Armadillo

The sign for Armadillo Toys is so cute… two little cartoon armadillos sticking their tongues out at each other! Love it! And the name is just lovely! Popping in for a browse I wasn’t disappointed in the slightest! The first thing I noticed was their huge collection of animal figurines… for some reason I just love these… the kind you’d have in a toy farm but with so much more than pigs, cows and goats! Then some seriously cool hand puppets caught my eye… then some giant monkey cuddly toys holding bananas! I was somewhat overwhelmed by the choice and the quality and general loveliness of all the toys! The even had some beautiful fair trade rainbow coloured wooden jigsaw creatures and ragdolls.
I really liked the fact that there wasn’t the nausea-​inducing segregation often found in toy shops between a navy-​blue and black half of the room populated by action men, cars, spaceships and guns and a pastel pink and purple half filled with Barbies and princess costumes!
If you’re looking for a present for a kid go to Armadillo Toys! You’re almost guaranteed to find something lovely and probably have a sudden burst of uncontrollable nostalgia and find yourself buying something for your inner child too!

This children’s toy shop seems far too exciting to be wasted on the children. If I was a child I imagine I would get terribly over excited and then have a tantrum after being denied multiple delights from this giant treasure trove! There is an array of fairy outfits, dolls houses, toys and games for boys and girls all displayed to fill your eyes with colour. I popped in at the end of the day to look for bean bags — such a boring item, I realised as I was faced with greater delights. They were just closing so I didn’t have time to browse but as I lingered staring into the window the lady closing up asked me what I was looking for and showed me what they had. Sadly, not what I wanted but I was touched at the effort at the end of her working day.

If you are after children’s gifts then this is absolutely the place to go. The store is a veritable treasure trove of exciting treats that will take you back to your earlier years.
The staff are really friendly and happy to offer up an opinion if you are stuck on what to get. But with all of the lego, games, puzzles, dinosaurs, jewellery, jigsaws, stuffed toys and more it will be hard to imagine you would ever be stuck for an option. What will be most difficult, especially for the young at heart, is to remain on task and not start to browse for yourself in a moment of reclaimed youth.
I have the lego set to prove that. Shame!
For all your child like needs — Armadillo in Chapel Allerton is there to provide!