Amazon are selling this The Very Hungry Caterpillar Colourfelt Play Board for £5.22, instead of its £9.99 full price.

• Click HERE to take a look at The Very Hungry Caterpillar Colourfelt Play Board*

I haven't written about anything Very Hungry Caterpillar for (what feels like) a-g-e-s!

I love him! He's just properly awesome.  AS is anything that vaguely resembles Fuzzy Felt - you have to be of a certain age (mine!) to know furry felt shapes that stick to a board by the name Fuzzy Felt.

Whichever name it comes under now, the principle is still the same: you can create as many different furry felt scenes as your imagination will allow, on a special background board.  Simple as that.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Colourfelt Play Board board measures 37 x 31 and then you have 31 different VHC shapes to stick to it.

I love the simplicity if toys like this; I love that you don't need to spend a fortune on batteries, and I love that it's completely silent - no bells, no whistles, no rings, no dings, no buzzing, no 'fun tunes', no NOTHING.  Just good old fashioned fun that comes from within.

I'm not the only one who thinks it's great:

My granddaughter, who is 2, loves this, it is educational as well as fun. She learns about fruit, colours and counting as well as recognising the different stages of the caterpillar and all the food he has eaten. Reading the story once is never enough for her, she wants it again and again.

I bought this as a gift for a 3 year old girl, and was not disappointed. It is really good value for money. We are very fond of the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and this is the first spin off product we've purchased. Our daughter can re-tell the story using the felt pieces or modify the tale into her own special message of eating and waiting. We even use it to help reinforce counting, colours and Day and Night etc., so I find it very useful educationally. It's bigger than I expected (should have read the product dimensions more carefully!). I wholeheartedly recommend it.

In fact, it doesn't have any less than enthusiastic reviews at all!

Thanks to shoptilyoudrop at HUKD

Amazon are selling these Creative Hub Rory's Story Cubes for £6.80, rather than £10. I've never come across them before but, even at first glance, think they look quite cool.

• Click HERE to take a look at the Creative Hub Rory's Story Cubes*

Okay, at more than the first glance they look REALLY cool! The idea is so simple, it's just brilliant, here's what you do:

Roll all nine dice at the same time, then let the face up images help you to make up a story that starts with 'Once upon a time...'.  That's IT!

The nine dice each have a unique image on each face, giving you a total of 54 images. This means (with a bit of clever maths that I didn't work out) that with every roll, there are over 10 million combination's for you to use as the inspiration for your story.

Now if it all sounds too simple and 'boring', have a read of these two reviews, then go and read the others over on Amazon, you might just change your opinion:

What a great toy! I bought the cubes for my 4 & 5 year old and we have all had a great time playing with the cubes and making up stories. The idea is so simple - roll the cubes & whatever comes up, you make a story to match. My children like acting out the stories they make up too so this adds to the fun. It makes a really good family game for everyone to take turns making up stories and makes a change from board games. I also found them good inspiration when thinking up new bedtime stories. Will be treasured for years to come.

We've had great fun with these Cubes. We got a set for our 6 year old to distract him on a long journey. The images are cleverly designed so that they can be interpreted in different ways. He was captivated by them and he still gets them out when he friends come round. It's so sweet to hear them tell stories together. Good too for adults over a glass or two - although the stories tend to be a bit different! Highly recommended.

Well, I don't know about you, but I'm sold!

Thanks to veja_du at HUKD

The Early Learning Centre have taken up to 50% off ALL HappyLand toys - whenever they do this, things tend to fly off the shelves pretty quickly so I'd get yourself over there pronto!

• Click HERE to take a look at the HappyLand Toys *

Even though I'm a wooden toy fan, I'm rather fond of all things HappyLand - they just look so happy and cheery, and will help kids to develop various skills and encourage imaginative play.

There are some really good deals to be had and, at the moment, there seems to be plenty of the HappyLand bits and pieces still in stock.  There's all sorts of things for various young ages - simple little toys for the very young, through to larger play sets for slightly older children.

If you've got a little one to present buy for but are a bit stuck for ideas, then something HappyLand will always get you out of that particular hole.

