The box is always more fun!
Kids always have more fun with the box than the present that came in it.
And if that is true, do kids really need piles of cheap, plastic, branded, battery powered toys? Ok, so I'm a of bit of greenie, a strong believer in books over TV, and I have a stubborn aversion to fads and trends. Piles of crummy plastic toys were never going to be welcome in my house. Don't even think about handing my daughter a Bratz doll!
So, I started to look around for more educational toys. And on that search, I discovered a new passion for traditional toys. This page is dedicated to wooden toys - the kind our grandparents played with when they were kids, plus a whole new breed of fun and funky wooden toys.
Building Blocks - the original wooden toy
I remember being a kid when my dad was building our house. My wooden blocks were offcuts from the frames and joists of my own bedroom-to-be. My mum painted letters on them and I happily bashed away with them, building houses just like my dad.
Here are a selection of blocks sets from 3 quality toymakers.
BRIO Colored Blocks- 50 pcs (new colors)
Made in Sweden, this 50 piece set of building blocks come in classic shapes and colours, and best of all, come with a handy storage bag.
Amazon Price: $26.99 (as of 07/26/2008)
MAXIM 200 piece Blocks
A 200 piece set by Maxim who guarantee all their products are lead free and sourced from renewable forests. This set has a great range of shapes and a mix of natural and coloured blocks.
Amazon Price: $14.99 (as of 07/26/2008)
Melissa and Doug 100 Piece Wood Blocks Set
Melissa and Doug are an awesome Amercian company that creates some of the finest wooden toys I've seen. Here is their traditional building blocks set - great primary colours and a wide range of shapes.
Amazon Price: $19.99 (as of 07/26/2008)
Make your own building blocks set
If there's a handywoman (or handyman, I suppose) about the house, making a set of building blocks should pose no great challenge.Here is a set of instructions to make your own blocks. It's a wordy site, but offers valuable advice on types of woods to use, sizes and shapes, as well as tips on how to finish the blocks.
Eco-friendly, safe, non-toxic toys
Children taste test everything in their lives. Rocks, clothing, beetles, chairs, floor tiles, pot plants - everything. It requires constant vigilance to make sure your youngster isn't going imbibe something deadly. So, you want to be sure that baby's toys can be trusted. If junior is going to spend hours eating his blocks rather than building with them, you need to know for sure that the paints are non-toxic and lead free.Likewise, with all the doom and gloom about the planet lately, you don't need the niggling suspicion that the kid's wooden trainset used to be a rainforest in Indonesia or the Amazon.
The toys I've selected here all come from reputable companies that guarantee the safety of their paints, and the sustainability of their wood sources. I've tried to avoid toys made in China as much as possible. (No offense to the Chinese toy industry whom I'm sure are a decent bunch of people on the whole, but unfortunately, the actions of a few of their more ruthless and greedy colleagues has cost them my trust and my patronage.)
These toys are mostly made in the USA or the EU where safety standards are high. I've contacted each company personally to enquire as to where their toys are made, what standards they adhere to etc. Only toys from those companies who responded favourably are listed here. If they didn't take the trouble to reply, I'm not taking the trouble to recommend them.
Later in the page, I've included links to many companies I consider safe and eco-friendly.
Alphabet Blocks
Classic Embossed Alphabet Blocks ABC
This set of alphabet blocks is incredibly stylish. Uncle Goose toys are made in USA and their range of alphabet blocks includes Spanish, French, Hebrew, Russian, Italian, Arabic, Braille and Sign Language. Who could possibly ask for more.
Melissa and Doug Classic ABC Block Cart
Melissa and Doug Toys - another quality American company - includes this highly traditional alphabet set in a pull cart. There are 30 blocks in the set and included pictures, numbers and letters. The bright primary colours are a sure hit.
Classic ABC Blocks by Montgomery Schoolhouse
These blocks are in a vintage style, but still retain bright colours and relevant pictures. The set has pictures, words, letters and numbers printed on all 6 sides. Montgomery Schoolhouse toys are made in USA.
Make your own animal puzzles
Making your own wooden toys comes with the benefit of knowing that no precious rainforests were destroyed to create your toy, knowing the paint is leadfree and non-toxic, and knowing your toy was crafted with love.Here is a fantastic collection of 3D animal puzzles, and a few flat puzzles as well. There are dinosaurs, cats, dogs, turtles, bears, frogs, giraffes - the whole menagerie. All include free patterns with diagrams and instructions.
Stacking Toys
The typical stacker is simply a collection of ever smaller rings on a post, but newer versions are shaped and represent animals or people.
