Beautiful Spaces

We all go to a lot of trouble to make the rooms in our homes look and feel good so that they become places we love to spend time. So probably not too surprising to hear that we agree and have some wonderful pieces of furniture and accessories that will make your child's bedroom somewhere they will want to spend many happy hours playing. Here are just a few things that will look great.

Pintoy's Natural Toy Chest is a beautiful, quality, wooden toy box. This wooden toy box has a large capacity for lots of toys, helping your child to keep his room tidy. It also doubles up as a place to sit! The toy chest features a soft close mechanism to protect little fingers.




(This children's toy chest will require straightforward home assembly by an adult.)

Something really pretty comes from RJB Stone - Dancing Fairy Wall Pockets - A wall pocket hanger featuring three colourful dancing fairy designs, with pretty butterflies and flowers decorating the corners. It will look wonderful in a little girl's bedroom! The perfect place to keep her things safe.




New in today from Orange Tree Toys.......brightly coloured, handpainted wooden bookends. We have Pirate bookends featuring jolly roger pirate characters, treasure and sea chests. Or, we have beautiful Butterfly themed bookends complete with pretty pink wings. Designed in the UK and handcrafted, both will look great on any bookshelf.






Whether you want decorative items, functional storage units or a combination of both, go to the Kids Rooms section on the website for these and other fabulous ideas.

Keep an eye out for future posts. We're going to have some fun competitions with prizes coming soon.

See you again soon,

Sally & Phoebe
aka The Crew

Imagine & Pretend

How many of us remember the times when we were children that we used to dress up with our friends and pretend being pirates, firemen, doctors and nurses or the like. Well, some things will always be a part of growing up and we saw our own children grow up loving to imagine and pretend. It's amazing to see just how creative and imaginative young minds can be given a few simple props to help them on the way to hours and hours of fun play. This week we are looking at some of the ways children can continue to enjoy these experiences with some of our favourite suppliers' toys. As always, we can't show you everything (and you probably haven't got time) but hopefully these will give you a feel for what we have - loads more on the website to look at when you have got time.

Tidlo Paragon Pirate Ship is a beautifully constructed wooden pirate ship toy, produced to a very high standard. With a "Yo Ho Ho Me Hearties!" children can explore the magnificent rigging and scrub the decks, transporting them to an exciting time of pillaging and plundering!

The Paragon ship, armed with two cannons, looks every bit the part with its striped sails and flying the Jolly Roger flag. Two barrels and a treasure chest are stored in the hold, so who knows what adventures can be had! The captain and his five crew keep things ship-shape on board, ready for their next voyage.




There are recessed wheels underneath the body of the ship, so that it can 'sail' realistically across the sea! The ship is partially built, and requires very simple assembly to add the masts and the sails.

For 3 years+.


The Oldfield Farm is a beautiful wooden farmyard set. The Oldfield Farm set includes a barn with a loft and ladder, an animal shed, a farm house, a pig sty and fencing. A wooden play base is also included. Each farm building has detachable magnetic roof panels, which enable children to easily access the buildings to create their farm scenes. The Oldfield Farm is a colourful, modern play set that will become a firm favourite with your child. Maximise the play value of the set by adding the wooden farm animals and the farm family. Children will learn about farm animals, where they live and how to look after them.




Please note that the farm animals and the farm family are not included in The Oldfield Farm. However, if you buy the bundle you can get all these fabulous items together and get a discount!


The Pintoy Fire Bundle includes the following FOUR items from the Pintoy Fire Series: The Pintoy Fire Station, Fire Engine, Firefighters and the Firefighting Accessories. The Fire Series from Pintoy is one of the Pintoy best selling ranges of pretend play toys for children. They are beautiful wooden toys that will encourage your child to play imaginatively and creatively for hours! A wide range of realistic fire themed props are included with the fire toys providing good value fire rescue pretend play. This is a lovely wooden playset and the Pintoy Fire Station is a very sturdy toy which will last for years. The Pintoy Fire Engine fits neatly inside the Pintoy Fire Station when not in use. The set of Pintoy Firefighters have bendy arms and legs so they can be realistically put into position. The Fire Series Bundle is completed with the Pintoy Fire Accessory pack - which adds to the final pretend play with the hoses and extinguishers!
Your child will enjoy many hours of imaginative firefighting play both on his own and with his friends.

3 years+.

Melissa & Doug Folding Princess Castle promises exciting pretend play activities. This superlative wooden princess play castle features hand-painted regal accents, two removable turrets, balconies, a flying buttress, an arched walkway, towers and a working drawbridge. The castle is hinged allowing it to open fully for hours of engaging, imaginative play, or it is convenient to close for compact storage.



Buy the Folding Princess Castle and the Princess Castle Furniture together, and we will include a set of Royal Family Princess Castle Dolls FREE OF CHARGE. Remember, when you spend over £75 you also qualify for FREE DELIVERY!




If you have got a little prince and not a princess, you can always go for the Medieval Castle instead.



There are great deals on bundles as well to help you get an even better deal.

Also from 3 years+.

Don't forget Father's Day!

No, we don't mean buy a lovely gift for Dad! But why not give something to Dad that he will enjoy sharing with the children. Here's just a couple of examples:

Don't most dads like their cars so how about Decorate Your Own Racing Car from Melissa & Doug. Glue, stickers and a brush - what more could anyone want. Once you have built and designed it, then you can race it......




