The best toy stores in Nova Scotia

FIDDLEHEADS KIDS SHOP
You’ll find oodles of products for new babies — things that help them eat, sleep, travel and play. They’ve got great baby toys from Green Grass (one-of-a-kind handmade dolls and wooden toys) and chunky wood fair trade puzzles from the UK’s Clementine line. Their local children’s clothing exchange is a great idea: Parents can buy barely-used outfits (at about 30 percent of the regular price) and trade in their kids’ old pieces. If your item sells, you get 50 percent of the selling price. If they don’t sell (and you no longer want them cluttering up your closets), the store will donate them to a local charity. Win-win. 300 PRINCE ALBERT ROAD, SUITE 100, DARTMOUTH. 902-405-8801; GOFIDDLEHEADS.COM

BRAIN CANDY TOYS
Based on the name it’s no surprise, but this store focuses on toys to make little ones (and big ones) use their noggin’ and learn a thing or two. With brands like Quercetti’s Intelligent Toys (creative toys and games made in Italy) and Perplexus (a super fun 3-D maze game), kids will have fun and exercise their thinking caps at the same time. 936 BEDFORD HWY, BEDFORD. 902-431-8697; BRAINCANDYTOYS.CA

TATTLETALES
This Dartmouth store has an amazing selection of books and toys (including musical toys from Hohner and Ty’s Beanies and Monstaz), and if they don’t have what you’re looking for in stock, they’ll place a special order to get it in. The folks at Tattletales also give back to the community, so you can feel good about buying items there, knowing that they’ve replaced more than $470,000 worth of books in area schools. 569 PORTLAND STREET, DARTMOUTH. 902-463-5551; TATTLETALESBOOKS.CA

WOOZLES
Woozles has been a mainstay in Halifax for more than 30 years, and it’s just as popular a destination as it was back in the 1980s. While the store does carry fun toys (like Folkmanis puppets, 4M science kits and a whole whack of wind-ups), it’s their books (everything from board books to novels for young adults) that keep customers coming back. 1533 BIRMINGHAM STREET, HALIFAX. 902-423-7626; WOOZLES.COM