OUR COMMINTMENT TO CHILDREN

Little Herberts is a toy shop with a difference: we care about the educational development of children and we’re passionate about helping children develop through creative play. We believe that toys should stimulate, entertain and educate children and so we only stock toys that meet these criteria.

But, having fun is the most important thing to children. So to ensure that our toys have that all-important fun factor we’ve employed the best people in the business as testers – our own children and their friends! They help to shape the toys that we stock. You can view a selection of our stock online using the links at the bottom of the page or by visiting our shop in Burgess Hill, West Sussex.

OUR PLEDGE TO PARENTS

At Little Herberts we believe there is too much exploitation and commercialisation of children in the toy market. So we don’t stock any toys that we think add to this problem. We only source toys that stimulate creative play and are educational – helping children to learn and develop valuable skills.

We hope to remind parents and grandparents of their childhood, when toys were treasured and even handed down from generation to generation for others to enjoy. Our range doesn’t include plastic mass-manufactured toys but well made traditional and curiosity toys.

As parents ourselves we have high standards, and like you, want the best for our children. So, you can be sure that we only stock toys that are:

• Well made – toys of exceptional design and build.
• Educational – toys that help children learn new skills or develop existing ones.
• Fun – toys that children won’t grow bored of quickly.
• Value for money – toys that range from small pocket money toys to large items. All represent excellent value for money.
• Safe – toys designed and made with children in mind and meet strict health & safety regulations.
• Reliable – toys that are built to last.

OUR ENVIRONMENTAL AND ETHICAL ETHOS

We believe that as well as having a responsibility to parents and children, we have an ethical responsibility to the environment and society too. Therefore, we aim to be environmentally conscious and to:

• Limit the number of toys we stock that use materials derived from non-renewable sources and use sustainable materials.
• Choose suppliers that also have responsible attitudes to the environment and good ethics.
• Ensure that non-toxic paint is used.
• Rubberwood is the most ecologically "friendly" wood used in the toy industry. After the economic life of the rubber tree, which is generally 26-30 years, the latex yields become extremely low and the planters then fell the rubber trees and plant new ones. So, unlike other woods that are cut down for the sole purpose of producing toys, rubberwood is used only after it completes it's latex producing cycle and dies. This wood is therefore eco-friendly in the sense that we are now using what was going as waste.
• Advocate the re-using of toys where possible (why not hand down toys from generation to generation or pass them on to a charity shop once your children have finished with them?) and where it isn’t then we recommend re-cycling.
• Encourage you to recycling any packaging.

We're always striving to improve so if you think we can make any improvement on our environmental and ethical ethos please let us know in the contact form.