A little story to tell you my lovely readers about this month’s Build Me wooden toys; my youngest was so enamored with these incredible wooden cars that he sneakily took one to preschool to show his mates! There was only one slight issue in that we hadn’t finished testing them out at home. Eep! Suffice to say it did arrive back in one piece ( phew!) with a few minor scratches.
I would say that actually he did me a favour as they survived a bit of rough and tumble at preschool and still came back in 100% working order and looking fab. That has to be the best way to test out a toy in my mind!
Darryl Thompson is the creator and maker behind Build Me wooden toys which are designed and made in Melbourne, Australia. We first reviewed his brilliant “BuildMe” wooden toy kits back in September 2015 for our Toy of the Month. The boys and their Dad built a “Monster” truck and the “Short” dump truck and they seriously make THE best Father’s day presents! They had a brilliant time together building their car kits and it was such a great bonding experience for them all.
It was with great excitement that I recently heard from Darryl about his new toy collection, ‘PlayMe‘. These cars are already built for you in brilliant colours, gorgeous woods and ready to go straight out of the box. Let me tell you, they are stunning!!
Arriving in perfect gift packaging that makes it super easy to wrap for birthdays or Christmas presents, you are first presented with a Lifetime Warranty certificate which I think is such a brilliant touch and as a parent, carer or gift giver, it gives a level of assurance that you have chosen a great quality, handmade product. It covers the product for any breakages. No mass manufacturing here.
There are 3 different models of cars you can choose from, Buster, Roxy and Fang. All come in 4 different colours, Fuschia, Lime, Sunset and Seaside ( blue, not shown here in this review). Roxy and Buster also come in 2 different types of wood, Douglas Fir and American Walnut. The Douglas Fir is the lighter wood and Walnut the darker wood as show in the Fuschia Roxy in our images.
Above: Fuschia Roxy in American WalnutAbove: Lime Fang in Douglas FirAbove: Sunset Buster in Douglas Fir
The tyres on each car are what make these cars a little unique, they are a proper grip type of rubber that really give the cars a bit of traction when the child moves it along the floor. They look and feel like a proper car tyre which just adds to the authenticity of the design.
Adding a bit of creative play to our cars with a matching colourful townhall block set! We also realised that some of our Grimms Pastel rainbow stacker match perfectly with our cars and made a great looking car showroom! So you may be asking what makes these wooden cars different from any others?
Well firstly the workmanship, it is heirloom quality and it shows! When you pick up these cars in your hand, you can truly see the difference between a handmade wooden toy and one that is mass produced. A lot of thought has gone into each design by Darryl as each model is easy to hold and he has really thought about the ergonomics of each design. The cars are smooth, slick and easy for a small hand to hold but he has also added in the roll bar feature at the back for added help. The colours are bright and would look brilliant in any kids room to bring a bit of pop to a room! Lastly the wheels on the cars are seriously cool, proper grip type rubber and really add a new level of reality to these awesome wooden cars.
I can see these cars lasting the distant, honestly they will really will be loved and enjoyed by this generation of kids and then their kids because these cars are built to last and they are beautiful too!
Toy of the month: PlayMe Toys
Helps to teach kids: to exercise their fine motor skills as well as learning about colours and using their imaginations to create fun adventures for their cars
Great for: gifts, as these are heirloom quality with a lifetime warranty on breakages, these cars would make the perfect baby gift or birthday gift for a child, grandchild, niece or nephew.
RRP:$69.00
Ages : 2+ years. The box says from 1+ years but I am not sure I would give my boys this car until they were say 2
BuildMe toys is a Melbourne based company headed up by Dad and head designer and handcrafter Darryl. Lovingly hand-crafted for your child from a piece of solid timber, natural rubber tyres, non toxic paint and hand finished in our carnauba and beeswax cream.
Please go and follow Darryl over on his Instagram and Facebook accounts.
Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post; however I did receive a sample for my review. All opinions are my own and not influenced in any way.