Now, if you order through the ELC website you'll need to pay for delivery (standard delivery is £2.95) but if you'd rather collect your HappyLand items for free, then order them Mothercare (they're matching the ELC prices) and arrange to collect them in-store.

Thanks to kaz14783 at HUKD

If you're in the market for a play kitchen then you should take a look at this Little Tikes Stage Two play kitchen - Argos are selling it for £55.99, rather than the full £99.99.

• Click HERE to take a look at the Little Tikes Stage Two play kitchen*

I still have a loathing for play kitchens that aren't gender neutral; they still make me want to poke the play forks in my eyes, but I haven't written about one for a while and this one looks like a pretty good deal, as it will grow with your child as they grow - unusual for a play kitchen.

This Little Tikes Stage Two play kitchen is suitable for little ones ages 18 months and older, and features an oven, a fridge, a microwave, a sink and a shape-sorting saucepan - I love the inclusion of a shape-sorting toy!

It  features electronic cooking sounds and can be reconfigured when your child gets to around two'ish: Stage 1 is just the right height for pre-schoolers, and Stage 2 provides your growing youngster with a little bit 'more' in the kitchen role play department.

Two AA batteries are required, which aren't included, and the Little Tikes Stage 2 play kitchen measures approximately:  H103 x W66 x D31cm.

If your local Argos store doesn't have any stock, use www.icheckstock.co.uk to help you track some down - it's far less of a task using their search facility, than the one directly on the Argos item page.

Thanks to Asyouwish at HUKD

Argos are selling this SpongeBob SquarePants Pirate Ship for less than half price - £8.99, instead of the full £19.99.

• Click HERE to take a look at the SpongeBob SquarePants Pirate Ship *

You either 'get' SpongeBob SquarePants, or you don't; there's no middle ground and I'm utterly convinced that his creators were drunk as lords when they dreamt him up!  I mean, seriously, a square bit of sponge, who wears shorts and lives in a pineapple under the sea...?  I'm amazed they got it past the TV execs, unless, of course, they were all off their heads too!

Anyway, this SpongeBob SquarePants Pirate Ship will win over any SpongeBob SquarePants fan - it's just a plastic pirate play ship, great for making up your own SpongeBob SquarePants adventures on the high seas of bath time, and comes with SpongeBob, Patrick, and Gary the Snail figures.

The SpongeBob SquarePants Pirate Ship is currently out of stock for home delivery , so Click and Collect is your only option - use www.icheckstock.co.uk to help you track stock down, if your local store doesn't have any; failing that, enlist the help of friends and relatives who are close to a store that does.

Thanks to meistic at HUKD

Argos are selling this Ben and Holly's Elf Tree play set for less than half price - £14.99 instead of £34.99.

• Click HERE to take a look a Ben and Holly's Elf Tree play set *

I'll be honest, I had to Google Ben and Holly to find out who they were - if you have children older than seven years old, like I do, then you may well not have come across them either: let me enlighten you!

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom is an animated cartoon series for pre-school children that's set in an enchanted magical kingdom with fairies, elves and insects.  Ben is an elf and Holly, his best friend, is a princess -  she likes to use magic, despite the risk of things going wrong, so you can imagine the sort of mischief they get up to!

This Ben and Holly's Elf Tree play set features an Elf Tree that has three different levels.  It comes with Holly, Ben, Nanny Plum and Wise Old Elf figurines, along with a magic wand and it folds up for easy storage <------ always a good thing!

It has received some lovely reviews, here's a couple of them for you:

The elf tree is great for role play, acting out scenes from the little kingdom and is great fun to play with your child, teaching them about emotions, feelings and interacting. The figures are pretty sturdy but definately not for under 3s. Sturdy design and eye catching. Brilliant

My daughter loves this, plays with it all the time, easy to store too

It's available for in-store collection, which is free, or home delivery, which will cost you a few additional pounds.

Thanks to thomascomer at HUKD

Mothercare are selling this Wonderland Magical Garden for £20, rather than £40, until 25 February.

