ToysInSchool

School Workshops

We can visit your school in: East Midlands, West Midlands, North East, North West, Yorkshire, Wales

Why book ToysInSchool

We bring a rare experience to your children where they learn about the history and science of toys AND they make their own wooden toy using traditional tools. Childhood wooden toys from Ancient Egypt through to pre-plastic Lego of the 1920’s & 30’s. They can choose which wooden toy they want to make from a selection through the ages.

What activities are available during this educational workshop?

Toy making workshop
A 2 hour toy making workshop where the children have a choice of toy to make. They go on to use sanding techniques to smooth the wood followed by colouring the component parts to their own design. During this process they will each use a traditional hand drill to create holes in their own toy. Once the parts are completed they will go on to assemble their toy using hammers and any other suitable tools.
All the elements using tools are supervised one-on-one by Kathryn or Don.

Presentation
An interactive session, prior to making the toys, exploring the History of the toys and the Forces that make them work.

Handling Collection
A collection of replica wooden toys covering 3,000 years of history, with provided notes for the teacher to lead the session. This workshop runs concurrently whilst the other group make toys before changing over in the afternoon.

Which Curriculum Subjects do you cater for?

Curriculum topics available: Suffragettes, Queen Victoria, Childhood and Schools, Toys.

The children will be introduced to toys played with by rich and poor that were popular through the reign of Queen Victoria. We will use these to reinforce understanding about the forces that make them work.
Toys were influenced by entertainments of the day like Punch and Judy or the Music Hall.
Sylvia Pankhurst opened a toy making workshop for women giving equal pay to that of a man. Your children will be making similar toys.

Curriculum topics available: Made to measure, Materials.

The children will use (with one-on-one supervision) a range of tools such as "a hand drill" and "hammer" to build their own wooden toy and use glue and string to join materials and components.

Toys have always been create from whatever materials are available. We look at early Egyptian, Greek and Roman toys. Much of our historical knowledge comes from the pyramids and includes many items that could be interpreted as toys. Items such as a wooden horse and someone probably grinding grain to make flour can each be made in our toy making workshop.

Curriculum topics available: Pyramids and Tombs.

Toys have always been create from whatever materials are available. We look at early Egyptian, Greek and Roman toys. Much of our historical knowledge comes from the pyramids and includes many items that could be interpreted as toys. People like Howard Carter often found Items such as a wooden horse and someone probably grinding grain to make flour. Each can be made in our toy making workshop.

What size groups do you cater for?

Typically we work with 2 classes per day. One morning and the other in the afternoon in a classroom.
We can also do a half day workshop with just one class or multiple days with more classes.
Tell us how many children need to make a toy and we will co-ordinate with you.

Do you offer access for visitors with disabilities?

We have worked with many children with disabilities (including one inspiring 5 year old girl without limbs) and every one of them have completed their own toy. Please talk to us and we will make it work.

Do you cater for visitors with Special Educational Needs (SEN)?

Please talk to us about your Special Educational Needs so we can accommodate your children’s requirements. You will find feedback from schools who have found us more than suitable.

Anything else?

During Covid, when we couldn't come in to schools, we used our 20+ years of knowledge to create a toy making activity, in kit form, that could be delivered by teaching staff. Many of our regular schools used this during Covid and some have continued this process. It delivers a similar product at a much lower price.

Who are ToysInSchool?

Kathryn & Don have been delivering toy making workshops for over 20 years to almost 50,000 children across the country. It all started with a handful of models and now sports over 80 across many periods and topics.

In 2018 we were invited by Disney to create a toy making workshop in Claridges Hotel to promote the launch of the film "The Nutcracker the Four Realms". We now offer a workshop that has these toys for your children to make.

Reviews from Schools..

★★★★★
"Thank you so much for another fabulous day. The children totally love their toys and were talking about the workshop for the rest of the week. "

Thomas’s London Day Schools

★★★★★
"It enabled all of the children to use tools that some have never used before. It was an engaging workshop which taught many elements of the curriculum without the children realising they were learning. I really enjoyed the workshop, especially your lively nature with the children who all thoroughly enjoyed themselves. "

Keyingham Primary School

★★★★★
"Outstanding quality learning, outstanding results. A wonderful experience for the children. It was an inspired way for the children to learn about forces The children felt a real sense of ownership and achievement over their work due to building the toy to completion and using functioning tools. The children gained a great deal of enjoyment and satisfaction from the workshop. Don and Kathryn were exceptional leaders and set clear guidelines for the children. Behaviour and engagement were excellent. Katy Heath & Gareth Williams, Banks Lane Infants. Year1 teachers "

Banks Lane Infants

★★★★★
"If you haven't had these guys into your school it can only be that you haven't heard of them yet. If they've been just once you won't need my recommendation. History/science/DT/fun - all included. In the words of Year 3 - awesome 30 children listened and worked from 9.05 to 12.00 without moving. Brilliant presentation, infectious enthusiasm and patient skill teaching. We all thoroughly enjoyed our time with Don and Kathryn. Thank you"

Havelock Junior School

★★★★★
"Being a special needs school, the needs of our children vary greatly in terms of their gross and fine motor ability. Every aspect of the session was accessible to all, providing them with opportunities to develop their skills at a level that was appropriate to the individual. This in turn gave all of the children a great sense of achievement. If you are looking for a fun, engaging and educational visit with two of the most patient and enthusiastic people leading the sessions then Toys In Schools is the company to book! Don and Kathryn's ability to differentiate the experience, assess the children's needs and provide a stimulating experience that covers a vast range of the curriculum is outstanding and I would highly recommend them to anybody looking for a hands on experience! As a teacher in a special needs school, it can be difficult to find people who understand our children's needs but it was clear within the first few minutes that Don and Kathryn knew how to engage every pupil, build fantastic relationships with them and also help them to create a toy that they could be proud of. All I have heard this morning is 'Where's the toy man? I need to make another toy!' which is better than any review that I could leave!"

TreeTops School