Plan Toys Stacking Ring
A traditional stacking toy made by Plan Toys of Thailand. The wood is recycled rubbertree wood and the bright colours are created from non-toxic vegetable dyes.
BRIO Stacking Clown
BRIO from Sweden have an adorable 8 piece stacking clown with smiling face, round collar and a tall hat.
Filino Pull Toy
By Selecta of Germany. Two stacking toys on a pull cart. Very wisely, this toy is designed so that the posts collapse if a child falls on them.
Melissa and Doug Geometric Stacker
A monster 25 piece stacker! Great fun. Made in China, but I was very satisfied to my enquiry to Melissa and Doug concerning the safety of their toys. Their personal response revealed a thorough auditing process. I think we can trust them.
Toys our grandparents played with
CLASSIC WOODEN POP GUN by Toysmith
No, I don't like weapons as toys either, but there's something delightfully naive about a gun that fires a cork on a string.
Amazon Price: $4.49 (as of 07/26/2008)
Winding Top - Made with Safe, Non-Toxic Vegetable Dyes
A string-powered spinning top by Taraluna whose fair-trade toys are made from sustainably harvested wood and coloured with vegetable dyes.
Amazon Price: (as of 07/26/2008)
Wooden Catch Ball by Toysmith
Classic catch ball. Is it a cliche to say that our grandparents probably had more patience than today's kids?
Amazon Price: $2.58 (as of 07/26/2008)
Skittles Bowling Game
Ninepin, Tenpin, Skittles or Cannonball - there have been many variations over the centuries. These pins and balls are crafted from American natural birch wood.
Amazon Price: $24.99 (as of 07/26/2008)
Toy Cars - DIY for the Master Woodworker
A Yellow School BusA Classic 1932 Lincoln
A Classic Racing Car - A free pattern. Pull Toys
These toys all have rubber-rimmed wheels to ensure a smooth glide on both carpet and wood surfaces.
Plan Toys Pull-Along Snake
One of my favourites. My daughter drags this around the house constantly, or draps it over her shoulders. When not being used as a fashion accessory, this snake wiggles as he's pulled along.
Dancing Alligator Pull Toy
This alligator makes a rhythmic click-clack sound while being pulled along. From Pan Toys of Thailand.
Pull Toy Autolino
Autolino the racing car driver with go-fast stripes. This little fellow drives like a maniac. From Selecta.
Pull Toy Woolly
Wooly the lamb has a big, fluffy tail with a rattle hidden inside it. From Djeco of Paris.
Go Fast Stuff - Racing Tracks and Marble Runs
Maxim Deluxe F1 Ramp Racer 5 Level
This set comes with two racing cars for a double track racer. Five storeys high and brightly coloured. Little Matchbox and Hot Wheels sized cars also fit this track.
HaPe Toys Quadrilla Twist
A marble run with 105 track pieces and 100 marbles!!! It has thirteen curved tracks in three different sizes, 2 funnels tracks, accelerators, 41 coloured blocks... This thing looks fantastic and I want one!
Ball Track Construction Set
By Haba . 42 pieces of solid beech wood blocks, track, redirectors, a bell-bridge and a 'klicker klacker' track. Endless design possibilities.
Ball Track Domino Rally
A domino set by Haba that can be used as an extension to their regular ball track set, or on it's own.
Links to Wooden Toy Companies Around the World
Here are links to wooden toy manufactures around the world that produce toys to the highest safety standards, and who are committed to sustainable forestry practices, or who use recycled wood products.
AustraliaAnamalz - Great selection of poseable animal toys.
Tuzzles - Wooden puzzles and games.
FranceVilac Tonnes and tonnes of great stuff. Great wooden toys, but a huge range of non-wood toys too.
Kapla - Construction toys - Extreme Blocks - for older children.
Djeco - Puzzles, blocks, push and pull toys - anything educational for babies and toddlers.
GermanyHaba - Good selection of rattles and shakers for very young babies.
Selecta Spielzeug - Awesome awesome toys here. You'll want everything.
PolandBajo - Lots of toy cars, lacing toys and very nice hooks and hangers for keeping junior's bedroom tidy.
SwedenBrio - Wooden train sets galore. Some great combo-packs of track and rolling stock, and animals with wheels!
ThailandPlan Toys - Some really really interesting and unusual wooden toys.
USAUncle Goose - Beautiful alphabet blocks and building blocks, plus much more.
Montgomery Schoolhouse - Heirloom rattles, trains and cars, blocks, lacing toys - all good stuff.
TAG Toys - A big focus on educational toys, catalogued by age so you can buy the best toy to help your child develop.
Push Toys
Selecta Spielzeug Mouse Push Toy - Spedino
This mouse mouse has bells on his hands - his legs "run" and his arms wave up and down.
