TP News

We are excited to announce that not one, not two, but THREE of our TP products have been shortlisted for the MadeForMums Toy Awards 2019.

Playing out in the great outdoors can bring a smile to almost anyone’s face, especially when the weather is at its best. After looking at over 100 years of Met Office weather data, its been predicted that this summer’s peak conditions in the UK will be the week of 21st to 29th July, so getting out and about around that time is an absolute must. Playgrounds and gardens give kids an ideal opportunity to play with outdoor toys with other kids, so we decided to take a look back at how the outdoor toys we know and love became an essential part of playing outdoors.

Happy Birthday to You Happy Birthday to You Happy Birthday Dear TP Happy Birthday to You! HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY TP TOYS!! The year is 1959, innovation is on the horizon. The UK starts using postcodes and opens the first section of the M1 motorway! Disney injects some magic in the world with the release of Sleeping Beauty and future celebrities Emma Thompson, Simon Cowell and Sarah the Duchess of York are born. However, the most exciting moment of 1959 was the birth of TP Toys! 1959 saw the first Hula Hoop craze begin. Our founders, have access to a supply of semi-rigid plastic tubing which they make into hoops at home and sell from their cars. With the £200 profit they began to develop products which could be made from plastic-sleeved steel tubing, thus Tube Plastics – TP was born! 60 years on since our humble beginnings, TP leads the way in outdoor toys. Now part of the Mookie Family, the home of Swingball, the TP range includes Trampolines, Climbing Frames, Swing Sets, Playhouses, Slides, Sandpits and much, much more. It’s been 60 years of Fun at TP Toys. Have a look below at some of our highlights or click here for the full TP history. 1959 TP is born with their release of a simple hula hoop! 1960 TP Launch their first ever swing. 1963 The first TP designed product is patented - the Single Tower Climbing Set. This initial innovatory design is developed to offer multi tower options and a big range of accessories. It’s the start of the modularity that will become the hallmark of TP outdoor playsets. In the same year the UK's first mini trampolines are designed and manufactured by TP! 1969 TP becomes the the first UK manufacturer to make slides out of fibreglass. 1971  John Lewis become stockists of the TP range. 1975 TP expand their range for nurseries and playgroups. 1985 The Slippy Slide, the forerunner of today’s Aqua Slide, is patented and included in the TP range. 1993 TP are awarded the accolade of Best British Toy Company 1993 by the National Association of Toy Retailers. 1998 tptoys.com launches on the world wide web! 2003 TP commission the largest injection moulding tool ever made for the toy industry and create the new CrazyWavy slide.  2006 The Kingswood range of wooden climbing frames is added to the range and for the first time it is possible to ‘grow’ a wooden climbing frame. 2012 TP is now part of the family of Mookie Toys, the home of the UK’s No1 outdoor toy, Swingball. 2014 TP’s innovation in trampoline design culminates in the launch of the new igloo door. Getting in and out of a trampoline has never been so much fun! 2015 TP delivers their first ever TV advert . 2016 New QuadPod arrives, the new 4 in 1 swing seat which can be used from 6months old. 2017 The TP Design Barn opens in the beautiful Worcestershire countryside, home to TP’s in-house design team. 2018 TP launches their range of award winning Mud Kitchens and Loft Houses. 2019 TP turns 60 years old! Still as Innovative as ever, TP delivers a new range of Mud Kitchen Accessories that can be added to the side of wooden playhouses, adding a whole new world of fun. The fun continues with the revolutionary 3 in 1 Activity Swing Seat, fully equipped with 3 modes that allows you to swing, stand and hang! 2019 has lots more surprises still to come, so stay tuned! Here’s to the next 60 years of play!

We’re proud to announce our TP Muddy Madness Mud Kitchen has cooked up a storm at two recent toy awards! TP Mud Kitchen has been served with multiple awards, winning at both the ‘Best Baby and Toddler Gear Awards’ and the ‘MadeforMums Toy Awards’. Scooping up two awards for Best Role Play Toy at ‘Best Baby and Toddler Gear Awards’, the Mud Kitchen claimed the Consumer Choice and Bronze Award. The annual 'Best Baby and Toddler Gear Awards' by parents site, Mumii test carefully selected children and nursery products assessed by an expert team, as well as tested by a team of parents. When you’re looking for the best mud kitchen, two awards simply won’t do. That’s why we’re delighted to strike gold at the MadeforMums Toy Awards after being voted Best Toy for Pretend Play. With mud pies galore on the menu, It’s easy to see why kids and parents love our mud kitchens so much. The MadeforMums Awards take toy testing very seriously. Tested by over 500 children (with the help of their parents) over the course of 8 weeks to find out which toys are best in class. The Muddy Madness Mud Kitchen from TP is very unique in the mud kitchen world. It comes complete with all the tools you need to whip up some culinary treats including an oven, work surface, pots and pans, cooking utensils and a real working tap! Mud kitchens are fantastic to gets kids excited about outdoor play, sparking their imagination and letting them get creative. Another big feature of the Muddy Madness Mud Kitchen is it comes complete with chalk and stencils so children can personalise their mud kitchen and write their delicious menu on the chalkboard! Mud pies all round! Please see below for a list of the awards the TP Mud Kitchen has won: Best Baby and Toddler Gear 2018 Best Role Play Toy – Consumer Choice Award Best Role Play Toy – Bronze Award MadeforMums Toy Awards 2018  Best Toy for Pretend Play – Gold Award

If you’re looking for the best Seesaw for your garden then look no further. Our spinning, bouncing seesaw, TP Spiro Spin won 3 awards in the Loved by Parents Awards 2018! 

