Goblin Kids

For our second gift guide I’d like to focus on the really little ones. As much as infants don’t yet grasp the concept of Holidays or birthdays they sure do appreciate a good toy, no matter the occasion. For starters Kathe Kruse makes some incredible handcrafted towel dolls for newborns. Those of you familiar with Kathe Kruse know that all their toys are made in Germany with quality and care being more important goals than profit. Some of our favorite doudous for little ones are:

Binky Towel Doll Sambar

Organic Towel Doll Lamb

Organic Towel Doll Cat

Once babies start teething there’s no more appreciated gift than a great teether. Our wooden teethers are not only made of natural materials but also painted with completely safe, non-toxic dyes. Some of our favorite teethers and clutching toys are:

Buzz-Buzz

Fiorella Clutching Toy

Ramba Zamba

Hopefully I’ve been able to give you some gift ideas for newborns and infants. Make sure to check out all our other infant toys for more ideas.

Although the Holiday season may still feel ways away we all know how quickly it creeps up on you. Being that it is now October we’ll start a several part Gift Guide to help our customers with some great gift ideas. In this first part we’ll be focusing on wooden blocks, which always make a great present.

Most of you already know how fabulous Haba toys are. Not only are they made of great quality and coated with safe, non-toxic paints but they’re also amazingly beautiful. Some of our favorite Haba blocks are:

Eeny Meeny Miny Zoo blocks

Cordoba blocks

Sevilla blocks

Let’s also not forget about the hugely popular Fantasy blocks

All the above mentioned blocks come nicely packaged making them even more amazing as gifts. Have a look at our Haba blocks. We’re certain that you won’t be disappointed!

Our $100 shopping spree giveaway has gotten a huge response since it was launched 10 days ago. Don’t forget that anyone who likes us will be automatically entered into the drawing for a $100 gift card to be used on anything at Goblin Kids. For those of you who are just learning about the giveaway make sure to like us on Facebook. The original giveaway post can be found here.

Good luck everyone!!

We’re having our first Goblin Kids hosted giveaway, in perfect time for your holiday shopping! And it’s super easy, you don’t have to do a thing! By just liking us on Facebook you will automatically be entered into a random drawing for $100 Goblin Kids gift card that you can either give away or use yourself. When we reach 500 fans/likes on Facebook we will randomly draw a winner for the $100 gift card. The sooner we get to 500 the sooner you’ll have a chance to win so make sure to suggest Goblin Kids to your friends and family!

Don’t forget to check out our store for all the great toys that we offer!

• The winner will be announced on our Facebook page as well as on this blog and will have 10 days to claim their prize. If the gift card remains unclaimed after 10 days we will do another random drawing where the new winner will have 10 days to claim their prize as well (and so on).
• Goblin Kids reserves the right to modify the rules of the giveaway at any time.

Goblin Kids

It may seem a bit early to start focusing on holiday shopping in August but there’s little better than being well prepared. One function we offer that many customers forget to take advantage of is our Wish List. By registering for an account with us you can create a wishlist that you can then email to anyone you want. Even if you’re not planning on emailing it to anyone else it’s also great for saving all the toys that you’re thinking of or planning on buying in the upcoming months.

The wishlist allows you to add a comment next to each item and you can of course come back and edit the contents of your wishlist at any time. You can also see a picture of each item so that you don’t have to click on each individually in order to remember what the item looks like. It may be time to register for all those Haba toys, Kathe Kruse toys, Jellycat stuffed animals, Crocodile Creek playground balls and lunch boxes, or any other of the huge selection of European toys and building blocks that we have to offer.

Sounds convenient enough?! Check it out for yourself and I have a feeling you will be pleasantly surprised by how much it has to offer. As always we welcome any suggestions or comments about ways we can improve to give you the best experience possible.

At the request of our customers we have added a category for school gear such as lunch boxes, backpacks and notebooks. Keep checking back as we will be adding more stuff to the Gear section weekly. For now we would like to give Crocodile Creek special mention. We LOVE Crocodile Creek. We recently added their collection of playground balls and loved them so much that we decided to bring in some of their backpacks and lunch boxes as well. Crocodile Creek gear is not just beautifully made but of such incredible quality that you know it will last for years to come. Highly recommended! Make sure to check it out for yourself. Below you will find a sneak peak.

We’ve been spending the summer adding some new toy brands to the website that we personally love and believe will appeal to our customers. Our latest addition is Kid O.

Kid O, a design store for children, grew out of a mother’s dedication to creating a stimulating, aesthetic environment for her newborn son. Inspired by modern learning theories, Kid O offers products that encourage creativity, instill independence and a desire to accomplish, and help foster a sense of self.

At Kid O, design is a way of approaching life — of working and playing, of furnishing a room, of selecting books and toys. Lisa Mahar, Kid O’s founder and owner, searched the world for products that have both a design and an educational focus. Kid O makes these items available to other parents who believe that beautiful, well-made objects are critical to stimulating children, accelerating their development, and enhancing their well-being.

Some of our favorite Kid O products are:

Yellow Label Kids is a toy brand that was started by a teacher-mom who was inspired by her son and students to look for an alternative to mass-produced, commercial toys, very similar to how I started Goblin Kids. In her search she was fortunate to connect with groups of artisans in different countries, mostly mothers themselves, who earn real living wages from the handcrafts they produce. Yellow Label became a reality and became a member of the Fair Trade Federation, which is an association of businesses that are committed to following fair trade principles. As an FTF member, Yellow Label Kids has been through a selective, independent screening process to verify that our business practices meet Fair Trade standards.

Yellow Label Kids offers amazing, hand crafted toys that are often knitted and always bright and colorful. By offering your children Yellow Label Kids products you not only offer them safe, stimulating toys but also support Fair Trade. Some of our favorite Yellow Label toys are their amazing play foods.

Jellycat has quickly become one of our best selling toy brands, partly due to their uniqueness and partly due to their incredible quality. Jellycat, established in London in 1999, is one of the world’s leading luxury soft toy companies, fast becoming a lifestyle company. You would be hard pressed to find softer stuffed animals. And the best part is that they hold up to all the abuse infants, toddlers and preschoolers put them through.

Jellycat has a passion for design and is heavily influenced by the fast changing world of fashion and as a result of this introduces hundreds of new, innovative and original designs each year. They constantly strive to use the most interesting and distinctive materials. Jellycat toys are hip and humorous and always soft and sumptuous.

Some of our most popular Jellycat toys are:

We’re happy to announce that we now carry Sevi toys, an Italian toy brand. Founded in Italy in 1831, Sevi is one of Europe’s oldest wooden toy manufacturers. The tradition of hand crafted wood, care for detail, product research and Italian design truly distinguish their collections and enable Sevi to produce extraordinary, yet safe toys. Sevi toys are brightly colored and sturdily made. One particular characteristic that makes Sevi toys stand out is that they’re hand painted with safe, non-toxic paints and varnishes. Sevi places strong emphasis on both the safety of children as well as the protection of the environment. Some of our favorite Sevi toys are: