The Playmakers Co.

Small Worlds, Assembled On The Kitchen Table.

Children have been building fairy gardens out of moss and bottle tops for roughly as long as there have been children and gardens. What this London brand has done is give the whole enterprise a proper kit: a tray, a tiny shovel, a linen apron that means business, soil, seeds and a cast of fairies with actual names. It is gardening, sensory play and a great deal of narrative invention, all happening in a shallow tray while you get on with something else.

What Comes In The Box.

The Fairy Garden starter kit arrives with everything needed to get a garden growing: the tray, the tools, the apron, the fairies, and the soil and seeds that turn the thing from an arrangement into something that actually sprouts. Watching a seed come up is the part children remember, and the fairies give them a reason to check on it every single morning. Have a browse through the play, toys and games shelves and the wider baby and kids edit.

A New Cast Every Season.

Refill kits keep the garden turning over through the year: a Halloween set, a birthday set, a back to school set complete with fairy school, a Valentine's love garden, and a summer one full of lemons and beaches that will make anybody want to go to the Amalfi coast immediately. Fresh soil and seeds come with each, so the garden gets replanted rather than merely redecorated. Worth a look alongside the gifts for children and the children's decor.

Felt Boards And Paintable Fairies.

Away from the soil there are felt play boards, where a fairy or a mermaid gets dressed and undressed and redressed in an order known only to the child holding the felt, and paint your own fairies at twenty two centimetres, which are very good party favours and even better on a wet Sunday. There is a linen apron too, which is charming and also saves a good deal of laundry. Have a look through the children's clothing and the gifts.

For more in the same spirit, look through the gift sets and hampers, the children's accessories, our newest brands, or the full list of independent brands.