Blog

Once again, Orchard Toys is delighted to provide goody bags for children involved in a fantastic production of ‘Peter Pan’, this year’s pantomime at the Theatre Royal in Norwich. The annual pantomime is always hugely popular with families and groups, and during each performance a few lucky children are picked from the audience and pulled onstage to join in with the show. These children usually steal the limelight from the stars, and to make the experience even more special, these lucky children also get to take home Orchard Toys goody bags, filled with all sorts of lovely treats!

For many years now, Orchard Toys has been proud to support East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH), and we were delighted to collaborate with them on a fun fundraising project with local nursery schools – The Porky Piggy Project. Orchard Toys distributed little piggy banks to participating nurseries, and children were asked to fill them with money donated by family and friends in return for carrying out simple, helpful jobs. They also had to give their piggy a name; when the piggy banks were full, they were returned to the nursery, where all the money was counted and donated directly to EACH. The nursery which raised the most money won £100 worth of Orchard Toys products, while the piggy with the most original name from each school also won a prize for its owner. More than 135 children adopted a piggy, and they enjoyed baking cakes, helping around the house and carrying out small chores for their families in order to fatten them up. Lara Carver, EACH Norfolk Fundraiser, said: “The children taking part really rose to the challenge of filling up their piggies, and it was such a great way for them to support their local...

Once again, we at Orchard Toys are patting ourselves on the back, as our fantastic Rocket Game has scooped another award to add to our growing collection! The game has been awarded a Gold Award by Right Start Magazine; the annual Right Start Best Toy Awards sees hundreds of toys and games put through a stringent testing process to ensure they offer children the highest quality, and we’re thrilled that Rocket Game is as popular with the panel of young testers as it is with our customers. This fun space themed game is designed to encourage number and counting skills for children aged 4-7 and is already an Orchard Toys bestseller!

Orchard Toys have done it again! Another winning product – this time our wonderful Alphabet Lotto game has won a prestigious gold award from Practical Pre-School Magazine! Each game is judged by an independent panel of testers, including childcare professionals and children, against a pre-defined set of criteria. An important part of the process is how children enjoy the game, and Alphabet Lotto is so much fun that children don’t realise that they are learning while they play. As with all Orchard Toys products, Alphabet Lotto is beautifully illustrated in bright colours. It helps children become familiar with the alphabet and phonics and sounds; younger children can match pictures, while older children can play by matching the letters. The playing boards are double-sided, giving lots of different ways to play and plenty to talk about. A real winner for children aged 3 and over.