Nature nurture

For caring kids aged three and upwards, the new Caring Corners Outdoor Adventures range from Learning Curve provides lots of opportunities to practise their nurturing skills.

Looking after animals is a great way to foster caring and empathy in young children, and with the Caring for Wildlife doll pack, mini animal lovers can learn through small-world play by helping the girl doll to look after a rabbit, a turtle and a nest full of birds in a rescue station.

The playset contains everything you might need to make little animals well again – a feeding bottle so that they can eat, a hammock where they can sleep and a big box of plasters to fix up those cuts and scrapes. Any ailments that need more serious treatment than a sticking plaster can be taken care of by the doctor dolly, who has her own special medical bag. The playset is priced around £14.99.

Children can also learn about the great outdoors with the Backroads Biking set (priced around £14.99), the Picnic in Paradise and Sweet Tree Swing sets (around £9.99 each), or the Floating with Froggies, Nature Walk and Keep Nature Green sets (all priced around £6.99 each).