• Click HERE to take a look at the Wonderland Magical Garden*

Well here's something I've not seen before - I'm a little bit behind with my fairy play things knowledge: my 17-year-old daughter isn't into that sort of thing any more, strangely enough, and as for almost seven-year-old Edward is more into Bewilderwood stories than girly fairy things.

If you've got a little girly-girl then the Wonderland Magical Garden will definitely appeal to them: there's a flower table for the fairies to sit at, on toadstool stools, a slide they can slide down and a hammock for relaxing in at the end of a hard fairy day.

The Wonderland Magical Garden is made from wood (hurrah, I like wooden toys) and is going to be just great for imaginative play - the only downside is there aren't any fairies included, you're going to have to buy those separately, sorry about that.

Collection from your local Mothercare store is free, or you can choose the home delivery option which will cost you an additional £2.95.

Thanks to andywedge at HUKD

This wooden doll's house has to be one of my bargains of the year:  it was originally £99.99, then reduced down to £49.99 and then down further to £29.99.

• Click HERE to take a look at the wooden doll's house *

I've written about wooden doll's houses plenty of times before and even though I'm not a fan of anything 'dolly', I really think you should take a look at this one - it would make a lovely Christmas present for a little girl who is into playing house.

It features four stories, has a hinged front and removable roof.  It comes with 50 bits and pieces too, ranging from chairs to tables, bunk beds, shelves and chest of drawers, along with dolls to go with it - well you can't have a doll's house without dolls to live in it can you!

In case you're wondering whether or not you'll have space for this in your home, the dimensions of it are: 55 (w) x 70 (h) x 20 (d) cm.

You can arrange to collect your wooden doll's house in-store for free, or you can pay an additional £4.95 and have it delivered to your full size home.

Happy doll housing!

Chad Valley Knight's Castle play set is on offer, at Argos, for £19.99 instead of £29.99.

• Click HERE to take a look at the Chad Valley Knight's Castle *
  

If you've got a young Merlin fan in  your family - are you watching the new series of Merlin?  My mum and almost 17-year-old daughter are absolutely gripped by it every week! - then you should add this Chad Valley Knight's Castle to their 'potential Christmas pressie' list.

The castle would become Camelot, the knights would be Knights of the Round Table and all sorts of medieval battles would ensue during some rather fabulous imaginative play.

The Chad Valley Knight's Castle play set includes:

• A 29-inch medieval castle
• Two battle horses
• Five knight action figures - one of them would obviously be Arthur (sorry, King Arthur)
• A catapult with two rocks
• Weapons and shields
• A weapon stand, for the aforementioned weapons; and
• A dragon - no self respecting medieval castle with knights can be without a dragon!

Reviews for the Chad Valley Knight's Castle are fabulous - here are a few, just in case you're not sure whether your wannabe medieval king or knight would like it...

"Best toy I ever bought !!!"

"Bought this for my grandson's 7th birthday. He didn't stop playing with it all day! The knights and horses are very good quality, very robust and actually stand up on their own!
Excellent value for money."

"My grandson is delighted with this castle and so am I. Great value for money. Nice and sturdy, a decent size and the figures are really lovely. A really lovely toy."

If your local Argos stores have stock then you can arrange to collect your Chad Valley Knight's Castle for free, or you can book standard home delivery for an extra £3.95.

Thanks to dippidh at HUKD 

I feel there ought to be sirens sounding when you open this deal - it's got to be my 'deal of the week' (not to be confused with Amazon Deals of the Week!), let alone 'deal of the day'.

You can pick up an Early Learning Centre Big City Wooden Rescue Station for £56 (just apply discount code RNLH to get this price) rather than £140 - now tell me that's not worthy of being 'deal of the week'!

• Click HERE to take a look at the ELC Big City Wooden Rescue Station *

This is a HUGE item!  Any child who finds an ELC Big City Wooden Rescue Station under the Christmas tree this year will be beyond themselves with glee, when they unwrap it.

It's actually a combined fire and police station and boasts an impressive 12 rooms, and comes with all necessary furniture, vehicles and figures (including two rescue dogs) required for some serious imaginative play.

