Soft Toys and Stuffed Animals
A must have for all children, soft toys and stuffed animals are a staple amongst children's favourite pastimes. Allowing kids to have a friend that they can look after and play with, stuffed animals often teach younger children how to care for their first, future pet. They are also popular with adults, every woman loves receiving a giant teddy on Valentine's Day! There are hundreds of different types of soft toys to choose from that vary in design, colour and of course animal.
Branded
A number of different brands sell their own stuffed toys and animal characters are often a prominent feature. Disney soft toys are one of the largest ranges with a great majority of their characters being animals. Stuffed animals include, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Winnie the Pooh and his friends, Dumbo and Nemo and Dory. Other branded soft toys include, The Gruffalo, Me to You, the Andrex Puppy and Beatrix Potter.
Non branded
Non branded soft toy animals are just as popular as the above branded items. They may not belong to a certain brand or company, but they are still a stuffed animal that pulls at many a child's and adult's heart strings. The options of stuffed animals are endless, whatever type of animal you like, you are bound to be able to get a soft toy version of it. Some popular stuffed animals that are available include cats, dogs, monkeys, foxes and bears.
Age of toy
Soft toy animals can vary in age and are categorised into three types, modern, vintage and antique. Modern soft toys you can buy at the shops right now and are usually a current trend. Vintage stuffed animals are older toys, which often have a readable date on them and are still in great condition. For example a Mickey Mouse toy bought twenty years ago could be considered vintage. An antique toy however refers to an item that is more than one hundred years old, an example of this would be a teddy bear from World War II.
Choosing a soft toy
The vast range of soft toys makes it a difficult choice, however there are a few factors that could help you to decide. Firstly consider the age of the child you're buying the toy for, as if a baby you'll want to avoid soft toys with strings, ribbon, too fluffy or other potential choking hazards. These potential dangers should be highlighted on the label alongside a Lion Mark that indicates the quality of the toy and a CE Mark which shows the toy has passed a safety test.