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Games are a great way to develop educational skills such as spelling and numeracy, but they are also perfect to help children to learn about key life skills in a fun way. Read on to discover how Orchard Toys games help children with these fundamental skills.   Develop Money Skills In an age of cards and contactless payments, children are interacting less and less with coins and notes. Handling physical money is a great way to help children to understand the value of money and the concept that different coins have different values. Playing games can be a great way to encourage conversations about how people have to work to earn money and how everyday items that children might take for granted all cost different amounts.   Money Match Cafe encourages children to play waiter by serving different tables and adding up coins to make sure they match the price of the meal. Pop to the Shops encourages children to buy and sell items; moving around the board they will be encouraged to ask for items in shops and learn about the different values of goods. Both games encourage children to...

What’s Christmas without a board game? We’ve put together a list of some of our top family games – whether it’s in the run up to Christmas or on the big day, these games are a great way to get the whole family involved!      What a Performance – 2 + Players Be a star and rise to the challenge in this all-action game of family fun! Can you talk like a pirate, pretend to be a drummer or cross your eyes? If you can’t, use the magic decoder to reveal your hidden forfeit. There’s lots of fun and laughter to be had as you race around the playing board in teams or individually! Friends and family from around the world could even join in via video call!   Christmas Eve Box – 2- 4 Players Spread some festive cheer with the Christmas Eve Box! Featuring a game and a jigsaw puzzle it’s perfect to get the whole family in the Christmas spirit. Players race to find all the items on their Christmas list and fill their stocking in the Shopping List-style matching and memory game! Then have fun...

This October we’re celebrating 25 years of Shopping List – our bestselling game! With one being sold every 5 minutes, it’s no surprise that it’s been top of our bestseller list for 15 years.   In case you aren’t familiar with it, Shopping List is a matching and memory game where players race to be the first to fill their playing boards by collecting the items on their shopping list. It’s simple, yet effective and it’s a great way to get little ones talking about different types of food!   Over the past 25 years the game has had not one, not two but five exciting makeovers! The food cards have evolved to reflect changing tastes – for instance at some point the decision was made that maybe Bovril wasn’t top of everyone’s shopping list and it was replaced with the nations favourite takeaway – pizza!   Shopping List Extras packs are a great way to add to the fun – they include fruit and veg and clothing items and mean that up to 8 players can join the game.   Shopping List has been enjoyed by children far and wide – it’s...

Shopping for the perfect Christmas present can often seem like an almost impossible task, especially when there’s so much to choose from! Whether it’s for a son, daughter, niece, nephew or grandchild or another child in your life, here are a few top tips to help make gift buying a little easier!   Fun for all the family  Something that brings the whole family together and can be enjoyed by everyone is sure to be a big success.   Orchard Toys’ games offer fun, quick and simple gameplay, meaning they can be enjoyed by everyone - they’re perfect for little ones and great for adults to join in with too! ‘What a Performance’ is  guaranteed to have the whole family laughing as players race around the board completing fun actions and challenges.   Interests Thinking outside the box is always a good idea, but when it comes to gift giving sometimes it’s best to play it safe! Ask their parents, siblings or friends what they like to make sure you can get them something they’ll enjoy, rather than just a one-time wonder!   Orchard Toys’ products feature lots of popular themes that...

In the early years of their life children develop physical, emotional and cognitive skills that form the building blocks for their future learning and development. These include developing hand-eye coordination, number recognition and counting, developing language and basic letter recognition skills, learning to recognise shapes and colours and developing key social skills such as turn-taking and sharing. Educational games are also a great way to help children to concentrate, a skill that will benefit them throughout school!   We understand that when entertaining littles ones and making learning fun some guidance and support is always welcome, so our range of preschool games and jigsaws are designed with simplicity and fun to keep little minds stimulated. They feature colourful illustrations and adaptable gameplay that will make children want to play time and time again. The games can also be adapted as the children develop.  Take a look at our top educational games for pre-schoolers.   Farmyard Heads and Tails – 18 Months + Children as young as 18 months can develop their matching skills with this fun farmyard-themed game. Farmyard Heads and Tails can be used as a single player activity or a fun...

We are delighted to announce our new partnership with the Department for Educations initiative Hungry Little Minds! Hungry Little Minds is a campaign that has set out to improve early communication, language and literacy skills in young children. They aim to do this through encouraging parents to spend time with their children by engaging in activities that support their child’s learning. With our ethos of supporting and educating children through 'Learning Made Fun' this is the perfect partnership. The Department for Education identified that some children in the UK start school months behind their peers. This gap can grow as they move through the education system meaning that by the time they leave school they can be significantly behind their classmates. Just 5-10 minutes a day spent chatting, reading or playing can be enough to stimulate a child’s brain which will help set them up for school and beyond! One of the ways that we will be working together is with our free, downloadable activity sheets. The activity sheets can be used to start a conversation with young children and to get little minds thinking whilst having fun together. They’re also free to download. We’re extremely...