Everything folds up and is self contained within the fire and police station building when rescue role playing is finished.  However, before any playing can commence you'll need to arm yourself with a Phillips screwdriver and put your self assembly hat on.

According to the official blurb it could take two people up to an hour to put together; you may want to do this before you wrap it up on Christmas Eve or suffer the consequences of an impatient child who wants to, "...play with it NOW!!!!"

Home delivery of your ELC Big City Wooden Rescue Station is free, or you can collect it in person from your local Mothercare store if you prefer.

Thanks to sindygirl1973 at HUKD

If you're in the market for a small tea picnic play set, you should head over to John Lewis - they're selling a very cute one for just £8.

• Click HERE to take a look at the small tea picnic play set *

I had a tea set when I was little - it was plastic and I used to pack it into the little back carrier, pannier type thing on the back of my little bike and would ride off on great adventures, stopping off for 'tea and cake' along the way.  'Along the way' was actually only around the little cul-de-sac we lived in, but according to my imagination I'd ridden miles!

This little picnic tea play set features a little wicker picnic basket and red ceramic accessories, decorated with white polka dots - there's a tea pot, milk pot, sugar bowl, cups, saucers and spoons.

If you live locally to a John Lewis store you can pop in and collect your small picnic tea play set for free, the day after you order it; failing that, standard home deliver will cost you an additional £3 and take up to five working days arrive.

Thanks to cazzap06 at HUKD

Are you in the market for a play kitchen?  If you are, you can pick up a My First Kitchen, via Amazon, from The Entertainer (or directly from them) for £6 instead of its usual £20.

• Click HERE to buy a My First Kitchen from The Entertainer via Amazon *
• Click HERE to buy it directly from The Entertainer *

Now (for all those who loathe play kitchens as much as I do) forks, to poke in your eyes, at the ready; here we go...

This Cosy Cottage My First Kitchen is pink (what else!), stands at 60cms tall and features a hob, toaster, sink and an an oven complete with opening door - well, it would be a pretty useless oven without one!

It also comes with 14 accessories: two plates, two cups, salt and pepper shakers, two knives, two forks (ooooh goody, where are my eyes!), two spoons, a spatular and a frying pan.

For all my gender-stereotyping-hatred of play kitchens, at least this one attempts to redress the balance by mentioning dads in the cooking equation, and I quote, "Little ones who love copying mum and dad will cook up a storm in My First Kitchen."

The price of this My First Kitchen is exactly the same whether you decide to order one via Amazon, or directly from The Entertainer - £6 plus an additional £2.99 for delivery.

However, if you order directly from The Entertainer, and live close to an Entertainer/The Toy Shop store (I wish they had a single identity!), you'll have the option to collect it for free.

Thanks to chuckiedoll at HUKD

Five days ago I told you how you could get a GREAT price on a Little Tikes Cozy Coupe using Mothercare's 'Price Match Promise' - Amazon were selling Cozy Coupes for £34.99, Mothercare will match that price and take off an additional 20%.

Just to give you a quick heads up, before I tell you about this Little Tikes Cozy Pumper, Amazon are now selling the Cozy Coupe for £29.99 which means you'll be able to pick one up from Mothercare for just £24 - the full 'how to take advantage of Mothercare's 'Price Match Promise'' is HERE (don't forget the Amazon price is lower now).

SO, about the Little Tikes Cozy Petrol Pump - well, Amazon are selling it for £13.99 instead of its full price of £19.99.

• Click HERE to take a look at the Little Tikes Cozy Pumper

I don't know what it is about putting petrol in cars that appeals to kids, but it does! When I was little I always wanted to help my mum put the petrol in the car; when my teenagers were young they wanted to too, and as soon as they were old enough at 16, they did - then they found out it isn't always easy not to end up with something pounds and a penny to pay.

If your little one is already the proud owner of a Little Tikes Cozy Coupe, they're going to love this Little Tikes Cozy Petrol Pump to go with it - instead of pretending to pull up to the pump to put fuel in their coupe, they'll be able to do it for 'real'.

