Green Options » Eco toys

10 Eco-Friendly Toys Under $30

mcmilker — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:48:41 +0000

As the holiday season approaches we’re all looking for quality toys for our children. Readers of this blog, and increasingly the world at large are seeking toys that are eco friendly and inexpensive too.

That’s why Eco Childs Play agreed to team up with Goddard Systems, Inc, one of the largest child care providers in the country, to seek out the best green toys we could find for under $30.00.

After a national call for submissions, the Toy Test Committee, consisting of Eco Child`s Play representatives and Goddard educators, evaluated entrants based on a number of criteria, including:

* Affordable price range ($30 and under)

* Appropriate for preschoolers and early elementary school-age children

* Creative, social or engaging

* Eco-friendly

* Interactive, child-initiated play focus

We’re happy to announce the 10 finalists today!

The Top 10 Eco-Friendly Toys are as follows (in alphabetical order):

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Green Shopping Guide For Toy Lovers

mcmilker — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:49:56 +0000

Now that the stores are starting to display Christmas decorations, of course before we’ve even taken down our Halloween decorations, some of us are starting to think about holiday shopping.

I have a number of ideas for great eco toys this year since being involved with the Eco Toy Test sponsored by Eco Child’s Play and the Goddard Schools. We had over 50 entries from great green toys companies and because we’ve created a Facebook and Flickr, we have an excellent shopping guide if you’re looking for gift ideas.

Every one of these toys is eco friendly. They are made from wood or organically grown cotton or recycled plastic. They teach kids about nature or going green. Many of them I had seen before but there were a few that were great new ideas for infant gifts, toddler and preschool gifts and even some for big kids.

Pass the word along that Eco Child’s Play has a green gift guide site! You can find it on Facebook or Flickr – add your comments to help other parents with their green gift choices.

You can talk about it or follow it on Twitter with the hashtag #bestgreentoys

How To Find The Best Green Toys For Your Tot

mcmilker — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 20:19:43 +0000

Last month we announced the start of the Eco Toy Contest – a search we’re doing here on Eco Childs Play in association with The Goddard Schools. And boy, are we having fun!

We’ve made a special effort to encourage toymakers of all sizes to enter as we search for the greenest toys under $25.00. We’re all interested in maximizing our dollars these days and I’ve been surprised to find out just how many relatively inexpensive green toys there are!

We’ve received entries from big companies like Haba and Etsy sellers like Mama K’s. We have trucks perfect for toddlers from Green Toys and infant toys from Under The Nile – a whole range of goodies from lots of great manufacturers. You can see photos of some of the entries on our Facebook page – I’ll be uploading more as we go along.

If you are a toymaker- we’d love you to enter our contest and be featured on our Facebook page, as well as have the opportunity to be named “Best Green Toy”. But hurry – the last day to enter is October 1^st.

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Plan Toys at Rosie Hippo

Wenona Napolitano — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:12:15 +0000

Say “bye bye” to toys made of bad plastic and covered in lead paint. Instead reach for the wood- wooden toys that is.

Plan Toys offer superior quality wood toys made with environmentally friendly kiln dried, chemical free, rubberwood. They also use E-Zero glue, water based non-toxic colors, and recycled and recyclable materials. And at Plan Toys they do everything with “green” in mind.

Rosie Hippo shares the “green” passion and sells only ethical, quality, eco-friendly toys for children.

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How to Grow Your Small Toy Business

mcmilker — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:24:53 +0000

I’ve been asked this year to judge the Goddard/Eco Childsplay 2009 Best Green Toy Contest. Sponsored by Goddard Child Development Centers and Green Options own Ecochildsplay, it is both a great opportunity and one that has me thinking.

How does a small company compete against the big guys in the toy industry? In particular as pointed out by Wendy Johnson, with Birchtree designs writing on the contest Facebook page:

Hey, how about doing a contest of eco-friendly, local handmade items? There is no way we can compete with large corporate manufacturers. Also, not sure how eco-friendly a product it can be if the materials are coming from all four corners of the earth, is being made in another country, and then shipped to the US?

That’s a good point! And so I thought about and found that, hey- this IS just that kind of contest!

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CitiBlocs: The New Classic Building Block

Wenona Napolitano — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:03:01 +0000

Crafty creators, budding builders, future architects…my children. Give them something to stack and build and they are ecstatic. From towers to barns to creative works of art, they love to make amazing things.

This new set of CitiBlocs has opened a whole new world to them as little builders.

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Rosie Hippo: Earth Friendly, Unique and Handmade Toys

Wenona Napolitano — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:44:55 +0000

Rosie Hi ppo offers parents a place to shop for unique, handmade, organic, fair trade and eco-friendly toys.

They have toys made of wood, made of fair trade materials, they have stuffed animals, pretend play toys, and everything you need to spark your child’s imagination and give them something safe to play with.

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Eco Kids’ Toys: Aurora Naturally Eco-Plush Made from Soy and Kapok

Jennifer Lance — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:21:16 +0000

As a child, I loved stuffed animals. I had tons and tons of them, many of which had to be bagged and placed in our attic because they outgrew my room. It was an excessive obsession, I admit, but my attraction to plush continues today in a more restricted way with my children; however, most plush is made from polyester fibers and/or polystyrene. There’s nothing natural about this plastic made from petroleum by the chemical industry, and certainly this is not a substance I want my children snuggling with at night.

