Disclaimer – We have received this item for free or on a loan basis for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
This was a real treat for a toy gift to review! Tor’s Story is an online shop that sells wooden toys specifically for toddlers and babies, with an eye for imagination play and Montessori. The labour of love for Sam, Mum to Tor, she loved wooden toys growing up but found that there weren’t so many around when she was a Mum, especially affordable wooden toys. With her son Tor to test them, Sam went about creating toys that use imagination and develop skills of babies and toddlers who used them. Sam sent us the Rainbow Balls and Puppets Sorting Cups to try out.
The kit comes with 7 puppets (people) and their colour co-ordinated cups plus 7 balls with corresponding colours. There’s also a sorting bowl, wooden spoon, wooden tongs and they all live in a wooden tray box. The versatility of the pieces means that children can play with them for months on end, using the pieces in different ways as their development increases. All of the paints used are non-toxic and the shapes are designed for little hands, with no sharp edges or small parts.
There is the sorting aspect of putting the balls and the puppets into the same coloured cups, or exploring the different shapes with their mouths. The ability to throw or roll the balls comes first, then being able to pick them up with the spoon or tongs and eventually place them in the bowl with the tongs. Building towers with the cups or hiding the balls within the cups or under the bowl also increases their imagination play, and older children can use the puppets to make up stories.
As an adult, there is something very exciting about unpacking a toy that has so much imagination potential. The very basic shapes and colours but multiple combinations that can be used with the set means that children can play endlessly with them and be safe, but also expand what they learn from them. This is an amazing toy around children because they find ways of using the toy that you wouldn’t imagine, even making the wooden box into a house where the ‘family’ of puppets can live with the cups serving as beds, or the tongs and spoon to be used as cooking utensils where the puppets and balls are food and placed into the wooden tray.
An excellent adventure in toys with lots of imagination play and the ability for several children to play at the same time, including across different ages. Even adults will find it fun!
Available from £27.50 at: https://torsstory.com/products/rainbow-balls-puppets-sorting-cups
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