Buying Guide for Natural Toys

Many parents have made a revolutionary decision when it comes to their children. Despite enormous societal and family pressure, they have decided to forgo the oh-so-popular plastic, commercial toys in favor of natural toys that foster creativity and imaginative play. Here is an overview of the must-haves of natural toys.

Wood Kitchens

Most of the major retailers sell play kitchens for children, but these are mostly made of lifeless plastic and leave little to the imagination. Families in search of natural toys will love the newer options for wooden kitchens that are on the market today. Wood kitchens are not only more aesthetically pleasing, but they’re also more durable and will last a lifetime.

Two of the best makers of wood kitchens are Elves and Angels, and Willow Toys. Both offer several different models to suit your needs, ranging in price from $150 for a small kitchen (consisting of a sink and stove, with no shelving) to $290 (for a larger kitchen with sink, stove, dishwasher, and hutch). Their refrigerators cost around $160. Other brands of wood kitchens include Guidecraft, Kidkraft, Land of Nod, Small World Toys, Constructive Playthings, and Little Colorado.

Blocks

Children can spend hours playing with a good set of blocks. They learn hand-eye coordination, balance, and creativity through building towers and other structures. Many mainstream toy stores sell collections of wooden blocks, but a great alternative is a set of tree or bark blocks. Tree/bark blocks are simply slices of wood of varying sizes, with the bark left on. These blocks are usually made from apple, cherry, or hazelnut trees. The benefits of bark blocks are many: the varying shapes (large disks, columns, forks, etc) provide more options for building, the bark helps the child to connect the blocks to real trees, and eco-friendly harvesting—only trees that have stopped producing and are at the end of their life cycles are used to make tree blocks. The biggest brand is Tree Blocks, although you can find several others on the Internet. You can also make your own if you have access to apple, cherry, or hazelnut wood.

Playstands