Here at Our Past Times, we believe in giving children the right start in life. We place a value on providing toys that don’t need batteries, rather using solar power, the power of a rubber band or simply a helping hand from a human being.
We’re a toy store that offers children a chance to play and learn through fun, and we’ve created a place where precious childhood memories can begin. Parents may also find some of their own being rekindled! We stock a great range of products from yesteryear, and plenty of newer items along with them.
We believe our store can help people of all ages embrace their inner child, and our friendly customer service is second to none.
I have always dreamed of running a toy shop. As a grandmother, I was concerned about the quality of the toys that I was able to purchase for my grandchildren.
Locally I had choices to buys electronic games, games that ran on batteries or were made from plastic. This wasn’t what I wanted for my grandchildren. I wanted toys that interacted with them, taught them things while they had fun, were made from natural materials and stopped them having so much screen time.
I knew I could offer a better alternative.
In 2017 I made the decision to go for it and started planning. I visited the Toy Fair in Melbourne and started to form ideas about what products I wanted to sell in my shop. Then, it was time to bring my dream to life.
We opened our doors on 23rd September, 2017, and it has been a wonderful journey.
I am always trying to find new and exciting products that spark the interest of everyone young or old and I am open to any suggestions for things to find.
If you’re looking for that toy you remember from your childhood and want to share with the next generation – drop in and let me know! I will always do my very best to find it – you never know how many others may remember it fondly.
I hope that when you walk into Our Past Times you can say “I remember that”, and begin sharing and creating new memories with your little ones!
We put a great emphasis on learning through fun at Our Past Times. We stock everything from puzzles, jigsaws, card games, travel games, mechanical models and construction kits all the way through to books, educational games, dolls, fairies and soft toys for babies and children of all ages.
There’s nothing more magical than seeing a child smiling, laughing and having fun while using toys that are helping to grow their mind. Children connect with the world around them in so many different ways, and we love helping them build memories that will last a lifetime.
Speaking of which – we love retro toys and games, so if you remember the toys you loved as a kid and want to share that joy with them, come in for a visit. You never know what you may find!
When you become a grandparent, you have the privilege of spoiling your grandkids and the joy of being part of their lives and watching them grow without the challenges of parenting. When our founder became a grandparent, the lack of proper educational toys available led to her starting what we now know is the best online toy store in Australia.
At Our Past Times, we believe in giving children the right start in life. We have found and tested educational toys for kids, and we know the power that they hold in proper childhood development. In this digital age, we especially place value on old-school playtime with toys that don’t need batteries and are instead powered by solar power, a rubber band, or a human hand.
We opened our doors in September 2017, and it has been an incredible journey. Finding the right toys is a never-ending quest as we ensure that each toy can keep the interest of young and old while serving an educational purpose. Here are a few things that you can expect to find in our toy shop:
We put emphasis on learning through fun at Our Past Times. We stock everything from puzzles, jigsaws, card games, travel games, mechanical models, and construction kits to books, educational games, dolls, fairies, and soft toys for babies and children of all ages.
Sometimes, the best way to learn is through simplicity and going back to what we know. If you’re looking for that toy you remember from your childhood and want to share with the next generation, drop in to reminisce and introduce your kids to the same games, puzzles, or sensory toys that you remember, including kids ride-on, toys and walkers.
There’s nothing more magical than seeing a child smile, laugh, and have fun while using toys that are helping to grow their mind. Children connect with the world around them in so many different ways, and we love helping them build memories that will last a lifetime.
Never underestimate the power of imagination. Although modern games and digital entertainment can be beneficial in their own way, with many of these options, a game is already in place with a world ready-made for your child to explore. Unfortunately, this foundation leaves little space for their imagination to develop. Give them the gift of creativity with an animal set or 3D colouring puzzles with which they can create their own world, just the way they want.
We stock all phases of early childhood development toys. We have a variety of toys for babies as well, and you will be surprised at how early they can start picking up skills. Choose from squeeze toys, stacking towers, bath toys, and wheeled animals.
We have made it easy for you to navigate our online store in Australia and have categorised the toys into sections so that you can easily find what you need. When your kid reaches their next stage in development, you can buy blocks, ride-ons and walkers, soft toys, or sensory toys such as hatching eggs to ensure that they develop their skills at the right time.
We stock a variety of toys that will earn a place in your child’s memories, just as they did in yours, and we love to equip kids with the fun tools that they need to learn and enjoy their childhood. We believe that our store can help individuals of all ages embrace their inner child, and our friendly customer service is second to none at our online toy store in Australia.
When we wanted to buy toys for our own grandkids, our local choices were limited to electronic games, games that ran on batteries, or toys made from plastic. We wanted toys that our grandkids could interact with to teach them things while they had fun, and we hoped to find options that were made from natural materials or recycled materials.
Screen time has its place, but it does not serve in developing essential motor, sensory, and creative skills in kids that they require to be fully functioning humans one day. We started planning our new venture in early 2017, visited the Toy Fair in Melbourne, and then started to form ideas about which products we wanted to sell. Next, it was time to bring the dream to life.
Here is why we believe that our toys are what your child needs:
By playing with toys that don’t already have preassigned characters, such as electronics or movie characters, your child can let their imagination loose and create their own character for a stationary toy. By creating something new, they may also become more comfortable expressing their emotions through a character, which can encourage emotional maturity.
Quality is better than quantity. By giving them one soft toy that they treasure as their best mate, you provide them with a sense of security and comfort and a friend to trust. By overwhelming them with a massive selection of similar toys, you may miss the chance to help children appreciate what they have. Playtime clean-up can become a burden with too wide a selection, too, instead of a process that encourages a skill that they will need as an adult.
A toy they can pull, grab, pinch, or adjust in some way helps with hand-eye co-ordination, while dolls’ clothes with buttons or zippers will teach them fine motor skills. These and other toys will also give you an indication of what your child’s strengths might be. Tower toys can teach about physics, puzzles can teach about patterns, taking toys apart can spark an interest in engineering, and making their own experiments can trigger an interest in science and nature.
Each child is different, and while each kid or grandkid might prefer a different kind of toy, the main skills that need to develop are identical. We have all the toys that you could possibly need to get them on the right track in life—the rest of the journey is up to them.
We just love sharing toys that you might have grown up with yourself that we know we would want our own grandkids to enjoy, too. We are here for every development phase of your baby, toddler, tween, and beyond. Do contact us if there is a retro toy that you are looking for or if we can help you choose a toy.
