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Chalk Nesting Dolls {Golden Cockerel, a How Wee Learn Sponsor}

April 27, 2015 by Sarah 17 Comments

Did you happen to notice that my site has changed recently? I decided to seek out some private advertisers. Companies that I find fascinating, wonderful, and unique. Companies that I could proudly display on my site and introduce to you.

Writing on this site is something that I absolutely love doing. I love sharing ideas, crafts, and activities that hopefully help you in your work with children. And the fact that I can help support my family financially while doing so is remarkable.

Each month I will be taking the time to write a post about some of the companies that are advertising with me. These advertisers were hand selected because I think you will really like them. The first of these companies is Golden Cockerel. You can click here to read all about these awesome Chalk Board Nesting Dolls

golden collage

Did you have nesting dolls as a child? The beautiful Russian dolls that stack one inside another, almost magically? Well this company handcrafts those gorgeous dolls.

Golden Cockerel makes all sorts of nesting dolls, from the classic look, to animals, to firefighters. I really loved them all, but then I saw these. Chalk board nesting dolls!

golden 7

With these dolls the activities would be endless. The fine motor and mathematical play, as in any nesting dolls, but the added open-endedness of chalk meant we could do anything!

And we have been.

golden 3

These chalk nesting dolls have been fun for the whole family. Madeline and I have loved creating little people out of chalk. The boys have adored filling them with different treasures, and stacking them (and unstacking, and stacking and unstacking).

golden 6

We have even used them to play with different emotions, putting mouths on the bottom portion of the dolls and eyes on the top.

And matching upper and lower case letters. This would be great for practicing a name too, and matching polka dots to their corresponding numbers.

golden 10

The favourite thing has been adding them to the quiet bin rotation. They make such a pretty and inviting playful quiet time activity.

golden 9

I love these nesting dolls for their simplicity, they are just so lovely and open-ended to enjoy.

Ben, who is 2, spent almost 30 minutes in his first play with them simply opening them all up and trying to put them back together. Of course little ones need to be supervised with these tiny dolls. My Ben isn’t much for mouthing toys anymore, so I was okay with him exploring them under watchful eyes.

Sam seems to love cleaning them off with a damp cloth almost as much as creating little faces, designs, and animals on them.

Madeline, who is 12, was showing a few of her friends them one afternoon, and those ‘big’ girls played with the dolls for a long while.

This is definitely a timeless toy to grow with little ones.

If you are interested in learning more about these chalk board nesting dolls, or to purchase them, head on over to Golden Cockerel!

I had the chance to ask Walton, owner of Golden Cockerel, a few questions.

“Why the name Golden Cockerel?”

I am a lover of literature and a big fan of Russian fairy tales.  I went off to Russia to answer an inner calling, and never expected to start a business.  So when Russia gifted me with an import business, I approached it with a healthy dose of fear and trembling, not sure where the powers of the business world might lead this helpless romantic.   Pushkin’s Tale of the Golden Cockerel struck me as the perfect story to keep in mind as I returned home from living two years in Russia with the weight of a fledgling business in my hands, a gift from Russia that, if treated properly, would continue giving to all. The Czar in Pushkin’s tale falls to greed and is undone by the power of the gift he received.  So I named the business Golden Cockerel and have done my best to remember my promises and honor my Russian colleagues.  Since 1993 we have succeeded in bringing countless thousands nesting dolls to new homes around the world.

“What do nesting dolls offer children as toys?”

“I used to have one of those when I was a kid!” is a phrase I hear all the time when folks walk into my gallery of Russian matryoshka dolls.  If you’ve ever had one, you never forget it.  There is something so appealing, so magnetic about the dolls that we are drawn to their magic.  How can so many dolls possibly fit into one?  We puzzle over this as children and adults.  Nesting dolls take us on a journey of wonder that lasts a lifetime.  Matryoshka connects us with the Old World, and a forgotten time.   Of course, the fun challenge of taking the dolls apart and putting them back together provides its own rewards, but it is the intangible magic and mystery of the dolls that really instruct us.

