A few days ago, I wrote a post about the Keepsake Teddy we have recently ordered, and I said I would write about some of the other small businesses we love.  So this is the second one, and it is our favourite online toy shop.  Play Merrily is a family run business which sells excellent quality toys, and the customer service is exceptional.  Everything we have ordered has always arrived very quickly, and if there are any problems with the order they are dealt with efficiently.

We have many Play Merrily toys in our house.  We love our doll’s house, which was a very special present for Rabbit last Christmas.  This year she is hoping for a Ruben’s Barn doll – Monkey already has one and she doesn’t want to be left out.  All our children enjoy playing with toy food, and we can never resist adding to our collection of wooden and soft play food. There are so many wonderful things to choose from, we always find it difficult to decide what to order.

I had already planned to write this post when the lovely Merry (of the Merrily empire) offered us the chance to review some Edtoy magnetic vehicles.  A full review will follow, but here is a sneak preview.  We were sent the police car and the fire engine, and Rabbit and Tiddler quickly decided they should have one each.  Luckily, they agreed to share and all four children enjoyed playing with them for a long time at bedtime on the day they arrived.  It was one of those situations where they were playing so nicely that we let them stay up quite a lot later than we intended!

So if you are looking for good quality toys this Christmas, and would like to keep your money out of the hands of the big companies, Play Merrily would be a great place to start.

Next up in our small-businesses-we-love series, a great place to buy books for little ones online.   Watch this space!