It’s very easy to be overwhelmed by the amount of choice there is for birthday presents for children. We’ve taken it back to basics and put together this list of top tips to make buying the perfect present a little easier.  Fun for all the family  Something that brings the whole family together and can be enjoyed by everyone is sure to be a big success. Games with two levels of play are perfect as it means that children/siblings of different abilities can play together. Interests Thinking outside the box is always a good idea, but when it comes to gift-giving sometimes it’s best to play it safe! Ask their parents, siblings or friends what they like to make sure you can get them something they’ll enjoy, rather than just a one-time wonder! We’ve got games and jigsaws that feature lots of popular themes that children will love, from outer space to the jungle to fairies, unicorns and pirates – there’s something for all.   Play value The best kind of gift is a something that will be reached for time and time again that children will never get bored of, whether it’s being crammed...

Shopping for the perfect gift can often seem like an almost impossible task, especially when there’s so much to choose from! Whether it’s for a son, daughter, niece, nephew, grandchild or another child in your life, here are some of our best games and jigsaws for birthday presents and gift ideas!   Farmyard Heads and Tails 18 Months + This simple farmyard-theme matching activity is the perfect first game for children. It features 12 adorable farm characters for children to pair up and it can be used as a simple matching activity before evolving into a fun-filled first game. Click here to view a fun jungle version. Smelly Wellies 2-6 Years These quirky monster characters in this fun and simple matching game are sure to have children laughing. Watch closely as you take turns to find matching pairs of wellies for your gooey monsters! Rainbow Unicorns 3-5 Year Olds This magical game is perfect for any young unicorn lover! Gallop over the rainbow towards the pot of gold by matching unicorn heads with tails in this fun colour matching game. Features adorable unicorn characters...

Why Learning Times Tables is Important   Many parents will remember learning their times tables at primary school, whether they were chanting them aloud or writing them out time and time again. Whilst many will happily admit that it felt like quite a chore at the time, there’s no doubting that times tables provide quick solutions to a range of mathematical problems.   More and more importance is being placed upon a child’s ability to recall their times tables. Introduced as early as Year 1 in schools, times tables provide a solid foundation for a child’s mathematical understanding throughout primary school, into secondary school and further education. So if your child is just beginning to practise theirs, here are some of the benefits that mastering times tables can bring.   1. Learning basic times tables will make it easier to learn more challenging ones – for example if children know their 3 times tables, they will be able to work out their 6 times tables by doubling the answer.   2. When children frequently, successfully recall their times tables they will grow in confidence, which will not only help them tackle more challenging maths problems, but...

In May we were delighted to work with the NSPCC to help support practitioners who have been adapting to the challenges they have been facing due to Covid-19.   Across the UK all service centre practitioners have adapted the services they provide so many therapy sessions can now take place online. To help practitioners support families during lockdown, Orchard Toys have donated games to four NSPCC service centres in Grimsby, Newcastle, Tidworth and Coventry.   Ali Brown, Orchard Toys Marketing Manager said, ‘We are delighted to have been able to support the NSPCC and the families they work with during such a challenging time. We hope that the games will be helpful in breaking down barriers and enabling practitioners to continue with the fantastic work they do, but now in a virtual world’.   Jane Scott, manager at the NSPCC Newcastle Service Centre said: “Here at the NSPCC we are doing all we can to ensure that we are still here for children during these unprecedented times.   “At the Grimsby, Newcastle, Tidworth and Coventry service centres we deliver a wide range of services including Letting The Future In, a service that supports children who...

Did you know that you can play board games with children from as young as two years old? Board games are a great way to have fun as a family and to help children learn. There are a number of additional benefits that come from playing games; they enhance a child’s natural curiosity and are a great opportunity to encourage subliminal learning. Here’s just a few skills that will benefit pre-schoolers!   Social skills Concentration Language development Numeracy and Literacy Skills Problem-solving   Social Skills As they play, children will learn about sharing, turn-taking, following rules and even working as a team, amongst many other social skills. This is great preparation for nursery and school when they begin to interact with more children. Concentration Playing board games can encourage a child’s ability to focus and lengthen their attention span. The feeling of satisfaction felt when finishing, or even winning, a game will encourage children to see more things through to completion. This ability to focus will be particularly helpful once they start learning other skills including spelling and counting. Game - Farmyard Heads and Tails Language Development Children will pick up lots of...

Play is an essential part of children’s learning and development which is often overlooked, but whilst children are having fun there are a range of social, physical and emotional skills that they are developing! Take a look at some of the benefits of play below.   Creativity Play encourages children to use their imagination – whether they’re pretending to be a chef or using their own toys as part of a role play scenario, children are challenging their creativity and taking control of worlds that they have created. As they grow up it will help children to think originally, particularly when solving problems.   Relationships Play is a great way for children to build relationships with parents, carers and other children in an informal setting. This will allow them to become more confident in speaking to others and will help them to establish relationships in the future.   Subliminal Learning Not only is play great fun, it’s a good way to keep children learning outside of the classroom in a way that is fun and enjoyable. Learning in an engaging way will help to create a desire to learn that they will carry with them and...