The Ark SF/Berkeley

Welcome to the Tumblr Home Of The Ark Toys! Throughout our history, The Ark's mission has been to offer its customers the absolute highest-quality toys, games and services available, while not forgetting the old-fashioned, all around fun toys that challenge our imaginations and expand our capacity to think and grow. Find store hours and shop online at TheArkToys.com

[thearktoys]

Classic pounding toys have been a favorite of parents and child development pros for years.  We much prefer this latest Hammer Balls toy because babies 12+ pound and watch wooden balls travel down the ramp, rushing out the side for continued play!

The holes on top of the frame are slightly cushioned to enable smoother pounding and functionality.  Retailing for under $30, this has been one of our latest bestsellers for 1-year old birthday gifts.  Great for both boys and girls too! Hammer balls are easy to carry and store; simply turn it upside down to store wooden balls and hammer.

[thearktoys]

Planning baby nursery decor presents a great opportunity to really let your imagination loose and create memorable, imaginative spaces. Colorful, imaginative baby nurseries (and kids rooms) can help with sensory stimulation, color and object recognition and even early creative thinking too. This whimsical hot air balloon mobile features a beautiful color palette, with each miniature hot air balloon featuring its own unique color combination. Starting out with a baby mobile or a singular piece of decor and building from there can inspire a host of ideas. 1930s aviation, Disney's Up, pastel clouds, hilltops, whimsical cityscapes, floating castles, vintage themes, and even circus themed wall art are just a few of the many ideas this baby mobile inspires.

[thearktoys]

Pretend food play has been a huge part of kids' lives for generations!  It helps encourage all types of creative thinking, such as storytelling, acting, and even beginning creative writing! 

Toy demo videos are such a great way to learn about a toy and if it's right for your child.  Melissa and Doug's videos are packed with great information about imaginative play concepts.  Learn more about their play food sets, like the popular cutting food set for example, in this educational video.

[thearktoys]

Struggling to find puzzles for the kids as little as 1 years old?  They exist!  Right now our favorites have to be the chunky shape puzzles by Melissa and Doug.  In fact, they have an awesome video you can watch that describes how kids use them and the various educational enrichment that comes from playing with chunky puzzles.

We particular love the one pictured above because the theme is PETS!  Kids love pets!  And here they get to figure out how to place some of their favorite animals in the right spots.  A step up from a shape sorter, these special wood puzzles are great for continuing healthy fine motor skill development, manual dexterity and logical thinking.

Learn more at http://www.thearktoys.com/puzzles

[thearktoys]

Tweet! Tweet!  Follow us on Twitter for useful toy buying tips, REAL toy info you can actually use, parenting humor, cool toys for 2014, holiday shopping tips, and more. We could go on and on.  Yes, we LOVE Twitter and want to hang out with YOU!  Tweet us about your favorite toys or even least favorite toys. We want to know!

[thearktoys]

So what is the Rainbow Whirl game exactly?  It can be anything you want it to be!  That's one of the beauties of HABA toys.  The German wooden toy company packs so much concept in their toys, allowing kids to really be imaginative and discover new features, angels, lessons, and ultimately skills.

A building, stacking, sequencing, and color recognition toy all in one, toddlers can improve their color matching by placing pegs with accompanying rings and even learn the first concepts behind primary, secondary and complementary colors.

Made in Germany from all-natural wood and water based non-toxic paints, this special rainbow whirl games seriously stands the test of time. HABA is one of our biggest bestsellers and for good reason. You can really feel the pride and craftsmanship that goes into their educationally rich products.

Visit our rainbow whirl product page to learn even more about this truly unique toy for toddlers.

[thearktoys]

The New York Times has a pretty awesome parenting blog that's filled with useful tips, products, humor, and all sorts of funny and helpful tid bits.  In one of their latest parenting blogs, writer KJ Dell'Antonia, discusses 9 things parents hate about packing school lunches and different ways they can fix them!

P.S. No more washing gross thermoses by hand, there's dishwasher safe ones ;)

[thearktoys]

Learn why GoldieBlox is inspiring all types of kids to become more involved in STEM subjects.  What is STEM you ask?  It's stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.  Goldieblox has earned a fabulous reputation for encouraging more girls (between the ages of 4-7) to become more curious and interested in these subjects.

Goldie Blox are totally unique because you can build more than just one physics simple machine.  In fact you can build a wide variety of working models, plus the instruction manual also serves as a storybook, allowing kids to go on a STEM building adventure with Goldie herself.

