Why Wooden Toys?

I love wooden toys. Nearly all of the toys I have bought for our kids are made from wood. Well, wood and other natural materials, such as wool, tin, ceramic, fabric etc.

The few toys that I still have from when I was a child are all wooden, and I love them. Wooden toys often get more beautiful with age, whereas plastic toys can become brittle, cracked and faded. We do have some high quality plastic toys that have been given as gifts, such as lego, and the kids do love them, but it's just my personal decision to select wooden or natural materials if I am choosing toys to buy for the children.

Lots of people comment on our toys when they see them, and I guess some people wonder why we choose mostly wooden toys...

My main reasons for choosing wooden toys are:

• Environmentally friendly (when made from sustainable plantation timber)
  

• Help children appreciate the natural world

• Can be passed down as an heirloom

• Do not need batteries

• Have asthetic appeal (can be displayed in shared living areas)

• Have a wonderful warm feel

When choosing wooden toys, I usually try to get unpainted or stained wood, rather than painted wood. Most of the wooden toys that you find in the large department stores are made in China and are painted. This paint can chip and begin to look ugly, and can even contain lead. Wooden toys such as Selecta, Haba, Erzi, Voila and Plantoys are usually made from sustainable plantation timber (often left over from industry such as rubber trees) and are stained with non-toxic colours. These type of wooden toys will not chip or fade, and will continue to look beautiful even after much vigorous play!

If you are looking for quality wooden toys for your own children, here are some great places to browse:

• http://www.dragonflytoys.com.au

• http://www.sendatoy.com.au

• http://www.uniquekids.com.au

• http://www.mywoodentoys.com.au

• http://www.peanutgallery.com.au 

•  http://www.etsy.com/shop/applenamos
  

Here are some of our wooden toys... I'll try to photograph some of the others later (after we move house next weekend as they are already in the process of being moved!)

Don't you just love how Oliver is using a knife to get the toast out of the toaster! Even though it was a wooden knife and wooden toaster (and even wooden toast), it still gave me shivers... I had to tell him not to do it in case he does it to a real toaster one day! Strange how it seems to be an almost automatic response to reach for a knife to get toast out of the toaster!! Eeek!