. They identified a need for the development of more design- centered toys. This great company combines style with educational substance to develop innovative products.

After our order from Fat Brain Toy Co arrived, I gave a set of Dado Cubes to our son to see what he thought. Although he could not tell me in so many words what he thought (due to his Autism) I could tell that he loved it as it kept him engaged and me too! It is quite addictive - in that you want to see how many different things you can create.

As well as the fun aspect of Dado Cubes they also help children improve fine motor skills, including hand strength, finger dexterity and coordination of small muscle movements.

They are made from durable, heavy gauge plastic and each set features 10 cubes, scaled from 2.5 to 12.7cm, capable of building structures over 81.3cm high!

Dado Cubes are developed, manufactured, and assembled in the USA.

They can be purchased from our store for $41.00 a set.

IT'S FINALLY DONE!

Hi to all,

After a long 6 months and many days and nights of juggling family and lots of data entry, writing and at times trying to keep my eyes open.. The Toy Bug website is now LIVE!!

I have to say a special Thank you to my husband and son for putting up with me during this time (especially my son who does not like change and my husband who took over the daily house hold routine). And a special thank to all our suppliers who have helped out along the way.

A little history on The Toy Bug - we established The Toy Bug back in July 2007, a year and a half after our son was diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). After accepting that we had a long road ahead of us and taking our son to different therapies every week, I decided to be a stay at home mum and put 100% into helping our sons therapy at home. So I spent countless hours looking for the toys his therapists were using and toys that would keep his attention and help with his developmental delays.

On sourcing some fantastic products - I wanted to share these wonderful toys I had found with other parents so I began selling our products via a catalogue through our local ECIC (Early Childhood Intervention Centre) and the Day Care Centre where our son attended. From word of mouth I started having people ask me "do you have an online store we can purchase from?". So I decided to go into business online and bring our wonderful range of educational and fun toys into the lives of children, helping them to learn as they play and create many cherished childhood memories (for both the child and their parents)

We have some fantastic products in stock so I hope you will take the time to visit our store and have a look around. As we have new stock arriving we will post a sneak peak here on our Blog page to let you know what is coming in soon.

One new service that we have added recently and are really excited about is our 12 week Lay-by service. What a great way to get organised for Christmas - it is so simple - you choose the products you wish to purchase - at Checkout select "Lay-by" as your Payment type and we will forward you an email with your Lay-By Form within 24 hours of you placing your order. We ask for a 10% deposit to secure your order and then every fortnight you make a payment to whatever amount you can afford at that time. How easy is that! For more information on our Lay-by Terms and Conditions please go HERE!

Over the next couple of weeks I will be doing profiles on some of our Award Winning Toys and what's going to be HOT for Christmas.

So take care - enjoy browsing around our gorgeous store and I hope you will check back often to see what's new at The Toy Bug.

Cheers :) Jo xo