“Could you tell me about the other products that might be of interest to parents?”

The Russian crafts scene is rich and full of passion.  It’s hard to focus on only one type of item.  Our customers love our Christmas ornaments, lacquered boxes, carved Santas, and Russian jewelry, too.  The bear toys are a huge hit with kids.  These are the clever low-tech Old World toys where by swinging a pendulum, the bears become animated and do various things, such as play guitar, type on the computer, or go skiing.  They have a great deal of charm in this day and age where we’re bombarded with electronic gadgetry.  Finally, I’ll mention our Russian Imperial Porcelain—all sorts of animal figurines as well as tea wares.

Thank you for reading! I hope you have a lovely start to your week friends!

 

 

Filed Under: Create, Other Learning Fun, Playful Art Tagged With: Golden Cockerel, learning

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Comments

  1. Dyan says

    April 27, 2015 at 8:47 am

    I love the versatility of the chalk nesting dolls! They look fabulous!

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      April 27, 2015 at 8:53 am

      They are very versatile Dyan, absolutely! Thank you!

      Reply
  2. Amy @ Wildflower Ramblings says

    April 27, 2015 at 8:47 am

    Oh my, my daughter would LOOOOVE these — what an amazing and versatile toy, thanks so sharing!!

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      April 27, 2015 at 8:52 am

      That’s great Amy, so glad you like them! Thank you for taking the time to comment

      Reply
  3. Devany says

    April 27, 2015 at 8:48 am

    Oh, these are brilliant and so unique! Thank you for sharing them with us!

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      April 27, 2015 at 8:52 am

      SO glad you like them Devany – I really do too!

      Reply
  4. Lisette @ Where Imagination Grows says

    April 27, 2015 at 11:50 am

    Oh my! I love these! There is so much that you could do with them!

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      April 27, 2015 at 12:17 pm

      There really is Lisette. Wonderful for playful art, and so much more!

      Reply
  5. Ann @ My Nearest and Dearest says

    April 27, 2015 at 8:36 pm

    I have never seen anything like these before! They’re genius!
    I realize it’s springtime, but wouldn’t they be perfect in a child’s Christmas stocking?

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      April 28, 2015 at 1:09 pm

      Thanks Ann – they would be lovely as a Christmas gift! Golden Cockerel has Santa ones too … you can check them out here: http://www.goldencockerel.com/en-us/nesting-dolls/christmas-gifts/santa-doll-5pc-3-inches-by-pasha.html

      Reply
  6. kylie says

    April 28, 2015 at 12:07 am

    how do you make the russian dolls
    ?

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      April 28, 2015 at 1:14 pm

      The Russian dolls are handcrafted over at Golden Cockerel – you can buy unfinished ones if you are looking to do them yourself, they are VERY reasonably priced:http://www.goldencockerel.com/en-us/nesting-dolls/blanks-and-craft-ideas/blank-nesting-doll-3pc-4-inches.html

      Reply
  7. Laura says

    April 28, 2015 at 2:18 pm

    Those are gorgeous and I love the open ended aspect of the chalkboard paint. What great ideas you’ve come up with! Cool new-to-me company too!

    Reply
  8. Colleen says

    April 28, 2015 at 10:13 pm

    I love these! I can imagine so many ways to play and learn with them!

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      April 29, 2015 at 1:21 pm

      Thanks Colleen – so many ways!

      Reply
  9. Jaime FSPDT says

    April 29, 2015 at 6:20 pm

    MY kids would go crazy for these! They played with a set of nesting dolls at the chiropractors the other day and tried to come home with them, lol.

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      April 30, 2015 at 1:21 pm

      That is hilarious! little sneakers 😉 Would make a lovely birthday or Christmas gift!

      Reply

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