The Toadstool are a traditional toy company who like us believe in the power of learning through play.
Like us they encourage fun and creative experiences through the use of quality toys.
The Toadstool are currently looking for toy testers and on behalf of Esther and William I would love to get involved.
To do that though we need a little help from you.
The Toadstool need a little convincing that we are the right testing team for them.
They have asked that we write a short blurb on our blog, like this one, and then ask you the readers to leave a comment saying why you think we might fit the bill.
The Toadstool have a strong set of values that I believe match the values of Edspire.
What do you think?
A perfect match?
And in case anyone needs convincing or reminding, here are some of our relevant play posts and toy reviews.
Wonderworld Mini Trailer Review
Please please spare a couple of minutes to leave a comment below stating why you think Edspire and The Toadstool would make a perfect partnership. Even if the only reason you give is that William looks so incredibly cute in his toadstool jumper!!
Thank you x
This is such an easy one! Jennie, your blog has inspired me, along with MANY other bloggers: to play more, to laugh more and to make the most of our children. Your creativity as a teacher, parent and blogger is awesome and you have the ability to turn any play activity into a huge learning experience. You also write beautifully and if that wasn’t enough, you deserve this opportunity because you are so very dedicated to your children, your blog and the brands you work with. Good luck!
xxxx
Hi Jennie… This really does seem the perfect match. Reading your posts about play has inspired me to do more with my daugher. Esther and William clearly cherish their play time and reading about it is a joy. You have educated me and both you and Esther and William deserve an opportunity to explore new play activities.
I for one can’t wait to read all about it 🙂
You really do all deserve this opportunity xx
Easy. Since finding your blog I have been inspired to play more with my 1 year old and be more creative with my play. I have invested in some paints and brushes, done water play and no longer be afraid of mess. Your ability to turn play in to a learning experience is something that I can only dream of so having a blog like yours is going to be invaluable for ideas.
Good luck.
@gem_gem14
I think a combination of you and toadstool would be great. I follow your blog and follow you on twitter and as a very busy working mother of two I find myself hunting for your posts. You really inspire me to do creative things with the children when we are together and it does help to see what toys and tools you use. Without inspiration I end up doing the same old things which, when we only have limited time together, sometimes ferls like a waste but we are definitely being more adventurous having read your blog and we’re all doing things that are great fun. We have ordered a tuff spot and got the things for cloud dough and I can’t wait! I do have fairly clear ideas of the sort of things I want my children to be playing with and Toadstool looks right up our street. We seem to have a lot of toys but i don’t always know how to get the best out of them. It would be fabulous for us if you could “toad test” some things to give us some ideas of things to get and how to use them. Fingers crossed x
Toad Test! Brilliant! Will be stealing that if the opportunity comes along x
i cant wait to read every day what you have done with the twins as i get a lot of inspiration from your ideas. i must say i dont do that much of stuff , or probably just not enough in sensory play as im just too tired to think some days, but your blog does get me to actually reach more for easy and good sensory toys and also make me think that a bit of mess wont hurt our landlords carpet if it is properly covered :)) . i hope you get more and more testing done so you can inspire us with lots more ideas in the future ! x
This blog is full of inspiring play ideas and I often co e here to look for ideas on different ways to interact with my children through creative, sensory play.
I’m pretty sure it would be a good partnership…maybe they’d like a hand with their blog. 😉 With your imagination for kids’ play, your gripping writing, pictures and testers and their toys you’d make a great team!
Monika,
You are sooo right! I could use every help I can with my blog! Unfortunately I am a start-up company and a full-time mummy with a daddy who is working very very very long hours… I am struggling to do everything at once!
Also I am not native English and I take an awful lot of time to write something and I am sure even then I still make spelling mistakes!
But you may be pleased to know that I am working on blog texts relevant to my business, but I am gathering them and they will all go in a social media strategy plan, and have a logical sequence to them. The toy reviews will be part of this logical sequence… Does that make sense?