With the help of  two AAA batteries (which are not included) the Little Tikes Cozy Petrol Pump makes car noises - glugging, beeping car horn and engine sounds - and also features a petrol nozzle and hose, cut-out credit card and a place to swipe it - well you can't have petrol and not pay for it, much as we'd all love that!

Happy petrol pumping!

Argos are selling this Hello Kitty wooden doll's house for £44.99 instead of its full retail price of £59.99.

• Click HERE to take a look at the Hello Kitty wooden doll's house

I love wooden toys, they just have a touch more elegance and refinement about them than anything made from plastic.

You know, I'm still rather bemused as to why Hello Kitty is quite as successful as she is; she appeals right across the age ranges too so if you have a young Hello Kitty fan, you might as well resign yourself to the fact that you'll be buying Hello Kitty things for plenty of years to come - my teenage granddaughter asked if I could find her some Hello Kitty high-heeled shoes, I told her she ought to be ashamed of her 16-year-old self for even asking!

However, if your Hello Kitty fanatic is three years or older then, I think, we can safely predict they'd be over the moon if this Hello Kitty wooden doll's house was waiting for them under the Christmas tree this year.

It's a two-storey house, comes with a wooden Hello Kitty figure and 13 pieces of handmade furniture to furnish her house with; the roof is painted in 'Hello Kitty pink' and the walls are predominantly white with window and flower border patterns printed onto it in full colour.

You can arrange to have your Hello Kitty wooden doll's house delivered to your home, or you can collect it from your nearest Argos store that has stock.

Happy Hello Kitty house playing!

Mothercare are selling this Rosebud Village Tree House for half price, £20 instead of £40.

• Click HERE to take a look at the Rosebud Village Tree House

Despite not being the sort of girl who ever wanted to play with dolls or dolls in their houses, this Rosebud Village Tree House looks quite lovely.

It's made from wood (always guaranteed to win brownie points with me) and is a very pretty pastel pink colour with dainty flowers painted on it.  The roof is a very pale green, again decorated with a flower design, and is in the shape of flower petals.

There's a slide, a see-saw (I still love playing on see-saws!) and there's also a flower-shaped table and two stools for the two wooden doll residents to sit at and have tea, with an additional couple of stools for guests.

The living quarters of the house are accessible via a rope ladder and there's a swing too, for swinging away during long, lazy evenings after dinner.

Delivery within the UK is free, as is in-store collection and there's even an international delivery option if you happen to be a visiting us whilst overseas - I have no idea how much it costs, but it's a service that's there if you need it.

Thanks to nkje02 at HUKD

Toys R Us are selling this Wooden Doll's House with 100 pieces for half price - £49.99 rather than £99.99.

• Click HERE to take a look at this Wooden Doll's House

I was never a doll or doll's house sort of girl - but if yours is, then this dolls house with its 100 pieces could just make her day.

My friend used to have a doll's house.  I was always fascinated with it but never wanted one - I seem to remember it had little table lamps that worked, but I'm hauling memories out of my brain from over 35 years ago so I might just be imaging a lot of it.

This Wooden Doll's House has four storeys, a hinged front and a removable roof; you're going to have to do a bit of self-building before the new owner can move all the furniture and bits and pieces in, but it shouldn't be anything too taxing or require a diploma from the guild of Master Builders.

Now, free delivery only kicks in at £50 so Toys R Us have been rather sneaky keeping this Wooden Doll's House just a penny below that - if you can't arrange to collect it from your nearest store then add something super cheap to your order to bring it over £50, or you can just pay the additional £4.95 and be done with it.

Argos are selling this Chad Valley Knight's Castle and Foam Sword play set for half price, £9.99 instead of £19.99.

• Click HERE to take a look at the Chad Valley Knight's Castle and Foam Sword play set

It's amused me, greatly, that someone felt the need to make it clear that the sword included in the Chad Valley Knight's Castle and Foam Sword play set is indeed a FOAM sword - you can imagine the board meeting discussion can't you...

