Eco-Friendly Wooden Toys from Plan Toys

When I think about wooden toys, I think about a different time.  A time where we had less video games and Sesame Street was the only “real” children’s television show.  I like the durability and open-endedness of wooden toys.  It’s this imaginative play that fosters development in children.

Plan Toys “[creates] toys that inspire children’s imagination [and] promote their physical and intellectual development.”  On the site, you’ll find educational toys for both girls and boys in a variety of age ranges.  Their toys are primarily open-ended, which means they won’t beep, sing, or talk to you.  Rather, you and your child will play and have open dialogue while playing.

This socially responsible company respects the environment and strives to reduce, reuse, and recycle in all manufacturing of their products. The toys are made from non-chemically treated rubberwood and dyed with non-toxic paints.  All of their developmental toys undergo rigorous quality inspection and the company has received a number of awards and recognition for their toys.

My son (and very soon my daughter) is currently playing with the Baby Car, one of their baby toys.  It’s colorful and bendable (if that makes sense since it has an tough elastic string attaching it together).  My son adores cars…as soon as I opened this up he took it and started rolling it around the living room.  I really like how smooth the car is…considering it’s made of wood.  I know that at some point my daughter will probably try to put it in her mouth and I’m comfortable with the fact that if she does, she’d be safe.  As my daughter gets a bit older, I’m planning on getting her one of their dollhouses.

Plan Toys offers safe, colorful, quality-made toys for children of all ages and stages.  Parents can visit the site to learn more about child development, how to choose a toy for their child, and children’s patterns of play.

I did not receive compensation for this post.  A product sample was provided to facilitate this review.

Teaching Children About Babywearing

My son LOVES his “night night” bear.  It’s his little security blanket.  Lately he’s been “talking” to Mr. Bear.  Asking him if he’s “ready for school,” or “ready to eat.”  I don’t know what we’d do if he ever lost that bear.  My son has a lot of stuffed animals, but there are only a few that he actually “engages” with.  While I think stuffed animals are “cute,” very often they just sit around, gathering dust.  We recently received an adorable organic teddy bear from Sleepy Wrap that I guarantee is not going to just “sit around.”

Awhile back, I reviewed a Sleepy Wrap to review.  I “wore” my son until he was about a year and half or so.  He loves to be carried and I’m certain he would have enjoyed being close to mommy and daddy for longer, but when I found out I was pregnant with number 2, I had to stop (because of my previous high-risk pregnancy).  We’re anxiously awaiting and planning for our second baby and I have every intention of wearing him or her as well.  So along with preparing my son for all of the changes he will soon experience (divided attention, breastfeeding, etc.), he will also be adjusting to mommy carrying another baby.

The creators of the Sleepy Wrap have designed the very first stuffed toy designed to promote babywearing.  Thanks to Parent Reviewers, we received an organic cotton Sleepy Bear to review.  The “mama” bear has her “baby” wrapped in a Sleepy Wrap.  Not only is it soft and eco-friendly, it’s a great way to introduce my son to this concept.  I’ve started talking to my son about how mommies wear or carry their babies close to them.  I also told him that when he was a baby, I wore him close to me, just like the mama bear is wearing her baby bear.  He’s still too young to actually “wrap” the baby bear himself, but the foundation is being laid.  My hope is that his exposure to babywearing (via the bear), will help prepare him for the time when baby number 2 arrives and he or she is carried close to me.  I want to help my son adjust and avoid jealousy and I think this toy is an excellent way to teach my son the concept of babywearing.

The Sleepy Bear has her baby wrapped in an Organic Khaki wrap.  It’s available in full size for moms on the site.  It’s designed for children over three, however, my almost 2 1/2 half year old loves it.  I feel very comfortable letting him play with it since there are no removable parts that could pose a choking hazard.

The Sleepy Bear is not actually available for purchase on the Sleepy Wrap site.  It is exclusively available for purchase at the following retailers (approximate retail value is $30):

Tadpoles & Butterflies
Sherwood Park, Alberta CANADA
info@tadpoles.ca
www.tadpoles.ca
1.888.312.6554

Supermommy’s Superstore
2411 Ring Road, Suite 105
Elizabethtown, KY
accounts@supermommyssuperstore.com
www.SupermommysSuperstore.com
270.769.6693

Sweet Infant
1007 S. Country Club Rd.
Lovington, NM
support@sweetinfant.com
www.sweetinfant.com
575.441.3005

Nurtured Family
8525 Jackrabbit Rd., Suite B
Houston, TX
support@nurturedfamily.com
www.nurturedfamily.com
832.239.5140

Heavenly Hold
510 Briarfield Crossing
Marietta, GA
amber@heavenlyhold.com
www.heavenlyhold.com
404.849.5394

Baby Carriers-n-More
265 W Cimmarron Way
Erda, UT
robyn@babycarriersnmore.com
www.babycarriersnmore.com
801.671.5740

Attached to Baby
Seattle, WA
sara@attachedtobaby.com
www.attachedtobaby.com
800.887.1461

Profuse thanks to Parent Reviewers for this review opportunity!

Ride On Fun…Eco-Style!

This giveaway is now closed.  Thanks for stopping by.  The winner is Donna L.  Congrats!

