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Outdoor Toys

Monday, May 17th, 2010

When I look at toys on our suppliers’ websites, their stands at toy fairs and their brochures, it’s always in the back of my mind, “Would my kids play with that?”. I have to stop myself just shopping for my children. I know that all kids are different and have different tastes, but I think that I cover a good selection amongst my four - the Quiet, Booky One; the Noisy, Physical One; the Inquisitive One; and the Nurturing, Caring One. The trouble is that any one of my kids could be all of these in one day!

With that thought, I want to share my selection of toys that any of my kids and their friends will play with. Bearing in mind that the weather has been so kind recently (just turn the temperature up a bit and we’ll be even happier), I thought I would look at outdoor toys. None of these toys is particularly expensive or sophisticated, but I challenge your kids not to enjoy them:

  • Our fabulous Gunther Kite selection - just add wind (never in short supply in Ireland) and you’ll have rosy cheeked laughing kids in no time;
  • Spring Ball set - once they get the hang of this, they’ll be twanging around the garden (great for the beach too);
  • Disk Balance - it’s egg and spoon racing, but not as you know it;
  • Super Torpedo with Whistle - well, it just makes throwing the ball at each other even more fun; and
  • Our cool Gunther Wind up Planes - excellent competition potential!

All these toys are available in our Outdoor Toy category http://tinyurl.com/mimioutdoortoys

Have a look and let me know what you think www.mimitoys.ie

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Our Big Move

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

After the frenzy of activity at Christmas, Myles and I sat down and thought about where Mimitoys is going, how it fits in with our family and what we could do to improve the business and the service it provides.  We felt that the day to day stock management and order fulfilment is now so well organised that we could hand it over to someone else to pick and pack, freeing up our time for selecting new products, marketing and improving our website. We felt that these areas had always been squeezed as we concentrated (quite rightly) on getting the products out on time and managing our stock.

We spoke to a number of people and businesses who were interested in taking over our order fulfilment before we met John and his team. We immediately felt that their professionalism and commitment to customer service matched our own. Since the beginning of March, they have been running our warehousing and sending out the orders.

As a customer, you won’t notice any difference in our excellent customer service. If you phone Mimitoys on 1890 520 025 with a query, a phone order or looking for toy advice, you will still speak directly to Myles or me. What you will notice in the weeks to come are some exciting new products on www.Mimitoys.ie

We no longer have our warehouse in Trim and, therefore, have moved our Trim shop to its lovely new location in Bookwise in Navan. Of course we also have the Mimitoys shop in Clane, Co Kildare.

I look forward to your comments on the new shop and our service - please let us know how we are doing either by phone (1890 520 025) or email (Mimi@mimitoys.ie).

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Outdoor Ideas For Spring

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

After a lovely weekend of long sunny, mild days I have been thinking about outdoor family activities. Obviously, the moment I started writing about them, the wind picked up and it started to hail, but I refuse to be put off! In my mind, spring has finally arrived and we’ll all feel much better for feeling the breeze in our hair, the sun on our faces…and probably the rain on our backs.

I have put together some ideas for having fun with the kids outside and you’ll find them at www.mimitoys.ie under the “Play Articles” tab. Below I set out a few of my favourites – with a nod to Myles for his prowess at welly throwing.

Nest building

Get the kids to build their own nest outside. You will have lots of materials in your garden you can use, like lengths of dry grass, twigs and lichen. Make your nests in the garden and place them on the ground or in a tree if you have one. Is it sturdy enough to hold some small stones (your ‘eggs’) and would your nest be able to survive a windy day (give your tree a shake!)?

Spring nature trail

Take a walk to your local beauty spot and look out for signs of spring on the ground, in the trees and in the water. Things to look out for include; frogspawn in streams and ponds; butterflies; caterpillars; catkins opening for spring…perhaps you can make a collage of all the wildlife you’ve seen when you get home?

Welly hurling

All you need is some open space and a welly boot. You’ll need to mark a throwing line and then record each competitor’s throw by marking the spot where their boot landed - perhaps use twigs to do this. The aim of the game is simply to throw the boot the furthest.

Bird watching

Spring is breeding time for many birds so it’s a good time to get outside and observe our feathered friends as they get geared up for the new season. You’ll hear lots more birdsong now the days are warmer and some birds will be showing off their plumage and engaging in elaborate courting rituals to attract a mate!

So, go on - dodge the hailstones, lean into the wind and ignore the rain. Summer’s coming!

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New Mimitoys Shop in Navan – Mimitoys at Bookwise

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

We’ve had a busy few weeks and haven’t had much time to watch Spring springing and the lambs gambolling, but still feel spurred on by the beautiful bright weather and the longer days.

 

The result of all our hard work is that last Saturday Mimitoys opened up a central Navan shop in conjunction with Bookwise, a bookshop just beside the “Diamond Cinema” on Metges Lane in the Co Meath town.

 

We are very excited about our partnership with Bookwise owners, Brendan and Geraldine O’Dea, who have been running their bookshop for 20 years and offer superb customer service. They have always been interested in their junior customers and even run book clubs for children, as well as special events and book fairs. Their book range is impressive and the shop has a wonderful atmosphere – I think Mimitoys will fit right in!

 

Our shop in Bookwise will have the full Mimitoys range and as ever our website remains open at www.mimitoys.ie

 

Drop in and take a look – it really is a lovely shop offering great choice for all the family.

 

By the way - if you have “The World Bookday Vouchers” (these were distributed recently to most schools in Ireland) Bookwise will be happy to take those vouchers against purchases from their children’s book range.

