young at heart

A few days ago in the late afternoon, a man came in the store and began looking at our remote control helicopters. After discussing with Philip and I the merits of each of the different options we had available, he settled on our Apache style copter and was on his way. Only he wasn’t getting the helicopter for his kids or a nephew or niece – it was his birthday and he decided to get himself a little gift!

I love that here he was, a grown man with a steady career and all the responsibilities and expectations that come with adulthood, deciding to do something fun for himself and unabashedly buying a toy to celebrate getting older! And that’s what we love to see at Cowboys and Angels.

We opened a toy store for a lot of reasons. We cherish and fondly remember the carefree days of youth; we think children flourish when given creative outlets and opportunities to learn through play and imagination; we like to play with toys and needed a plausible excuse for spending all day every day having fun…

The one I thought of today was this: there are a lot of really difficult things everyone deals with in their day to day lives and it can be stressful managing the pressures of work and family. Frankly, we believe taking a break to play and have a little fun – whether you’re six or sixty or somewhere in between – makes facing those challenges a little easier and can even give you the boost you need to keep going. With that in mind, take a look at this video from our Youtube channel…

Helicopter Video

Now get outside and have some fun!

fan favourite

Forgive us this bit of shameless hometown idolizing, but Mr. Bieksa and his lovely family came by the store today and were just fantastic! Stop by anytime, Bieksa (especially when Jesse isn’t here because we like making him hockey-jealous!)

play ball!

A few weeks back Cowboys and Angels was approached to be a sponsor for a Kerrisdale T-Ball team and we were all too pleased to jump at the chance! As the new kid on the block we’re always happy to be welcomed by the community and as far as we’re concerned T-Ball is basically a perfect fit for a Vancouver Toy Store – it’s all about fun and games and enjoying your childhood!

I can remember being young and going to watch my sister play softball long after I’d decided I was afraid of the ball (a fear I hold to this day, but that’s for another post…) There was always bright pink bubble gum, a tree to be climbed with my best friend Kelly, and if we were really lucky the chance for ice cream afterwards! Little league games are in the same part of my memory as the ice cream truck coming down the street (with me and Kelly hopping on our bikes trying frantically to catch up to it.) It’s a reminder of the carefree glory days of childhood where you first start to learn those important life lessons – how to play fair, how to lose with humor and dignity and the even more difficult, how to win with grace and humility and of course, the importance of being active and having fun.

Spring is the time when we get excited to go outside, breathe some fresh air and bask in the sun’s warm glow. Whether you’re going for a walk or a bike ride after dinner or you’re playing a game of toss in the backyard, getting outside is a welcome change of pace to endless nights indoors (which isn’t to say I’m giving up on reading or card games – I just move those outside too!). We’ve got some great new toys from Melissa and Doug that were tailor-made for play, learning, helping Mom and Dad in the yard and more!

luck of the irish

Ever since the Olympics ended Vancouver has been a little… well… grey. Mr Golden Sun took his Olympic glow and started playing hide and seek with us, popping in to our lives for just a few hours if we’re lucky. And even though customers are assuring me the sun is coming back (and soon!) I can’t help but wish it was here already. I know I shouldn’t complain – all this rain will mean great looking flowers and green gardens galore – but now that we’ve sprung forward and the days are getting longer, I find myself longing for the days when I’d help my mum water the plants after dinner or toss a softball around with my dad until dusk finally settled in.

To make matters worse (for me and my longing, that is) we updated our window display this week to include some of our favourite spring selections and it’s hard to see all these great outdoor toys and know I’ll be stuck inside for now! From garden tools to sand toys, a lot of our new stock is geared to getting your kids off the couch, playing outside and communing with nature. In fact, we also carry a wide selection of earth-friendly eco toys from Sprig, because there’s no better time to teach your kids about the importance of thinking green than now. Nature is all around us, but in the spring it makes sure we know it’s there! So I’ll stop worrying about a bit of rain (it is Vancouver, after all) and start dreaming of beautiful flowers and bike rides in the sunshine and green grass to run around on.

Oh! And speaking of all things green, we’d be foolish lads and lasses if we missed out on the greenest of all holidays… so Happy St Paddy’s Day! Here’s hoping a little Irish luck comes our way and the sun starts shining so we can all go outside and play!

good clean fun

If you’ve checked out our March update, then you know where are minds are these days: Spring! (Spring cleaning, specifically)

As is often the case this time of year – and especially after such a chaotic time with the Olympics – our heads are tuned to the ideas of a fresh start and renewal. With that in mind, we highlighted some of our favourite new products like the 3Sprouts Storage Bins and the new zip-up playmats in a variety of themes. But something we neglected – and something that often gets neglected – is how to make daily tasks and chores like cleaning up fun!

Our mandate as a toy store is to provide kids with the tools to let their imaginations and creativity run wild, because we think active and engaged minds help build a happy, healthy child. Having fun is our number one goal! (What kind of toy store would this be if it wasn’t?)

Just now a family came in and their two-year-old son was completely engrossed with two toys: a bouncy ball and a Robot Claw. When it came time to clean up, he decided to use the Robot Claw to pick up the ball instead of his own hand. It made the not very fun clean-up time into a challenging and neat game that he kept wanting to repeat! That little boy’s game (which he came up with himself, rather impressively) reminded me of a project a friend of mine sent my way call The Fun Theory. The objective? Turn mundane daily tasks into something people genuinely want to do.

For busy parents and parents of busy kids (or both!) clean-up time can be stressful, tense and occasionally tear-inducing. Why not try to find a way to make it something kids like to do?

Check the link out for The Fun Theory here: http://thefuntheory.com/
And feel free to post suggestions on how to make necessary tasks into fun games in the comments section!