Anyone wanting to donate blog post or write for me, more then welcome. I struggle to do it all 🙂
definitely!
i’m not a mum yet but i love reading about teaching through fun and insipiring our chidlren. i hope i can be a little like you when i do have kids 🙂
Since reading Edspire’s blog I have copied many play ideas that you have posted. The ideas are truly inspiring and my toddler girls have had lots of fun!!! I emailed you to inform you that you had inspired me when playing wih my daughters- I hope you received it!! I have also used some of the ideas with pupils I work with and they have also loved it!!! Edspire puts such thought and planning in order to provide activities that develop the fine and gross motor skills in her twins who were born prematurely. The activities Edspire describes also provide a great deal of mental stimulation. Thank you and I wish you well. I am very grateful to you
They would be mad not to choose you! Your blog is an inspiration to me on days when I don’t know what to do. Your children are always having fun and your observations fascinate me. I hope they choose you. Apart from anything I had never heard of the toadstool til now so their company name is already getting good coverage! 🙂
Hi Ruth,
It’s is very possible you had not heard from us. We are very new and building business. Being a full-time mum as well, growing does not go as fast as I hoped for. I also do all images, website etc myself… and it all takes loads and loads of time!
You have given me lots of ideas for things to do, activities & games to play, things to buy, and things I will want to do in the future for my little boy! Your blog is beautifully and powerfully written, so I am compelled to read it. The days when I am lacking in motivation and feel I am not being a very fun mummy, I am inspired to embrace motherhood again, make the most of every moment & jump right in! I think you & the twins will make great reviewers for Toadstool Toys! x
Dear lovely Toadstool people…. Please pick Jennie & her utterly gorgeous twins (especially William in his Toadstool jumper!) to test your toys you will be in good hands! I looked at your website & the first line says “Welcome to The Toadstool, home of fun, high quality pre-school toys which will inspire and stimulate your child’s natural creativity and learning” well I would say there is one word to quickly sum that up ‘Edspire’! Jennie writes articulately & beautifully but most of all she is ‘real’ in everything she says & does! Her blog is a wonderful inspiration to me & my family & I look forward to her posts daily….. :0)
I have been reading your blog since the beginning and even though I read other blog posts, yours is the only one I read daily. I’ve seen it evolve and from a very personal diary it became a parenting guide. You are an amazing mother to your children but also an amazing teacher to them.
And if I may add this, you are an amazing teacher to me too. Thanks to your posts and links I see toys and play in a different light and understand more and more their importance in the development of my children. I’ve always found your reviews honest and detailed.
I hope you become of the toadstool reviewers…
A perfect match!
Edspire is such an inspiration to mummies everywhere. Her blog just makes me want to do more creative and imaginative play with my son and to enjoy our time together. I look forward to each and every post and the new ideas I know I will find there.
You can guarantee the twins will test all products thoroughly, like only toddler twins can and you will know that through her skilful writing, Edspire will bring that their play to life for all her readers. Edspire doesn’t just focus in the play itself. Her reviews cover everything from the look and feel of the toy to both adults and children, to the value for money and environmental impact.
In summary, I think Edspire and her family would be the perfect did for the Toadstool Toy range.
And yes, William does look super cute in his toadstools 🙂
I totally agree with all of the comments. Since read your blogs and tweets it has given me lots of food for thought regarding sensory play, and also differing products to stimulate my little girl in her growth and development. I’ve purchased a number of items due to reading your blogs. Your ideas and writing are a wonderful part of my parenting now and I’m so glad I’ve found Edspire to guide with suggestion re play and products. I feel Toadstool and Edspire, Jennie, would make a great team in reviewing products!
I’ve read only 5 of your blogs but from these and your tweets I can 100% say you are a very passionate mother whom always does and has done her best for her children, the brief descriptions of your husband he has,and does his best for them too.
As a child are student I would love to do my best for such a strong family unit and back a company who are striving to test and improve educational resources,
Hope you are approved by toadstools it sounds like a lovely opportunity.
Rozi.
The Toadstool and Edspire are a perfect match. Having had a look at the Toadstool website the first sentence that jumped out at me was ‘Like you, we believe in the magic of learning through play and the importance of stimulating the inquisitive young mind.’ To me, this sums up exactly what Edspire believes and writes so eloquently, and genuinely, about. Edspire’s blog is inspiring, educational and fun. It is so full of ideas, activities and recommendations. As someone who hadn’t spent much time with children before I had my own, and who now finds herself a full time SAHM, I look to Edspire for ideas and inspiration!
Jennie, your blog and the clear love and enthusiasm that flows off the page has inspired me to make playtime a much more important part of my day. You have even managed to get me to embrace messy play – never thought I’d see that happen 🙂 You absolutely deserve this opportunity.