 

Mimitoys at Bookwise is open Mon - Sat 9.30am to 6pm and we look forward to your visit. Mimitoys at Bookwise – 046 902 7722

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Children and Horse Riding

Monday, March 1st, 2010

As the days get longer and the weather (maybe, perhaps, fingers crossed) starts to get kinder, I start thinking of outdoor activities for the kids. One of the favourites is horse riding, particularly with my eldest daughter. We haven’t the time or the housing for her own pony so she goes to a local riding stable where she has riding lessons and instruction on stable management. She loves it and I think it’s a great, healthy hobby and one that can be carried on throughout her life.

It got me thinking that it might be useful for other parents to find out about riding school recommendations and regulations, about what equipment the novice rider needs and about the benefits of riding as a sport for children. I contacted a friend, Lucy Dillon, who is a qualified riding instructor and she gave me lots of interesting information. The full article can be found in the Mimitoys PlayArticles section (www.mimitoys.ie/playarticles) but the main points can be summarised as:

  • minimum age is around 7 years, when children are able to follow instructions, concentrate on what they are doing and are physically strong enough;
  • The Association of Irish Riding Establishments (AIRE) is the body responsible for monitoring riding stables and its website (www.aire.ie) lists all its accredited stables;
  • you don’t need any kit to start as most stables will provide the essentials to new riders; and
  • riding is a great way of getting fit, improving coordination and attention.

I think it’s interesting that even children who may not be particularly sporty can be good at riding and this can be a great confidence booster. As Lucy says “Everyone can ride a horse - the only thing holding you back is fear”.

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Keeping Older Kids Amused

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

We recently spent a great weekend at the Nuremberg Toy Fair, having already been to the London Toy Fair last month - our heads are buzzing and we have great ideas for new additions to www.Mimitoys.ie. It’s inspiring to meet so many people so enthusiastic about their products (and, yes, I know most of them are sales professionals!). We met our fair share of eccentric inventors, Gepetto-type toymakers and entrepreneurs on the look-out for the next big thing.

The array of toys at Nuremberg was vast, but we went armed with very specific criteria (quality, ethical production and innovation being the most important) and with an exciting brief to find something to appeal to the older child (7+).

This is a difficult age group to cater for, as I have found with my older children. Once they’ve been in school a few years, children really pay heed to what their peers play with and it can be difficult to prise them away from their computer games.  I was particularly keen on finding good quality construction toys that would be intricate enough to keep them busy, but accessible enough to give them a sense of achievement.  You can guess that Meccano ticks all the right boxes, but is targeted mainly at boys. Finding something similar for girls is more challenging.

I also think it’s important to keep them active as they get older, as well as doing my fair share of ferrying the older kids around to football, camogie and swimming I also keep plenty of outdoor toys at the house to make sure they are outside, running or pedalling around as much as possible. I was therefore also on the lookout for go-karts and other outdoor toys robust enough to cope with sturdy 8-12 year olds.

I am currently working on this new range and hope to include it on our website in the next few weeks. In the meantime, if you have any ideas for toys for this age group, please get in touch and you might find your recommendations on www.mimitoys.ie

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Life in the Arctic

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

Finally the children are back to school, we are back to work and the world seems almost to be back to normal, but what an interesting few weeks! I don’t know what impact the arctic weather had on your family but it brought us a mixed bag of revelations and inconvenience.

Firstly, it’s hard not to have fun when the world outside is white and no one has to go to work or school. The timing of the big freeze couldn’t have been better and we had fabulous fun perfecting our snowmen and practising our snowball aim. It is so relaxing not being able to go anywhere or do anything constructive outdoors. Once the urge to spring clean the house had passed (it lasted a nanosecond), we all relaxed into relative peace, playing games, reading or watching dvds. It was bliss!

Then came the night of the big, big freeze when our water (like so many other people’s) just didn’t arrive at the taps. The first day was fine, even a novelty, but by day 2 we were all a little peeved at having to use unfrozen rain water from the butts to fill the cistern. By day 3 we were frankly starting to smell a bit so we all trekked to a friend’s house for showers. Day 4 and washing clothes had become an issue, dishes were piling up and we were all fantasising about moving to a warmer country where we would live a less Dickensian existence.

As I write, we have finally thawed enough to have water dribbling from the kitchen tap so civilised living may soon return. If, however, you meet us on the street in the next couple of days, I would advise crossing the road. I promise I won’t be offended.  www.mimitoys.ie

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A New Year -2010

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

Well, it’s almost the end of the school holidays and we have had a great break at home with the kids- helped by this amazing snowy weather.  I have really enjoyed the time off but am looking forward to a new year of planning where to take my business next.  January is always an exciting time for us when we actually have time to lift our heads and look around us!

We had a very busy run up to Christmas which of course is great news for us, but also demonstrated how people react in times of recession. We certainly saw no drop in demand for our more expensive toys like the fabulous PinToy dolls houses and Radio Flyer wagons, which only goes to prove that people appreciate that it is better to buy one good quality toy than two cheap items.

It seemed to me that parents were also cutting back on the “stocking fillers” rather than the main present. I think this is a great idea as  children quickly get overwhelmed by the huge amount of little presents Santa sometimes delivers. Not to mention the pesky bits of plastic strewn over the house for the next month!

It’s an well worn saying that you get what you pay for, but a true one that is more relevant today than it has been in recent years.  I don’t think we can afford to buy cheap goods from an economic, ecological or ethical viewpoint.

I would like to wish you a very happy, healthy and bright 2010 and thank you all very much for your custom and interest.  www.mimitoys.ie

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