Wooden toys · Est. 1795★★★★★ 150 reviews

Boxing Day joy that keeps working come January

£15.99£18.99 Save 15%

or 4 payments of £3.99 with Klarna

🛡️ 30-day full refund, no questions. Fewer than 30 returns from 23,000+ orders.

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Standard · 2-3 working days

No batteries
Solid wood
Hand-eye boost
Age 1 to 5
Made in Britain
Fits a stocking
30-day returns
Klarna available

Delivery in 2-3 working days · 30-day returns · Est. 1795

1 Free Gift Spend £45

2 Free Gifts Spend £75

3 Free Gifts Spend £100

as seen in

Real talk

The moment she stops asking for the tablet

Pop Up Penguins is a spring-loaded wooden toy that does one thing brilliantly: it makes a 3-year-old sit down and focus for 15, 20, sometimes 30 minutes straight. Push the penguin down. Watch it pop. Laugh. Repeat. No screen. No charging. Just wood, colour, and a satisfying click.

You get your sanity back. She gets hand-eye coordination, colour naming, and the kind of grip-strength work that matters before school starts.

Joe Jaques, Jaques of London

What's in the box

What arrives at your door

Everything you need, ready to play the same day. Wrapped in our signature boxing with hand-tied ribbon.

Pop Up Penguins complete toy with four coloured wooden penguin sticks and spring-loaded wooden base

In the box

4 Wooden Penguin Sticks

Green, purple, orange, blue. Each one is smooth wood, sized for toddler hands. Spring-loaded base pops them back up every single time.

✓ Sized 17cm tall, 12cm wide base
✓ Smooth finish, no splinters
✓ Spring mechanisms built in

Child's hands pushing down coloured penguin sticks into wooden base

Play style

Push, pop, colour-name, repeat

This is inspired by the classic Jack in the Box, but quieter and tidier. Every push teaches hand strength and aim. Every pop teaches anticipation.

✓ Plays solo for 20+ minutes
✓ Teaches colour recognition by name
✓ Safe for age 1 and up

Jaques signature gift boxing with hand-tied ribbon holding Pop Up Penguins toy

In the box

Arrives gift-wrapped and ready

Packed in our hand-tied ribbon box. If you're buying for a birthday or Boxing Day stocking, it arrives dressed. No wrapping required.

✓ Signature Jaques boxing
✓ Hand-tied ribbon included
✓ 60-day warranty built in

Ships within 2-3 business days. Add to basket below.

Was £18.99

Penguins - Pop Up Toy: £15.99

While they play

What it quietly teaches while she plays

Looks like play. Works like a lesson.

👁

Hand-eye coordination

Aiming the stick at the base, pushing down with control, tracking the pop. These are the moves that matter before school handwriting starts.

🎨

Colour naming

Green penguin, purple penguin, orange, blue. Colour recognition happens fastest when there's a toy in hand and a laugh at the end.

✋

Grip and finger strength

Grasping, pushing, releasing. The fine motor work that builds the hand muscles needed for pencils and buttons.

🧠

Cause and effect

She pushes. It pops. She learns that her actions do something. Early learning, wrapped up in pure play.

What families say about Jaques of London

What parents and grandparents actually say

★★★★★

"Excellent quality wood toys, so well made, no sharp edges, all lovely & smooth, very colourful & plenty of choice. Very reasonably priced & so beautifully wrapped you don't want to open them. Highly recommend this company."

Lynda Evans✓ Google review

★★★★★

"Fast delivery, excellent products, extremely good quality and long lasting. My granddaughter loves the toys from here. Good age ranges covered."

Danella Jones✓ Google review

★★★★★

"These toys tick all the boxes, educational, colourful, fun, well made and great service. I just keep buying more and more."

Irene Johnstone✓ Google review

★★★★★

"We love our toys from Jaques of London. The quality is excellent and they're the perfect size for little hands to hold and play with easily. Beautifully made, sturdy wooden toys that will last for years. Highly recommend!"

Tegan✓ Google review

★★★★★

"Harrods grade gifting for a very reasonable price. Not the usual tat from China. Had several hand picked orders fron Jaques, nice to know its a UK business with old school quality."

John A✓ Google review

★★★★★

"I am a real fan of this company. If only I had come across them years ago when my boys were little. It's my go to for beautiful, good quality toys for my granddaughter now and any gift I need to buy. They arrived quickly, prices are reasonable and the special touch is they are beautifully packaged too. I love the heritage of this business!"

