COVID has had a huge impact on Irish small businesses, many of them are family owned. When planning your child’s Christmas gift buying this year we’d love you to support these businesses if you can. Do tell them you found out about them on MyKidsTime if they ask.

And please share this article on your social media as well to get the word out to other parents!

From books and family board games, to big brands like LEGO, Pokémon, Harry Potter, Squishmallows, Play-Doh, Paperchase and Crayola, Eason.com have you covered for all your gifting needs this Christmas.

Toysdirect.ie is run by McGreevy’s in Westport, Co. Mayo, a family-run toy shop since 1904. Their website offers all the top brands including LEGO, Schleich, Siku, and many more. They are committed to offering a great range of quality toys at the best value.

Owner Hazel opened Toy Corner just before Halloween 2019, in the heart of the wonderful village of Moycullen, Galway. Hazel is 7th generation in a lineage of retailers who learned the toy business from her mother and her parents before her. As well as a wide selection of toys on their online shop they also have a Boredom Busting box, a surprise box filled with lots of fun items, to a value of €50.

Did you know Schoolbooks.ie sells more than just school books? They have a range of fantastic gift ideas for busy parents including children’s books, face paints, painting sets, educational toys, games and much more.

Get our best content direct to your inbox! You’ll receive quick and easy recipes, fun ideas to entertain the kids, parenting tips, great competitions, as well as offers from brands we trust.

Patsy, owner of Tara Book Co says her aim is to nurture a love of reading in children. Once hooked on reading the benefits are many – increased comprehension, wider vocabulary, building stamina for longer reads. Tara Book Co select their books carefully, age grading each one, to make it easy to choose the right books for your child.

They can offer advice on what’s next for an avid reader or how to help a child struggling with their reading. They are strong promoters of Irish authors, illustrators and publishers, encourage and participate in Shop Local campaigns. Books are a wonderful gift to give – any time of the year.

Jiminy Eco Toys ​is an eco-specialist toy company, named after Pinocchio’s conscience Jiminy Cricket, it’s the brainchild of Dublin mum Sharon Keilthy. Jiminy.ie specialises in toys with low carbon footprints and minimal pollution-potential. They’re made from plants, not petroleum – wood, cardboard, and innovative from-plants bioplastics. You can browse by ages and activity interest area on their online shop.

The Toy Shop, based in Malahide, sells a variety of children’s toys, games, and gifts. Their range of toys has been sourced from mum Ali’s own experience as a mother of 3 children and an aunty of 20 nieces and nephews. From beautiful wooden toys, scooters, art and craft sets, games, puzzles, books, dress up sets, STEM toys they want to feed childrens’ imagination and encourage learning through play.

Nimble Fingers is a family run business based in Stillorgan. They offer high quality educational toys and art materials, thoughtfully selected from a vast number of suppliers both nationally and internationally, with toys, in particular, being selected for their play value. Current product selections include educational and wooden toys, children’s books, arts & craft materials and outdoor toys.

Since her launch in August 2012, the award-winning Lottie Dolls have become something of a global phenomenon securing the approval of industry experts, child development experts, international press coverage and most importantly, positive feedback from the parents and kids who love Lottie.

Each Lottie doll arrives in a giftable, illustrated and collectable “doll box bag” with handles with minimal plastic packaging.

Mum Fiona started Little Ones, a toy shop in Clare and on their website you will find classic toys which are fun, well designed and excellent quality but, above all, we ensure our products provide excellent play value and will spark your child’s imagination. Their suppliers select environmentally-friendly materials to produce gorgeous products which are then treated with non-toxic, water based dyes to add colour and vibrancy.

Little Dreamers started life in Galway in 2006 as a Baby & Nursery Store and now also carries a wide range of quality wooden toys with top brands include Kidkraft, Bigjigs, Le Toy and many more. They also stock educational toys and early learning resources.

Irish mum Suzie started Toys and Games Ireland, carefully selecting educational toys and wooden toys and games that you will enjoy playing with your children. They stock a wide variety, including Melissa and Doug puzzles, Hape wooden toys, Galt Toys, 4M science kits and much more.

The Bubble Room is a family run Irish Business based in Skerries since 2008, specialising in quality wooden toys, books, gifts and gadgets for kids of all ages. Brands stocked include Bigjigs, Orchard, House of Marble, Tobar, Melissa and Doug and many more.

Mimitoys started by mum Myriam Doyle in 2004 and based in Meath, sells unique, fun, quality toys for children up to the age of 14. Myriam says her favourite part of the job is to select toys that are different and will get children and parents to play together. She selects toys that will last, will be enjoyed and played with for years.