When you imagine a wooden playhouse for your garden, you may think of a door, windows, perhaps a verandah if you're lucky. What you're probably not thinking of is stairs, balcony and a slide!

We’re very excited to announce the launch of our brand-new bouncing, spinning seesaw – Spiro Spin. Spiro Spin is a revolutionary evolved seesaw, incorporating bouncing and spinning into the traditional playground activity.

Christmas came early for lucky 3-year-old, Rowan Reedman who had a pirate-themed winter wonderland created in his garden thanks to a competition from chocolate experts, Kinder.

We've had a visit from one of Santa's elves who's given a Christmas makeover to one of our playhouses.

In November 2016, we asked 42 trampoline owners if having a trampoline had helped encourage their child

Here at TP Toys we love Christmas! With winter fast approaching buying a trampoline may not make it to the top of your Christmas list; however a trampoline can provide lots of fun and laughter for the whole family. 

Wooden product: A tape measure A pen and some scraps of paper A set of good quality tools Before you build your outdoor toy Always try to find a flat level piece of ground on which to build your outdoor toys Open the MAIN product box first and take out the instructions Read through the instructions thoroughly taking special note of any left or right handed parts, at what stage things like roof panels or swing arms are attached whether there are any stages where you will need more than one person during the assembly. Before unpacking the box, think about where in the garden your new equipment will end up – things like our Kingswood are very big and heavy once built so try to start building them where they will eventually end up to avoid any heavy lifting! When unpacking the parts, identify where the part number stickers are and lay out all the parts with the stickers facing up, then try to group identical parts together to make it easy to find them later. Some parts will look very similar, so have a tape measure handy and take note of any holes drilled in parts that might be subtly different to other parts of a similar shape and size. Open the packs containing the nuts and bolts and try splitting them up into neat piles (or better yet little tubs or bowls like TV Chefs) of each type, diameter and length – screw and bolt length is very important and can vary by only a couple of millimeters so take extra care selecting the right fasteners according to the instructions. Top Tip – don’t open the pack on the grass! Nuts and washers all to easily go missing on the grass, so try using the lid of one of the product boxes as a container. During assembly, work slowly and methodically through the instructions, and if you are struggling on a stage, try reading forwards and backwards through the instruction stages to double check everything has gone to plan. Sometimes getting a part the wrong way round at the start can cause a headache at the end!   With modern, powerful drills it’s easy to over tighten screws, sinking them into the parts and potentially splitting the wood. Try using the torque setting on your drill (if it has one) and set it stop at the point the screw wound in just enough. If in doubt, use a power drill for the first 90% of the screw then tighten up the last 10% by hand. Wood is a natural, living material – and as such splinters and knots will occur. As you are building the product keep some sand paper to hand and take off any little splinters that you might find before letting the kids loose on their new swing set, climbing frame or pirate ship!   We know separating all of the parts, nuts, bolts and paraphernalia might seem like a hassle – but it’s worth it! You will find things will run smoother when all the parts are to hand and you’re not trying to find the last 6mm dome nut that may or may not have fallen into the grass!!  

Large trampolines have become the must-have outdoor toy for older children, from 6 years old.  As a leading manufacturer, the TP customer advice line receives hundreds of calls each year seeking advice about trampoline purchases.

It’s that time again. School holidays come around quick don’t they? But there is no reason the holidays cant be filled with lots of family fun, and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune either!

TP Toys is on TV for the first time ever! Our brand new advert is showing now across multiple childrens TV channels and you can watch it now below:

The Met Office forecast suggests the weather is set to hot up in April and will stay warmer until at least May, so now may be a good time to start planning the first of many picnics.

When it comes to reading, some children will take to it like a duck to water, while others will avoid it at all costs. However, as a parent, it's important that you are a constant source of support, encouragement and engagement in this area. 

If you think about playing games with your kids, the chances are that board games immediately spring to mind - fun toys that while away a winter's afternoon and provide some good quiet time to interact with one another.

Any parent will know that bedtime is one of the most important parts of a child's development. In order for little ones to grow properly both physically mentally, it is essential that they are getting the right amount of rest each evening.

Rugged and (ahem) rather handsome television presenter Bear Grylls is back in the papers this month, arguing that youngsters need to be more involved with outdoor activities and community service.

"I want to go on a two-mile run." Said no child, ever. Although exercise is an integral part of their lives whatever age they are, it's important for parents to come up with clever ways to make the experience enjoyable. 

Deciding to start a family comes with its fair share of fringe benefits. Access to parent-and-child parking spaces, for example, and a reason to put on particularly extravagant Christmases. And of course, it's always good for an excuse to spend hours with one another, just enjoying one another's company.

While Valentine’s Day may typically be aimed towards adults in Britain, with women receiving gigantic teddies and chocolates from their other halves, or couples booking romantic breaks away, we believe it is time we took a leaf out of the USA’s book and made February 14th a day of celebrating with our kids too!

It might be hard to believe given that the Christmas holidays only feel like such a short time ago, but another half-term holiday is almost upon us. Schools everywhere are preparing to break up for five days over the coming weeks, potentially leaving parents wondering what they can do to keep their kids entertained.