The age on the box is a choking-hazard line, not a recommendation.

"3+" is about small parts — It's a safety mark, applied by the maker, meaning something in the box could be swallowed. It says nothing at all about whether a three-year-old could use it or would like it
"Suitable from birth" is marketing — There is no assessment behind it beyond the same safety line. Every baby toy is a rattle in the end, and the £4 one and the £34 one do the same job
Judge by what a child does, not their age — Do they build, sort, pretend, or take things apart? Those four tell you far more than a number and they don't change much between five and nine
Older children like "younger" toys — Constantly, and they stop when somebody makes them feel odd about it. Nothing in this shop is arranged by age on a shelf for that reason
The exception worth taking seriously — Anything with a button battery, a magnet, or a long cord. Those are genuine hazards rather than a label, and we'll say so out loud when you're buying one
Ask us instead — Tell us what the child actually does with their time and you'll get a better answer than any age range. It's the whole reason a shop with a person in it still exists

Wooden blocks, and enough of them — The single best thing in the shop and among the cheapest per year of use. A small set is the mistake — buy the big one once rather than three small ones
A ball — Any ball. It is the toy most likely to still be in use in five years and it costs less than a bath book
Something that makes marks — Paper, chalk, a whiteboard, decent pencils. Cheap, endlessly used, and the thing parents most often forget to restock
Small figures of any kind — Animals, people, dinosaurs. They become whatever the game needs and they survive being trodden on, which matters more than it should
A proper jigsaw, one level too easy — The one just below what they can manage gets done twenty times. The one just above gets abandoned and then quietly resented
Dressing-up that isn't a character — A cape, a hat, a bag. A costume from a film gets worn until the film stops mattering; a cape stays a cape for years

Anything with one function — A toy that does one thing when you press the button gets pressed about forty times and then goes under the sofa. The more it does by itself, the less a child does with it
Character sets tied to a film — Enormously wanted in November and finished by March. Fine as a small present, poor as the main one, and we'll say that at the till
Craft kits with one outcome — Make the exact thing on the box, once, and then there's nothing left. Loose materials cost less and last a hundred times longer
Anything needing an app — The app changes, the toy stops working, and it happens faster than anybody expects. We stock almost none of it
Big things bought for small houses — The most common regret we hear. Ask where it's going to live before you buy it, and if the answer is a pause, don't
Second and third of a thing they love — Tempting and rarely right. One well-used thing beats three of the same, and the money is better spent on paper

Button batteries are the serious one — Swallowed, they burn rather than choke, and it happens fast. Every toy here that takes one has a screwed compartment, and if you find one that doesn't, bring it back and we'll deal with it
The volume switch is usually underneath — Most noisy toys have one and almost nobody finds it. Ask and we'll show you before you leave — a strip of tape over the speaker is the other answer and it works
We'll fit the batteries — Free, at the counter, before you wrap it. It is the single most appreciated thing we do and it takes two minutes
Repairs first, replacement second — Bring anything in. Wheels, string, elastic, a missing piece — mostly free, mostly the same day, and it doesn't matter where you bought it
Spare parts we keep — Say which ones on your own page. Half the toys thrown away are missing one part that costs almost nothing
What we won't stock — Anything with a magnet small enough to swallow, and anything that needs an app to work. Both fail for the same reason: the child is left with nothing when it goes wrong

Wooden toys second-hand are as good as new — They were built to be handed down and they usually have been. A charity shop set of blocks is the same toy for a fifth of the money
Toy libraries — Most areas have one and almost nobody knows. Borrowing the enormous thing rather than buying it is the answer to the small-house problem
Local selling groups — Best for the big plastic things that are expensive new and everywhere used. Check for recalls by the model name before you buy anything with a motor in it
What not to buy used — Anything with a soft mattress or padding for a baby, and any car seat. Those two are genuine exceptions and the reasons are worth looking up rather than taking from us
Where we're the wrong shop — Big licensed things, video games, and anything advertised on television in October. We don't stock them and somewhere else will do it better and cheaper
Ask us anyway — Even when the answer is somewhere else. We'd rather be the shop people ask than the shop people buy one thing from