Wooden Heart is a family run business in the heart of Galway that has been supplying ethical, safe and high quality wooden toys and unique gifts for over thirty years. They source toys from over a hundred suppliers worldwide. Many of their suppliers are also family-run businesses who manufacture in Europe and are thus able to deliver goods adhering to the highest quality and standards.

Discovery Playtime is an online shop based in Dublin run by a mum of two, Mireia. She sells an abundance of educational, sensory and wooden toys for children aged from 0-6 years to promote learning through play. One of her bestsellers is her unique hands-on Discovery kits with everything you need to help encourage children’s curiosity, creativity and development of skills such as fine motor skills, problem-solving and communication.

World of Wonder Toys is an independent toy and nursery retailer with 6 shops across Munster. They offer a large selection of products for all ages and budgets, from LEGO and Our Generation dolls to outdoor toys, bikes and playhouses.

Kaliedy is an Irish online baby nursery and toy store and the exclusive stockist of Early Learning Centre toys in Ireland. Parents can shop for baby essentials (including Ireland’s largest range of feeding products and brands), nursery items, toys, and books.

Run by brother and sister Conor Brady and Ruth Roberts, Cogs The Brain Shop stocks a genius collection of fun quality products designed to build better brains and learn through play whatever your age. They have a fantastic, affordable range of educational toys, clever games (for adults and kids), puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, wooden toys, wide range of unique desk toys and brain teasers.

Stocking-Fillers.ie is the sister site of Cogs the Brain Shop and a 100% Irish-owned, family-run website offering a wide range of stocking fillers for children and adults. Find plenty of great value stocking fillers, including toys, jigsaws, board games, chocolates and socks.

Founded in 2016, Baba Box is a small Irish business specialising in baby gifts, gifts for new mums, mums-to-be and baby shower gifts featuring a unique mix of beautifully designed, luxury items from some of the best independent brands.

Síológ stocks a collection of high quality, ethically made childrenswear, toys and lifestyle products from independent Irish brands. Síológ (pronounced ‘) is the Irish word for seedling – and to help spread the eco love, each order will include a sachet of native Irish wildflower seeds to attract butterflies, bees and birds.

Robyn’s Nest is a small family-run business in Malahide, County Dublin which stocks a large range of traditional toys from brands like Melissa & Doug, Corrolle, and BigJigs, as well as an extensive selection of jewellery, homewares and and gifts.

Adams Cloud is the much loved series of beautifully illustrated & magical children’s books full of love & hugs to encourage bedtime reading and promote fun, learning & laughter in every family.

Enjoy the adventures and escapades of Adam and friends within the Irish Children’s Book of the Year classics Before You Sleep & When You Were Born along with the 7 other fun filled & educational titles. Also available is Adams Playground Jigsaw.

Visit www.adamscloud.com for these beautiful Irish books & gift sets with free books AND free shipping too if you include a pack.

Cool Food School stocks lots of cool food stuff for kids including their specially designed Food Kutter and Safety Food peeler. They also have a nice Christmas bundle that includes Kiddies Affirmation Cards and 2 pack of Kiddies Food Kutter and Safety Food Peeler.

Owner, mum Deirdre is passionate about teaching children of all ages about the joys of healthy eating.

Founded by Wicklow Mum of 2, Lou and Belle prides itself on bringing new and unique children’s brands to Ireland that are sustainable, high quality and that can be lovingly passed on to future generations. From heirloom dolls to handmade wooden toys and music boxes that play the Harry Potter theme tune, louandbelle.com has a range of beautiful Christmas gifts for the little ones in your life.

The online boutique offers beautifully presented pre-made gift boxes or customers can get creative and curate their own. All gift boxes have been designed by Irish artist Pickled Pom Pom and can be delivered direct to the recipient if required, an ideal solution if sending gifts from abroad.

Wonderfully Weathery Books is an Irish owned business set up to publish a series of children’s picture books. The books are about a land called Weatherville – Where the weather lives!

The aim of these books is to teach children about the weather by introducing them to different weather characters and showing how they interact together to create different types of weather. There are four books available in the Weatherville series:

• Riley Rainbow and the Colour Catastrophe looks at the magic of how rainbows are formed.
• Chloe Cloud and the Friendly Fog explores different types of clouds with a fun twist.
• David Drizzledrop and the Puddle Party dives into understanding the water cycle and where all that rain comes from
• Fifi Flurry and the Sleepy Snowflake is the new book and will jump into the world of snowflakes.

The collection of books are available online at www.wonderfullyweatherybooks.com