Amazon Price: $34.99 (as of 07/26/2008)
Carrousel Push Toy
The beads spin around when pushed backwards and forwards. From Selecta of Germany.
Amazon Price: $33.49 (as of 07/26/2008)
TATTOLO
An extremely cute dragon who wags his tail when pushed. Another great toy from Selecta.
Amazon Price: $29.95 (as of 07/26/2008)
Natural Wood Toddler Push Toy by Selecta - Curvino
Another hot pick from Selecta. This toy is also steerable!
Amazon Price: $27.95 (as of 07/26/2008)
Melissa & Doug Flapping Penguin Push Toy
I had one of these when I was a kid. The penguin's leather feet roll around the wheels and slap on the floor in a manner that is utterly hysterical to anyone under the age of 8, 28, 58.
Amazon Price: (as of 07/26/2008)
Animal toys - from Anamalz, Australia
Anamalz is a great Australian company that makes absolutely gorgeous animal toys and donate a percentage of their profits to wildlife organisations around the world. Every toy has a unique model number, and a matching song! You can register your animal on their website and go in a draw for a monthly prize - February's prize is a 7 foot giraffe!!!Of course, their toys are guaranteed to the highest European EN-71 and US ASTM standards, use renewable resources, and non toxic paints and glues. (Some models made in China under a European licence.)
Their range is fantastic, including wild animals, farm animals, and of course, Australian animals. My favourite is the Wombat (pictured above).
Here is the link to their website where you can check out the whole range, but below are my 5 favourites from Amazon.
Make your own wooden tracks and trains
This is a wonderful page for making trains and tracks in your own workshop. There are instructions, photos and diagrams for track, connectors, a manually operated turntable, carriages and locomotives, as well as a list of tools and parts you'll need.
Designed by a guy who thought it shouldn't be too hard to extend his son's BRIO trainset, his instructions make track compatible with BRIO, Maxim and Thomas sets.
Visit this great site here and get Grandpa busy in the workshop now!
Trains and Tracks
If you're like me and steer clear of brands as much as you can, BRIO has some fun engines and carriages, plus the coolest track extenders - like collapsing bridges, mountains, tunnels, weird turntables with aliens on them. Take a look at their site here.
BRIO Track and Stack City Set
Has a total of 38 pieces, with straight, curved, ascending and descending track - and best of all, an elevator to the platform that goes 'ding'.
Maxim 50 Piece Train Set
A great beginner set, with curved and straight track, a classic suspension bridge, trees, figures, animals, signs and buildings.
Maxim Wooden 145 Pc. Train Set
An awesome set with roundhouse 5 way track and turntable, multi level supports, bridges, animals, figures etc. Maxim train sets are compatible with BRIO, Thomas the Tank Engine and others.
How to Build a Toy Train Table
Build a Toy Train Table or Play Activity Table in 3 hours! This site has a downloadable pattern plus instructions to make a table for the kids to play trains on that is so sturdy the kids can plan ON the table without you worrying at all. Build it in no time and then paint and decorate it to suit the child.Download Here!
Kinda relevant pics of me and my baby
My baby having more fun with the box
Me helping my dad build the chookhouse. Got lots of blocks from this project!!!
Follow me on Twitter
Twitter - my favorite new toy that's neither wooden nor classic - but lots of fun
Thanks for stopping by :)
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herbie66
Welcome to the 'Pregnancy and Baby' Group Posted June 13, 2008 |
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thomasa
I agree the traditional toys are much more fun and durable. They don't make them like they used to anymore. I like to save some of the toys that they outgrow. Running out of space to store all the kids' fun toys and new toys? How about additional storage space? Check out Storage buildings There are many different types, look for ones with windows and the kids would love to keep their toys there too. Posted May 15, 2008 |
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kab
Great lens! Welcome to the Babies Group! Posted April 29, 2008 |
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LittleLambs
Great selection of wooden toys. Love the blocks! Posted April 26, 2008 |
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bdkz
Awesome lens! I gave you 5 Stars and a Squid Angel Blessing! Posted April 10, 2008 |
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adez7
Hi Jo, this is a great lens, and it gets a big Five! Posted April 10, 2008 |
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SemperFidelis
5* Blessings from a SquidAngel ~ :) Posted April 02, 2008 |
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ElizabethJeanAllen
Great Len! Posted March 30, 2008 |
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Susan52
I NEED grandchildren! The push toys are my favorite and I'm just too tall! (Very nice lens!) Posted March 30, 2008 |
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riff999
Nice lens. Well put together. Posted March 17, 2008 |
