Wind the little key, set it down, and it hops.

Toysmith's Farm Fresh wind-ups are the kind of thing that costs less than a coffee and gets played with for a year. Soft fuzzy pile over a clockwork mechanism, moulded feet, and no batteries to go flat in the drawer. It is small enough to hide in an Easter basket, a party bag, a Christmas stocking or a coat pocket, and it is exactly the right size to walk across a kitchen table while somebody eats their cereal.

They arrive in a mixed barnyard display, so we cannot let you pick: each order is one wind-up chick and we send whichever style comes to hand. The four in the assortment are a yellow rooster with a red comb and tail, a plain yellow chick, a fluffy white silky chick and a soft grey chick. Every one of them hops the same. Toysmith grades them 3 and up.