Sarah Lardner✓ Google review

★★★★★ 4.9/5 from 26 reviews of this product · 4.6 average across 46,000+ Jaques reviews on Reviews.io and Trustpilot

Get ready for life

Why real play matters

Real brain growth comes from real play.

1st toy

Perfect gift for any baby's 1st birthday

Catherine McCulloch bought this for a first birthday and watched a 1-year-old learn cause and effect in one afternoon.

→

Worth every penny

Full price, zero regrets

Manda Monium: 'Worth every penny full price.' Because it lasts. Because it gets passed on. Because it works.

→

Next-day arrival

Order by 2pm, play by Tuesday

Leigh Hemmings: 'Arrived next day, saved Christmas.' Fast enough for birthday panic. Soon enough for Boxing Day.

Why this matters right now

231 years Making toys that last Est. 1795. We've outlasted trends, plastics, and a lot of novelty. Penguins pop like they did in 1995, and they'll pop in 2035.

4 colours Zero decisions needed Green, purple, orange, blue. Montessori-inspired. No batteries. No screen time. Just four reasons to say yes.

60-day guarantee Play risk-free until end of January If it's not the one, 30-day returns. If it works, you keep it. That's the deal.

230 yrs of making things worth keeping Jaques of London has been crafting games and toys since 1795. This one is built to be handed down, not thrown out.

We really are different

Pop Up Penguins vs the plastic pop-up toy from the supermarket

	Jaques Penguins - Pop Up Toy	Cheap Alternatives
Material	✅	❌ Plastic, flexes, splinters in two months
Springs	✅	⚠️ Cheap springs wear out, pop loses snap
Age range	✅	❌ One-year wonder, outgrows fast
Colour learning	✅	❌ Bright but generic, no naming prompt
Warranty	✅	❌ None, landfill at 6 months
Gift wrap	✅	❌ Comes in plastic clamshell
Resale value	✅	❌ Worthless once springs fail

Jaques

✅ Solid wood
✅ Springs last
✅ Birth to school
✅ Colour naming
✅ 60-day guarantee
✅ Gift-wrapped
✅ Passes down

Cheap alternatives

❌ Plastic snaps
❌ Springs break
❌ Bored at 2
❌ No learning
❌ No warranty
❌ Bubble wrap
❌ Landfill toy

Ships within 2-3 business days. Add to basket below.

Was £18.99

Penguins - Pop Up Toy: £15.99

30-Day Money-Back Guarantee

Not right? Return it within 30 days. Full refund, no questions.

Questions & answers

Questions parents ask us

What age is this really for?

12 months to 5 years. A 1-year-old learns cause and effect. A 3-year-old plays solo for 20 minutes. A 5-year-old still enjoys it before school. You'll also see grandparents buy it for age 1-4 specifically because the age range is clear on the page and they don't live with the child.

Will the springs actually hold up?

Yes. Jaques has made spring toys since 1795. These are solid wood, hand-finished, with proper spring mechanisms built into the base. John A said it best: 'Not the usual tat from China.' We back it with a 60-day guarantee and returns until end of January 2027.

How much noise does it make?

A satisfying click and pop, not a screech. Toddlers love it. You won't hear it from the next room. It's loud enough to be rewarding, quiet enough that you won't hide it in the cupboard.

Is it actually screen-free play?

Completely. No batteries, no bluetooth, no app. Just wood, colour, and a spring. The only thing charging up is your child's hand-eye coordination and your afternoon peace. That's why mums buy it: it's the toy that gets iPad time back under control.

How much does it cost?

The Penguins - Pop Up Toy is £15.99 today (down from £18.99). Klarna is available at checkout if you prefer to spread the cost.

What's your returns policy?

30 days, full refund, no conditions. Return it for any reason and we refund in full. We've been standing behind what we make since 1795.

Ships within 2-3 business days. Add to basket below.

Was £18.99

Penguins - Pop Up Toy: £15.99

Our story

Making toys worth keeping since 1795.

Jaques of London was founded in 1795. We invented croquet, table tennis, and the Staunton chess set. For 230 years, we've been making things that pull children away from passive entertainment and into active, curious, hands-on play.

Jaques makes Pop Up Penguins because we've been making toys since 1795, and we've learned what sticks. Not plastic trends. Not single-use laughs. Toys made from solid wood that teach something real: hand strength, colour, cause and effect. This one is inspired by the Jack in the Box, but Montessori-minded. Built to play for years, passed down to siblings and cousins, and wrapped in a box that says 'I chose this carefully.' That's the Jaques way. That's what 231 years teaches you.

Toys and games that leave something behind: a skill, a memory, a piece of play that gets passed on.
Joe, Jaques of London

Ready when you are