If it's not cars, how about a plane with Decorate Your Own Plane also by Melissa & Doug. Imagine being a pilot, build your own aeroplane and there will be aerial adventures aplenty.




Both from 4 years +.

Great gifts anytime and there's plenty of time to make sure a gift arrives in time for Sunday. Order by midday on Friday and you can have your gift by Saturday so in plenty of time to wrap up and hide before Sunday. If you just want to hide it, then let us wrap it for you. just let us know when you checkout.

Happy Fathers Day from all at Butterflies and Dragons.

Activity toys for active children

As soon as they arrive, our children are active and there's nothing we like better than seeing them happily playing. Whether it is a soft and cuddly toy in the crib or something for the slightly older child who is crawling or walking around, we have something which we know you will love. We haven't got enough space for everything but this week we are looking at a selection of some of our beautiful toys, as ever from some of our favourite suppliers.

Lilliputiens Basil Musical Cuddle is a soft, musical lullaby toy for happy bedtimes. Basil is a stimulating, attractive and completely safe early soft activity toy featuring a rattle, a paper noise, elastic, a pocket and a teething ring. Basil will captivate your baby, and encourage his inquisitive nature. Time for bed? Basil will transform into a musical friend, that can be attached to the side of the cot by his tail and keep your little one company as they fall asleep.
Suitable from birth.




Lilliputiens Nicky the Musical Activity Toy is a cute and cuddly little duck, offering a festival of sounds: the tinkling of a bell, a squeaker and a soft paper noise. On his belly, a fish shaped mirror changes expressions: he can look sad, happy or peacefully asleep. There is also a teether ring. With a velcro strap, Nicky can be easily attached to a crib, a playpen, a carry cot, etc.
Suitable from 3 months+.





Djeco Topanimo is a set of beautifully designed stacking cubes and six animals. The stacking boxes provide homes for each of the animals, who can be hidden inside. The boxes can also be packed together or toppled. This toddler toy is a perfect way to develop stacking skills, hand-eye co-ordination, manual dexterity and language skills. It is an absorbing activity toy that will engage your toddler in many games.
Suitable from 18 months+.





Lilliputiens Jeff Activity Dog is a is a beautiful early soft toy, ideal for small hands. Jeff the dog isn't just a rattle. He also lets your child discover sounds, activities and materials. He's loyal to his master, and will follow him everywhere! Jeff can be strapped to a car seat, a playpen and a cot.

Jeff has a leg that stretches out and shortens, with a mirror on the underneath of the paw. His ears and another paw make a paper crinkling noise. There are also elasticated legs, and vibrating paws for even more play value. His body is a squeaker and he has a bell around his neck. Suitable from 3 years+.




We'd love to hear what you think.

Learning really can be fun......

One of the most pleasurable things in life is playing games with our children or watching them enjoy their toys. But what do we love even more than that? Knowing that as they play, they are engaged in developmental activities such as using hand-eye coordination to put shapes into tubs, or fine motor skills to pick up small objects. Learning whilst playing is key to a child's growth and development. Many of our toys encourage children to explore the world around them, how things work and to introduce them to sounds and concepts. This week we are showcasing some such toys from a few of our favourite suppliers - Melissa & Doug, Alex Toys and Djeco.

The Melissa & Doug Picnic Basket Fill and Spill is a soft, activity baby toy. The soft play set features a wedge of watermelon, a bottled fruit drink, a take-apart sandwich and an ice-cream cone. In fact, everything needed for a great picnic! Encourage your child to remove and replace these four colourful picnic treats from the flip-top, translucent picnic basket.

The four easy-grasp goodies rattle, jingle, squeak and crinkle, and the five-piece sandwich can be taken apart. Authentically designed and beautifully made from high quality fabrics and phthalate-free plastic, this durable set will provide hours of spilling, filling and picnic fun. Soft play pieces are machine washable. The fill and spill container should be surface washed and air dried only.

This particular one is for 6 months + but there are other great toys for up to 18 months +.

Melissa & Doug Three Little Pigs Play Set is a set of three soft fabric nesting houses, three little pig characters and a wolf. Let your kids experience the classic story of "The Three Little Pigs" again and again. There is a story sheet included. This story telling soft play set includes the three nesting houses with self-stick fabric closures. The largest house has a fall through chimney.
The toy figures are easy for small hands to grasp and they are wipe clean.

For 18 months +.

Alex Toys Mix Stack and Farm is an educational wooden toddler toy featuring nine colourful, chunky, double-sided wooden shaped beads and a wooden base. Encourage your child to stack the pieces onto the base and create a farm scene. This mix and match activity will stimulate your child's ability to solve problems, whilst improving their manual dexterity. This wooden toy teaches simple identification and counting skills too. Kids can make silly farm animals as well as familar ones, whilst developing fine motor skills and problem solving abilities.

For 2 years +.

Djeco Vis-Animo is a Wooden Animal Screw Threading Toy that toddlers will love to get their hands around. There are four cute wooden animals in the set that unscrew into three pieces. The pieces can then be matched up or new versions of the animals can be created, and then screwed back together again. A great toy to develop a child's manual dexterity.



18 months +.