Irish Times Health Supplement 06th December 2011

Great presents of mind. - SHEILA WAYMAN. Relevant paragraphs extracted.

We asked three small Irish businesses that specialise in sourcing high-quality educational toys to recommend a few favourites.

First, mimitoys.ie, which Mimi and Myles Doyle set up in 2004, promising “no plastic, no batteries, no guns”. (Plastic has since crept in, because they realised they did not want to exclude such enduring toys as Playmobil, but the rest of that pledge still stands.)

Parents are becoming more interested in child development and want to give their children the best possible start from day one, says French-born Mimi. She is passionate about finding creative and engaging toys that “have to be fun” but also offer stimulating ways to learn.

It is possible to shop by “learning skill” on their website, with a choice of nine categories such as hand-to-eye co-ordination or social skills.

“We avoid heavily branded or advertised toys, and weapon lookalikes are an absolute no-no,” say the Doyles who, as parents of four children ranging from four to 12, have eager toy testers on standby at home in Summerhill, Co Meath.

UNDER ONE
Baby Photo Album, €14.95: Mimi Doyle recommends this album for babies aged from three months, to help develop their awareness of familiar people, pets or characters. “When my kids were going to the creche from a young age, it was comforting for them to have pictures of mum and dad and our dog!” It has eight large fabric pages including textures, activities and crinkle, plus seven clear photo pockets (to fit 150mm x 100mm prints) and a large mirror on the back page. MT
http://www.mimitoys.ie/product_2700_Soft-Photo-Album.html

Musical shapes, €14.95: A set of three musical plastic instruments, each with a different colour, shape and sound. Easy to grip, they make a sound when grabbed or moved, which helps babies “to start to understand cause and effect”, says Doyle, “and will encourage them to develop their fine motor skills by wanting to grab the toy out of curiosity”. MT
http://www.mimitoys.ie/product_3504_Musical-Shapes-Gift-Set.html

ONE TO FOUR
Fantacolour Junior peg set, €28: For age two-plus, this is designed for the smallest hands. Initially young children can play with the pegs, count them, sort them by colours and gradually reproduce the pattern on the card. It is good for fine motor skills, observation and patience. MT
http://www.mimitoys.ie/product_3504_Musical-Shapes-Gift-Set.html

FIVE TO EIGHT
Cubicle Shed, €99.95 : “It took us a while to get a good selection of role-play farms,” says Doyle. “I was not looking for fantasy or look alike, I was looking for realistic buildings with real details and features from a real farm. I think this is great for older boys and girls who are interested in farms, animals – and it introduces them to that work environment.” MT
http://www.mimitoys.ie/product_4568_Cubicle-Shed.html

NINE TO 12
Smart Games Subway , €24.95: This is a mind game with no loose parts and, as a mum, I like that, says Doyle. There are eight levels of difficulty as children have to untangle the world’s train tracks. This is great for older kids who like maths and logical thinking. MT

Irish Times - PriceWatch - Conor Pope - 14 November 2011

Sunday Independent - The gift of life - 12 December 2010

Mimitoys.
Skip the superstores with their aisles of boys-only and girl-only toys and television characters and check out mimitoys.ie, an Irish online toy shop with all manner of lovely things from which both children and adults will get pleasure. We like the wooden toys, with everything from a jungle lodge and animals to natty kitchen items such as a microwave and an oven.

Mimi from Mimitoys demonstrated the beautiful Mayberry Manor Value Pack for 5 minutes on the Irish produced Tele Shopping show.

Kathy Hoffman (Presenter Shopping from Home) helps Mimi go through the attractive features of this magnificent Doll House.

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The Irish Times - Monday 8th November
The 12 shopping sites of Christmas by Conor Pope - full article click here
Extract specific to mimitoys

www.mimitoys.ie
There is no shortage of online toy shops out there but we like this Irish one. It categorises toys by age range and by developmental skills so if you want a toy to help with a child�s reading, coordination or social skills they are very easy to track down. The toys are also visually very appealing and the prices are not off-the-wall. There�s little sign of all the heavily marketed plastic junk that will be getting the hard sell on our TV screens in the coming weeks either, something which pleases us greatly.

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The Irish Times - "It's Christmas" - Special Report - Thursday 25th November.
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