Definitely think your a perfect match! You definitely have inspired me to ” get messy ” and learn at the same time! My son has absolutely enjoyed some of the ideas you have shared, especially those involving trains as he also loves trains 😉
As if I would need convincing! A friend of mine who runs the art table at a local to me play group was so inspired by your blog this week that she recreated one of your messy plays.said the little ones didn’t get a look in as all the bigger boys took it over. She said usually they don’t go near the art bit!she has before and after pics I will send you!
And William DOES look gorgeous in his toadstools!
Jennie, you and the twins would be perfect to test the toadstool toys. As alot of people have already said through your blog and your ideas You have already inspired me to do so much more with my little boy. We are buying a tuff spot which id never even heard of before reading your blog. Jennie your ideas are so imaginative I’m sure that the twins would test the toadstool toys very well!! X
You can guarantee after I’ve read one of your messy play posts that same day I’ll be raiding the cupboards for oats, rice and pasta or the food colouring will be rediscovered from the back of a draw to be used with water and ice. I
I haven’t forgotten the jelly, saving that for a rainy day.
We took inspiration from your dinosaur activity and had a morning of fun painting our dinosaurs feet and had great fun making trails of dinosaur footprints which of course turned into painting our own feet!
Your posts remind me to have fun, get messy and enjoy every moment x
If someone had asked me to recommend a blogger to be in partnership with The Toadstool you would have be the first person I would have thought of. You have inspired so many people through your play and the imagination you have with play is second to none. A perfect partnership if ever I saw one xx
Wow – the Edspire team were made to be Toadstool ambassadors! You blog about creative play in such an engaging way and you encourage us all to embrace it. You love simple, traditional toys and methods – very complimentary to Toadstool. Oh and where is the country could you find a pair of cuter models??
Because your audience is so much wider than “just” people with small children. I no longer have littlies – mine are hulking great teens now and taller than me – but I read, and I recommend to my friends and family who have toddlers, and to friends who have grandchildren and want to buy them “proper” toys. 🙂
jennie i think you and Esther and William would be perfect as your posts about creative play etc really have inspired people and got people to try them out with their children. your blog as given me so many ideas to do with my own children. I am sure the twins would be perfect testers and enjoy it very much and they are so adorable they would just be perfect. Jennie you have really given me so many ideas for messy play and i am no longer scared of getting a mess on the floor etc. the posts are so creative and descriptive just perfect.
Jennie I read your Edspire blog everyday. I am a Nana to a 21 month old and you inspire me all the time with your knowledge, patience and skill with Esther and William and messy play etc. when you mention toys you have played with or stories you have read I think I will have to go and get that for my Granddaughter. I can think of nobody better to be a tester for The Toadstool company.
I love reading your posts 🙂 you are very creative, i loved the snow post, such a great idea!! you should deff win 🙂
You are totally the perfect choice. The gorgeous twins are the perfect ‘testers’ and you are THE most creative, dedicated mummy blogger I read. You have inspired so many to actually spend time with their children ‘playing’.
Your written word is beautiful and a joy to read.
You have changed the way many mummies play – for te better.
THE PERFECT CHOICE!
x x
Edspire and The Toadstool would make the perfect partnership because of how Jennie has inspired so many mothers (and fathers) to interact with their children through the wonderful world of play. Jennie’s imaginative and creative ideas are endless. The Edspire Blog is one I read consistently, because of her beautifully written posts, which has given us insight to a wonderful and loving family, with only her children’s best interests at heart.
Jennie, I wish you nothing but the very best for you, and I hope The Toadstool come to appreciate what a wonderful, inspiring and beautiful mother you are, they should be honoured to work with you. x
P.S. And yes, William looks incredibly gorgeous in his toadstool jumper! x
Jennie is an inspiring mother who has given lots of parents brilliant ideas to share with our own children, I await with baited breath to hear the next fantastic instalment of the ideas she has in store for her gorgeous children. Please pick Jennie for this testing – she makes me feel a better mummy when I can enjoy learning through play with my boys!
Jennie and David and their twins seem like the perfect choice. This blog contains so many inspirational ideas for creative play with little ones that I hope will inspire my little man to agree to be messy eventually! Imaginative play is key to this blog and the would be perfect toadstool testers and ambassadors. You would be lucky to have them! Xxx
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