Do you shop on line for toys? Or do you still slog your way around the shops in your local town?

Once you have tried shopping for your toys online you will not want to do it any other way. Okay a

pciture is not always as good as the actual item, which you can hold and study more closely. But the

ability to be able to search through the variety of options without having to compete with other

shoppers, and lug that bag around, is what it is all about.

Toys UK provides you with guidance and information about the various toy shops that provide an

online service. You will find all the stores described on this site provide an excellent service; with

good delivery times and, quite often, free delivery if you buy a certain amount of their products

(normally this is about £30 and over).

Most of the UK sites also provide a 'find your local store' service. Usually the search facilities

provided on the toy sites is user-friendly and allows you to do searches based on age and type of

product. Look out for any special offers, which can be worthwhile finding.

There are a vast selection of children's toys available, from learning toys for young children to more

challenging toys for older children. Compared with only a few years ago, the selection of educational

toys & games available today is excellent. This is particularly evident with electronic toys.

So, where should you go for the best selection? We would recommend starting at your local Amazon

store. Their search facility is one of the best and they have a very wide selection of different toys

and games available. They have toys from most of the well-known names plus products from small

niche toy makers. Normally (things can differ slightly between different countries) they provide 5

age categories: 1-2 yrs, 3-4 yrs, 5-8 yrs, 9-11 yrs and 12-16 yrs. There is also a long list of product

categories to search through, including Arts & Crafts, Dolls & Accessories, Education & Science,

Musical Toys/Instruments. Quite often local delivery is free and customer reviews can be helpful in

making your buying decision.

Another well known toy shop is Toys R Us. They split their age-categories more extensively than

Amazon: 0-24 months, 2-3 years, 3-4 years, 5-7 years, 8-11 years, 12-14 years and Big Kids!

They have a major category under the heading Babies R Us, within which there are a long list of

different, helpful categories. Other categories include Bikes & Ride-ons, Computers, Outdoor &

Sports and Video Games.

Other UK toy shops (not necessarily specialising in just children's toys) which we recommend are:

John Lewis, The Toy Shop, I Want One of Those, Yellow Moon, Everything Play, Big Red Warehouse

and Curious Minds (specialising in Educational Toys).

Toys UK recommends you take a look at these sites. We are sure you will find what you are looking

for. Children need to play and good toys will help them enjoy the playing, and also, quite naturally,

help their learning.