I have a very active 2 year old who doesn’t like to be indoors.  How convenient, particularly when I’ve been sick for many, many weeks (I’ll update you on how I’ve been feeling in another post).  To be honest, I haven’t felt much like doing anything until recently, but staying in would not have been fair to my little boy.  Thankfully, we’ve been able to utilize the preschool in the mornings which gives me time to rest and prepare for the afternoon with him.  Many of our afternoons have been spent outside, since it’s the time when I usually feel the best.  And most recently we’ve been playing with this:

That, is a Skitter ride on toy car…and my son goes giddy over it.  Oh…and he calls it his “bike.”  It’s so cute I can’t discourage it!  This self-propelled ride on toy, designed for children 2 years old and above, is a fun way to get children moving.  It comes assembled and does not require batteries.  Can you say mom-friendly? The way it works is that the child puts his/her feet on the footpads and uses his/her upper and core body while moving the steering wheel back and forth.  It doesn’t require a ton of coordination, but my son is still mastering the concept (he tends to use it in it’s more organic form as a conventional ride on toy that he pushes with his feet).

I like the fact that my son can use it both inside and outside.  It’s a little big for him (since he’s only two) but he’s definitely better at it than he was a few weeks ago.  The Skitter received Dr. Toy’s Best Products award and moms (including me!) love that it promotes the development of coordination and strength.  For a ride on toy, I find it a bit pricey at $69.95 but it’s on sale at this time for $55.95.  When you consider how much use your child (or children) will get out of it, it’s worth checking out.

Win It! One of you will win a Skitter in the color of your choice!  Simply head on over to the site and take a look around. Come back here and leave me a comment with something you learned.  Comments will close on August 4, 2009 at 10 PM PST.  One comment per person, please (unless you do the extra credit). US residents only. Duplicates and comments not including the above information will be disqualified. Comments are moderated. If you don’t see your comment in a reasonable amount of time, send me an email. Bloggers and non-bloggers may enter. If you don’t want to leave your email address, please be sure to check back for my announcement on the winner. Please note that winners must respond within 48 hours of being announced/contacted or another winner will be drawn.

Want an extra entry? Do any or all of the following and receive an extra entry for each one.

Be sure to leave me a separate comment for each additional entry.

Add the “Spring In For Summer Fun” banner to your sidebar and leave me a comment (be sure to visit the main party post for more details on extra entries)

Follow me on Twitter AND tweet about the contest. Be sure to use the hashtag #SummerEvent

Enter Tanya and Amanda’s giveaways

Subscribe to my feed via email or reader.

Blog about this giveaway. It doesn’t have to be a separate post. Just include a blurb about it when you blog about other giveaways.

Place my button on your site. If you have difficulty, please let me know.

Click on one of the very cute buttons below and digg, stumble, fav, etc. Just let me know what you did in the comments!

Do Something Green: Plant a Tree (or Grow a Garden!)

I recently told you about Green Toys, a company who has recently begun using 100% recycled plastic milk containers to manufacture their toys.  The company has received many awards including Dr. Toy’s Green Toy Company of the Year.  Green Toys was also named one of Parent Magazine’s 2008 Toys of the Year.  The company continues to be leader in safe, environmentally responsible, USA-made toys.  They’re also a winner in our household!

We received the Indoor Gardening Kit recently and I have to say how impressed I am with it.  First of all, I think it’s a brilliant way to teach children about taking care of our environment.  It also teaches responsibility since the child will have to water the plants regularly.  Children also get to see the fruits of their diligence in the form of a sunflowers, zinnias, and sweet basil. The company adheres to the strict standards of the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act of 2008 and assures that their toys are free from BPA, phthalates, or lead paint.  The toys are American-made from HDPE plastic which is considered to be one of the safest, cleanest plastics available.

Planting our little garden was really easy.  The 3 pack of soil comes compacted (you simply add water).  Once it’s had a chance to expand, you simply pat it down, “plant” your seeds, and wait for it to grow (apparently it takes 2 days to see results).  The entire line of toys are brightly colored and attractively designed.  They’re also moderately priced (not too expensive, not overly cheap). I found the best prices on Amazon.com!

I’ll leave you with a few interesting facts about how Green Toys saves energy…

Ever pound of recycled milk jugs used in the making of Green Toys saves:

Energy to equal 3,000 AAA batteries

Enough electricity to power a TV set for 3 weeks

Enough electricity to keep a laptop computer running for a month!

Now how’s that for eco-friendly?

Guest Review: Counting Bunnies (ImagiPLAY)

When news broke last year of Fisher Price’s recall of lead-tainted toys, I set out to find the safest toys possible for my son.  My natural inclination to gravitate towards big toys with bright colors and loud noises was replaced with a newfound fondness for traditional wooden toys.  I was walking through Whole Foods one day and happened upon some PuzzlePlaysets while perusing the baby aisle.  My son was only a few months old at the time but I made a mental note of the company behind the sets so I could look into them more for my son.  That company was ImagiPLAY whose efforts are aimed at creating quality, educational toys that inspire imagination and exploration.  

ImagiPLAY is committed to providing safe toys from renewable, sustainable resources.  Their wooden toys are derived from chemical-free rubberwood and many are hand-painted with child-safe paints.  Check out their website for more information on their safety standards and commitment to the environment.