Elmer is 30! Milly and Flynn Elmer the Elephant Toys Review

Happy Birthday Elmer! Elmer the colourful patchwork elephant is turning 30! He’s stood the test of time and is just as popular with children now as he was 30 years ago. Plus he’s looking better than most of us do when we turn 30. To celebrate Milly & Flynn have sent us some of their lovely Elmer the Elephant toys to test out.

Do you remember Elmer?

I love that 30 years on I am able to introduce Elian to things I also loved as a child. I remember being read Elmer the Elephant when I was in nursery. In fact I remember a huge Elmer display on my classroom wall, and making a colourful cotton wool ball Elmer collage as a craft in school. It’s so nice when great books and characters really do stand the test of time.

I recently picked up the Elmer book from the library to share with Elian, after seeing it and feeling all nostalgic, not realising he was coming up to 30 years old and Milly & Flynn would ask us to be part of the celebrations. Elian loved the story and I have read it to him numerous times since. We will be adding a permanent addition of the book to our book shelf very soon. You can pick up the 30th anniversary addition of Elmer here.

Who is Elmer?

Elmer the elephant is a character from a collection of books written by David McKee. The original book was written in 1989 and has been a classic throughout many children’s childhoods ever since.

“Elmer is different. Elmer is patchwork. The grey elephants all love him, but he soon starts to wonder what it would be like to be just the same as them… Full of colour, wisdom and pathos, little readers will love this classic tale at bedtime. Deservedly a modern classic, with over ten million copies of his books sold worldwide, Elmer’s subtle message, that it is ok to be different, resonates with children across the world.“

Milly & Flynn Elmer Stacking Blocks

I thought Elian might have outgrown stacking blocks as we got rid of his last set before Christmas as he has stopped showing interest in them, but I was totally wrong. When given a new set he joyfully tipped them straight out of the box and started stacking them up. First lining them all up so he could count the numbers on the same side, then knocking them down again, which of course he found hysterically funny. Then he starting lining them up from biggest to smallest before hiding the smaller blocks underneath the bigger ones.

Stacking blocks are great for introducing kids to numbers and letters, teaching them about balance of objects and in Elmers case about colours. Plus as children get older it also helps them understand object sizing and spacial awareness when they try to figure out which order the blocks fit inside each other.

Milly & Flynn Elmer Matching Pairs Game

Elian is big into matching games at the moment so I knew these would be a big hit. Although being a toddler his attention span is pretty short lived, so we didn’t manage to find them all before he just wanted to turn all the cards over, hehe! He did love trying to find all the matching coloured elephants and other animal friends though and got quite excited when he found a pair.

I love games that allow us to spend time together as a family. Me and Elian often play games when we are at home together in the day. Matching pairs is a great game to start with for a toddler because the concept is so simple even the littlest ones can understand it. Plus having bright and colourful pictures is a great way to encourage interactive play with others.