Rex London

Rex London toys, games and craft kits

Alongside toys and games, you will also find puzzles, craft kits, things to colour in, temporary tattoos, hair accessories and children's jewellery among the Rex London designs we sell. Dinosaurs, sharks, unicorns, fairies, rainbows, bunnies and butterflies turn up among them, which helps when a child has a firm favourite.

A craft kit gives a child a project to make and often something to keep at the end, which suits a rainy afternoon or a long car journey. Games and puzzles suit an evening around the kitchen table. Temporary tattoos go on with a damp cloth pressed over the paper and fade with washing, so they suit a party or a weekend. Across the range you will also find some pieces in wood, some in tin and many in plastic.

Lunch boxes, lunch bags and water bottles

A Rex London lunch box or water bottle is an easy way to take a favourite design to school, and you will also find lunch bags, snack boxes and children's tableware for meals at home. When choosing, think about what goes in and how it travels: a lunch bag carries a box, a drink and a snack together, while a separate snack box keeps break time simple.

Check that a water bottle fits the side pocket of a school bag and is light enough to carry when full. A few pieces in the range are insulated: insulation slows heat moving in or out, so a lunch packed in the morning with an ice pack stays cooler for longer. A few are BPA-free, and some are made with recycled material.

Notebooks, pencils and stocking fillers

Stationery is one of the simplest ways to give a Rex London design: a notebook for lists or sketches, pens and pencils for the school bag, an eraser or two, or a greeting card to go with a bigger present. Before term starts, a notebook, a pencil and an eraser make a neat bundle for the first day back, and a few pieces suit a teacher as a thank-you at the end of term.

For a Christmas stocking, look for things that tuck in easily: keyrings, hair accessories, erasers, pencils and temporary tattoos fit well, with a notebook laid flat at the bottom. You will also find a few Christmas decorations in the range.

Mugs, tins and storage for the kitchen and home

Away from the children's pieces, you will also find Rex London mugs, storage tins and kitchen accessories, with some for a keen cook and a few for a gardener. A tin keeps buttons, pens or keepsakes together on a shelf, and you will also find storage boxes and bags for a desk or a cupboard, decorative bowls and candle holders, and wash bags and make-up bags for the bathroom or a weekend away.

A few pieces are ceramic or glass, and a few have a vintage or retro look, with floral designs among them. For a housewarming, a mug paired with a tin, or a candle holder with a decorative bowl, makes a thoughtful present for someone setting up a home, and a few pieces suit a wedding too.

Matching a gift to the person and the occasion

Start with the person. For a child, pair something to play with, such as a puzzle or a craft kit, with something useful for school, such as a lunch box or a water bottle, ideally in a design they already love. Some pieces suit teenagers, and you will also find gifts for her and for him, from mugs and notebooks to keyrings. If you know a favourite colour, you will find some pieces in pink, blue, green, red or yellow.

Then think about the occasion. Some pieces suit a birthday or a party, and you will also find a few for Easter, Halloween and Valentine's Day, which makes it easy to mark the quieter dates in the calendar too. A few pieces are sold assorted, which means they come in a design chosen at random, so we cannot promise a particular one.

Looking after tins, bottles, mugs and bags

Care depends on what a piece is made of, so check any care details on the product before you wash it. Some pieces wipe clean with a damp cloth, some are best washed by hand and a few are machine washable. A few are dishwasher safe and a few are not, so unless the details say a lunch box, bottle or mug can go in the dishwasher, wash it by hand in warm soapy water.

Where a piece is tin or metal, dry it straight after wiping, since standing water can leave rust marks. Wipe wooden pieces with a barely damp cloth rather than soaking them, and keep paper and card away from steam and spills. Spot clean marks on a cotton or polyester bag with a damp cloth, and leave a lunch bag open overnight so it can air. Where a piece runs on batteries, take them out if it will sit unused for a while.