"I really think we need to make it clear the sword is foam.  You know, just in case someone misunderstands, expects to receive a real sword and then complains in the comments!"  The same concerns clearly didn't extend to the Knight's Castle element - so just to clarify, you're not getting a REAL castle either *grin*

What you'll get is a play tent castle that features a fold down door and peep through windows, along with a foam sword for slaying (presumably) pretend dragons.  It's suitable for indoor and outdoor use, and wannabe knights aged three years or older.

You can arrange to collect your Chad Valley Knight's Castle and Foam Sword play set in-store for free (if your nearest Argos shops have stock) or you can pay £5.95 for next day home delivery.

Thanks to wishihadadonkey at HUKD

If you're in the market for a wooden doll's house then you should pop over to The Entertainer and take a look at the wooden doll's house that they've reduced down to £19.99 from a whopping £79.99.

• Click HERE to go and see the wooden doll's house

Whilst I've never been a fan of doll's houses, or anything 'dolly' for that matter, I have always been a fan of wooden toys - I'd even go as far as saying, and have on numerous occassions, that I'm a wooden toy snob; give me the choice of buying a bit of plastic tat for a few quid or paying more for something wooden, I'll go for the' pay more' and 'wood option' every time.

For all my lack of doll's house and playing 'harriet home-maker' empathy, I love that doll's houses don't require batteries, don't have any flashing lights, bells or whistles and require just 100% imaginative play; for that they're rather awesome.

This wooden doll's house is painted in pretty shades of pink, and its three stories measure 51.5cm.  It comes complete with two wooden dolls wearing pyjamas (I've NO idea why, but hey there's nothing wrong with lounging around in your PJs all day....well, sometimes!) and a wooden furniture set including a bed, dining table, an oven and a sink.

Some simple home assembly of your wooden doll's house is required but I'm lead to believe it's nothing too taxing - you won't need a degree in architecture or home construction.

If you have an Entertainer shop local to you then you'll be able to collect your wooden doll's house for free, otherwise you'll need to pay and additional £3.95 for home delivery.

Thanks to Civichyde at HUKD

Yes I know it's another play kitchen, but it's a Hello Kitty Cook and Play Kitchen, it's portable too and you can grab one from Debenhams for £22.49 instead of the usuall £49.99.

• Click HERE to see the Hello Kitty Cook and Play Kitchen

Now I suppose your point of view is going to influence whether you think this Hello Kitty Cook and Play Kitchen is great or disappointing.  It measures 56cm tall by 34.5cm wide which is NOT very big even by play kitchen standards; however, it seems to have been designed for kitchen play on the run as it packs away into a storage case, making it easy to take with you when you're off visiting rellies etc.

If you want a huge play kitchen then this Hello Kitty Cook and Play Kitchen clearly isn't going to be for you, but if you want something small and compact, that's not going to dominate your home and can easily be packed up and taken with, then I think it could be just the thing.

The published price on the Debenhams website for the Hello Kitty Cook and Play Kitchen is £24.99, just enter code - DB2U - into the promotion code box in your basket to bring it down to £22.49.

There's nothing to pay to have your Hello Kitty Cook and Play Kitchen delivered to your home - the last date for Debenhams Christmas postage is 22 December according to HUKD, which I think is risking it a bit to be honest - or you can go and collect it from your local Debenhams if you prefer.

Thanks to pontygirl at HUKD

The JCB Case and Tools set for kids is on sale at a number of places right now, including Argos where it’s £6.49, but at The Hut it’s £5.99, with free delivery, which is a pretty great deal at 60% off.

• Get play fixing around the house this Christmas

The JCB Case and Tool set comes up on HUKD from time to time, and it’s regularly confused with a real tool kit for an amazing price. It is not real though… It’s really just for kids.

The case is durable, hard and portable and makes a great storage kit for the tools when they’re not in use.  The kit itself comes with twelve pieces, including a wrench, spanner, pliers, a saw, screwdriver, hammer and  a bunch of other things I don’t recognise. (2 Large Bolts, 2 Nuts, 3 Bars with holes and second screwdriver tip, according to Amazon!)

The case is size 35cm, 30cm x 9cm, and it should be dispatched within 24 hours, so will be under the tree well in advance of Christmas.

Thanks to matthewcrobertso at HUKD