‘The same experience as any other kid”

A special Hamilton toy library offers options to level the playing field

Toy librarian Jane Martindale showcases the entrance to 1136 toys. Photo: Cheryl Voss

Jane Martindale, the toy librarian at CCS Disability Action library describes a scene that stays with you.

A child brings a bubble machine to class, and the other kids gather around, asking permission to blow the bubbles. The child isn’t watching from the outside. They’re the one everyone’s looking to.  

The CCS Disability library on Claudelands road is not your average toy library. Shelves lines the walls packed with switch-adapted toys, sensory gear, and remote-control cars, all designed for disabled children, teens, and young adults. 

For $25 a year, families can borrow toys that might otherwise sit out of reach, financially and practically.  

Martindale has run the library for nine years, and she’s seen firsthand what happens when a disabled child gets the right toy in their hands. “You give them something like that and they can just focus and be calm” she says. “They can sit there doing that for ages” she explains.

Switch-adapted toys teach cause and effect. Sensory gear helps kids regulate and focus. Remote control cars build motor skills and confidence. The toys do what therapy does, but they look like something a kid would want to do on a Saturday morning.  

Some of the favourite toys pictured above including the switch-adapted remote-control car. Photo: Cheryl Voss

What drives Martindale is obvious when she talks about the collection. She points to a switch-adapted remote-control car designed for children who can’t use a standard controller. “The big buttons on the controller are the point”, she explains. A child who can’t grip a standard remote control can press a large button and make the car go. It’s about giving them the same experience as any other kid, just with a different way in.” 

The $25 cost for membership is the difference for some families between their kids having toys or not.  

Martindale has watched parents walk in who are struggling to make ends meet and walk out with armloads of toys their children would otherwise go without. She’s seen mothers browse the shelves the way you’d browse a shop, weighing each toy like it’s a gift, not a loan.

Kids who come in shy often leave already playing, clutching something new to them even though dozens of other children have already held them before.  

A quick glimpse of the many toys that fill the shelves with photos to let you know where each toy is located. Also shown above is a ramp that lets wheelchair users access the library independently. Photo: Cheryl Voss

Families in Hamilton can borrow toys for two weeks and extend it for another two if their child isn’t ready to let go yet. For families who can’t get to the library in person, CCS will post toys anywhere in New Zealand, with a longer one-month loan so the shipping time doesn’t eat into the fun. It means a child in a small town or rural area can have the same experience as a kid that lives down the road.  

For families on tight budgets, the library turns a luxury into something ordinary and expected.

“It feels like Christmas everyday’ Martindale says, “especially for families who can’t afford to buy things”  

To learn more about the CCS Disability Action Toy Library head to: https://www.ccsdisabilityaction.org.nz/toy-library or visit in person at: 17 Claudelands Road, Hamilton