Visit http://www.thearktoys.com/product/goldieblox-and-the-floating-parade to learn more about one of this season's favorite toys and score one before they're sold out for the upcoming holiday season!

[thearktoys]

The Ark Toys ~ Great Toys Are Just The Beginning

Presidio Heights: 3325 Sacramento Street SF 94118 (415)-440-8697 Noe Valley: 3845 24th St SF (415)...

We LOVE hanging out on social media, and Facebook gives us a chance to really communicate what's going on with our toy store, online store, and all the great new toys out there.  Discover unique birthday gift suggestions, toy history, upcoming Ark Toys events, and practically all things toys!

See you there :-)

[thearktoys]

Inexpensive kids art supplies have a tendency to dull and fade over time, leaving once dazzling works lackluster.  You want to keep kids art looking as fabulous as the day it was created.  Like our Stockmar art supplies, P'kolino brand kids art supplies are also made in Europe and known for their superior quality.

Kids can paint post boards, create beautiful crayon drawings, and color in their favorite coloring book pages and the P'kolino pigment won't fade over time. They're also a top choice of actual professional artists, Waldorf education professionals, and art teachers.

Learn more: http://www.thearktoys.com/product/jumbo-triangle-crayons

[thearktoys]

11 Fun Activities for 2-Year-Olds

These indoor toddler activities will enhance the development of your 2-year-old.

We're always on the look out for fresh, new ideas parents can use to entertain and inspire their young children.  Parents Magazine always has a lot of awesome, innovative ideas by parents FOR parents.  We came about this helpful list of activities parents can start doing right now with their child to help boost everything from hand-eye coordination to object and color recognition.  Check it out!

[thearktoys]

What's better than a super creative coloring book?  Super creative coloring book WITH STICKERS!! This is yet another reason why we love to carry books and products by Usborne.  Along with their appealing illustrations and activities, so many of their books come packed with exciting information for kids (especially great for curious kids who're entering that encyclopedic stage and want to know EVERYTHING)

This cool coloring book also encourages kids to learn about all different types of art, like mixed media, collage, sketching, and modern art. Visit http://www.thearktoys.com/arts-and-crafts/very-first-coloring-book to learn more!

[thearktoys]

Toy Store Visual Merchandising

Whimsical window displays and creative visual merchandising plays a major part at The Ark Toys. It helps show our customers the different possibilities imaginative toys can hold!

Visual merchandising (a.k.a "window dressing") plays a major role at The Ark Toys!  A creative window display can reveal even more possibilities for toys and let customers in on the latest and GREATEST toys of 2014.  We love brainstorming and creating the most unique, colorful, and whimsical toy store displays.  We've started documenting them in our newest pinterest board too!  Check it out :)

[thearktoys]

The ultimate grab-and-go baby shower gift!  We're not kidding.  Apple park picnic pals are surefire winners because they're made from certified organic cotton.  Plus they come nestled in their own charming gift boxes, featuring whimsical illustrations inside!

High-quality, thoughtful, and unique.  New moms will LOVE you ;)  Learn more about this cool organic toy by visiting http://www.thearktoys.com/product/monkey-picnic-pal - discover more about their manufacture, quality, educational benefits, and much more

[thearktoys]

7 Times Pizza Hut Won The Fast Food Toy Wars

'Cause Happy Meals never came with hand puppets!

#pizzahut did have really cool kids toys!  Which fast food toys were your favorite?  McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger king? Yummm!  Let us know

[thearktoys]

Sometimes you can't beat the classics!  Timeless wooden toys like this are still trusted among parents and child development experts as a fun means to improving fine motor skills.  Foster everything from dexterity, larger gross motor skills, logical thinking and even color recognition with this classic sorting toy.

Kids intuitively position wooden spherical balls on top of round openings in the top frame in order to pound them fully into the box with the accompanying hammer.

Soon enough, babies can learn to slide off the frame, retrieving the wooden balls for the next round of sorting fun!  Visit http://www.thearktoys.com/product/punch-drop to learn more!

[thearktoys]

YouTube's Biggest Star Is An Unknown Toy-Reviewing Toddler Whisperer

Is it possible an unknown, one-woman toy-reviewing YouTuber called "Disney Collector" is making more money than most CEOs?

Of course we love her videos!  We're major toy nerds here at The Ark.  Learn more about the elusive, toy demo genius known as DisneyCollectorBR.  The one who has toddlers captivated nationwide with her colorful, play-doh filled toy videos.