Aurora Naturally Plush offers an eco-friendly alternative to chemically manufactured stuffed animals. Handmade in Indonesia, Aurora Naturally is made from 100% soy bean fiber and stuffed with Kapok, which is a sustainable rain forest crop. Not only are these stuffed animals eco-friendly, they are very soft and nice. I have had extended family members comment on how nice they are without knowing they are eco-friendly. Furthermore, you can educate your children about the eco-plush’s ingredients by reading The Great Kapok Tree.

My daughter has the Aurora Naturally Koala Bear, and my son has the brown bear. These stuffed animals quickly became favorites and took their rightful place in my children’s beds. These are the stuffed animals that must travel with us on overnight trips, and I am happy that they replace the petroleum-based plush my children used to adore. I plan to give my niece an Aurora Naturally Plush toy this holiday season.

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Eco-Friendly Toys: Kidsonroof MobileHome Combines the Love of Cardboard Boxes with Dramatic Play

Jennifer Lance — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:29:51 +0000

One of my fondest childhood memories was playing with a brand new refrigerator box with our neighbors in the front yard. This large box was a space ship, a school bus, a house, etc. Parents know that kids love boxes, and sometimes these corrugated containers are more interesting than the toys they contain on birthdays and holidays. Kidsonroof has combined children’s love of cardboard boxes with dramatic play to create the MobileHome.

The MobileHome is made from recycled cardboard, is biodegradable, five percent of profits are donated to UNICEF, and is made in China. It has eight secret rooms and is easy to take with you to the park, on vacation, or around the house. My children immediately integrated their other toys, including their children’s yoga mat, into dramatic play with our MobileHome.

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Unique Eco-Friendly Dolls and Dress Up Crown for Natural Play

Jennifer Lance — Thu, 22 May 2008 23:03:25 +0000

Beyond simply shopping for eco toys for my children, I also think it is important to support toy companies that support local designers and promote natural play. Natural Pod is a Canadian company that fits this bill, and they have just expanded their line to include the unique toys of two Canadian designers. Natural Pod’s motto is “Natural items for play and daily living that are mindful, creative and inviting for your family.”

Poot & Boogie Eco-Friendly Dolls

Poot & Boogie eco-friendly dolls are individually handcrafted from cotton and wool. The dolls are stuffed with corn-derived fiberfill, and each one is unique. These dolls are made in Aldergrove, BC, and they remind me of Raggedy Ann and the dolls children played with before plastic dominated the toy world.

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3 Ways to Inspire a Preschooler to Be Green

Jennifer Lance — Mon, 19 May 2008 13:31:01 +0000

I am the mother of two children, ages six and three, as well as a preschool teacher in a small, mountainous community in Northern California. Our family lives off-the-grid producing our own electricity from a micro hydro turbine in our creek. One of our family values is to live a green life, leaving behind the smallest carbon footprint as possible. Sharing our eco-values with our children is a big part of what we feel is our social responsibility as parents. For over a year now, I have been blogging about our experiences and the green products we use. Here are a few ideas I have learned over the years that have helped my kids critically view the mass marketing of goods directed at them, as well as inspire them to think critically of our daily actions in terms of how they affect the planet.

Walk the Green Talk!

Lev Vygotsky was a Russian pyschologist who believed that knowledge is socially constructed and culturally transmitted. For toddlers and preschoolers, this means that modeling green choices, as well as using language to interact with children around eco ideals, is the most effective way to inspire them. For example, my children are delighted to have their own reusable shopping bags. Inspired by the book My Bag and Me!, I got my children their own bags, which they proudly carry into the store. My three-year-0ld son puts his favorite foods in his bag at the health food store. Children will imitate what they see the adults around them doing, and given the proper tools, they can assimilate this knowledge into their own lives. On more than one occasion I’ve been accused of “walking the talk”, and it definitely pays off when my children evaluate their own lives and choices using our green family values.

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Green, Eco Toys: Sustainable Bamboo Blocks

Jennifer Lance — Thu, 08 May 2008 23:03:45 +0000

Green, Eco-Toys

I’ve just discovered a toy company I adore: HaPe Toys. This company features eco-friendly safe toys that “support children throughout every stage of development, starting at a very young age to help nurture and develop their natural abilities.” HaPe carries brands such as Quadrilla, Anamalz, and Woody Click, as well as Bamboo Collection. My family recently acquired Bamboo Collection’s Contina.

Bamboo Blocks

Contina blocks are similar to Kapla blocks, in that they are more like planks than standard unit blocks; however, Contina blocks are made from sustainable bamboo. These planks come in eight different natural colored finishes and can be combined to build many structures, given that you get 100 blocks in a set. You can stack them or line them up, and I am not sure if Eco Dad or my children had more fun when we first opened our Contina blocks.

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Toys R Us New Toys - Eco Friendly; Still Made in China

mcmilker — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:53:50 +0000

Now that the word is out, Toys R Us is going green, it’s time perhaps to look a little harder at exactly what is being offered to parents looking for more safer, healthier toys for their children. After last year’s, lead paint/ phthalate/magnet scares, it’s no wonder Toys R Us is announcing a whole new line of eco friendly toys available in stores in time for Earth Day, April 22, 2008

But…they’re still made in China.

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