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Mr Fox Crafts – handmade wooden toys and collectibles

Mr Fox Crafts - handmade wooden toys and collectibles

  • Home
  • Gallery
    • Birds
    • Reptiles and Amphibians
    • Animals
      • Farm animals
      • Cats and Dogs
      • Woodland animals
      • Baby animals
      • African and Asian animals
      • American animals
      • Australian animals
      • Arctic animals
    • Fairy creatures
    • People
      • Peasants of old
      • Royal figures
      • Modern people
      • Himba people
      • People of the Far North
      • Native American People
  • Play
  • Toys
  • Wood
  • About
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Shop

Play

The importance of symbolic play

February 9, 2026February 9, 2026
wooden toy people

Are your children too old to play? Why is symbolic play so important? How can we encourage it?

Categories Blog post, Play Tags dramatic play, imaginative play, pretend play, small world play, symbolic play

Symbolic Play – the importance and how to encourage – a short GUIDE for parents

February 4, 2026January 20, 2026
a parents' guide to symbolic play

Why pretend play is important and how we, adults could encourage and support our children to engage in it in meaningful enjoyable ways. A short guide for parents, pointing out to resources we have prepared.

Categories Blog post, Parenting, Play, Toys Tags dramatic play, imaginative play, make-believe, open-ended play, parent guides, pretend play, small world play, symbolic play

Symbolic Play and Cognitive Development

January 19, 2026March 31, 2025
Symbolic play and cognitive development

How symbolic play can aid cognitive development.

Categories Blog post, Play Tags dramatic play, Howard Gardner, imaginative play, Jerome Bruner, multiple intelligences, narrative thinking, open-ended play, pretend play, small world play, W. George Scarlett

Why pretend play is so important in early childhood (3-5)

January 19, 2026February 19, 2025

How play is different from entertainment. Why pretend play is so important for young children aged 3-5

Categories Blog post, Parenting, Play Tags dramatic play, imaginative play, open-ended play, pretend play, small world play, symbolic play

How Play Can Be Healing

January 19, 2026February 11, 2023
wooden dwarf figurines

Find out how play can be therapeutic and how to encourage meaningful healing play.

Categories Blog post, Play, Toys Tags dramatic play, imaginative play, open-ended play, open-ended toy, play therapy, playing with animal figures, pretend play, small world play, wooden toys

How to Encourage Symbolic Play

January 19, 2026May 30, 2022
wooden toy people

How adults can foster symbolic play (also known as dramatic play, imaginative play, pretend play, small-world play, make-believe play.

Categories Blog post, Parenting, Play, Toys Tags dramatic play, imaginative play, open-ended play, open-ended toy, pretend play, small world play

6 Ways to Develop the Sense of Wonder

January 16, 2026May 29, 2022

Why children need to develop a sense of wonder while interacting with nature. Based on Rachel Carson’s ideas from the book “The Sense of Wonder”.

Categories Blog post, Books, Parenting, Play Tags experiencing nature with children, how to raise a naturalist, observing nature with children

Children, scary stuff and Halloween

January 19, 2026October 10, 2021
wooden toy witch with black cat

Children and learning about evil. The roots and meaning of Halloween. How do we go about the ambiguity?

Categories Blog post, Play Tags children and Halloween, Samhain festival, the Christian roots of Halloween, the pagan roots of Halloween, the symbolic meaning of Halloween

Why we use hard wood to make our toy figurines

January 16, 2026May 6, 2021
north american animal wooden toys

Toys made of hard wood are stronger and heavier. They retain their beauty after extensive use. Heavier toys aid children’s sensory development.

Categories Blog post, Mr Fox Crafts, Play, Toys, Wood Tags hard wood, heavy toys, wood therapy, wooden toys

Why we make people of different times and cultures

January 16, 2026July 24, 2020

Why children need to know people of other places and other times and why we make toy people of different times and cultures.

Categories Blog post, Play, Toys Tags First Nation toys, Himba people, Native American figurines, wooden toy people
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