In the last couple of years, there has been an explosion of small, eco-friendly wooden toys on Etsy. Sellers like WoodenFrogLV and WoodWorkLoveshop make wooden toy elephants, foxes and rolling cars that are simply awesome. Not only do children love these toys for their simplicity and fun animal designs, but adults should love them as well. Because they’re created strictly from wooden parts, they are made from sustainable materials and are decomposable. Plus, by purchasing your toys from a small shop on Etsy, your funds go to small business owners who have been some of the hardest hit by Covid. Sure, these toys lack the bells and whistles of plastic Chinese toys sitting on the shelves of Walmart, but these wooden Etsy toys have much more meaning, and actually don’t harm the environment.
Editor at Sewing From Home
Answered 4 years ago
One of the best eco-friendly toys you can give your kids is blocks. Blocks are not only fun but they also promote creativity, social and emotional skills and help in improving a child’s problem-solving skills. Blocks help in the learning of engineering principles and their long time play value makes them a very good investment. Finally, blocks are made of natural materials like wood and are easy on the environment.
A pet rock is one of the most eco-friendly toys for kids. They are low-maintenance, low-cost, and require no batteries or electricity. It is also easy to replace if it is lost or stolen.
The best eco-friendly toy for kids is Green Toys Rocket with 2 Astronauts Toy Vehicle Playset. The Rocket is constructed entirely from recycled plastic milk jugs (HDPE #2 plastic), making it an environmentally responsible product. As sturdy and durable as toys come, it is designed to withstand active play. The packaging is also made from recycled materials and contains no plastic films or twist ties. Use the Rocket to teach your child about recycling, helping the environment, saving energy, and reducing greenhouse gases. Showing that environmental responsibility can be fun, you can encourage your child to protect and respect nature. Manufactured in the USA with a tight, local supply chain that minimizes transportation emissions and supports the domestic economy, the Green Toys Rocket adheres to FDA standards and contains no BPA, lead, phthalates, or other harmful substances. It is safe for use around food and is dishwasher safe for easy cleaning.
SVP of Sales and Marketing at 1-800-PackRat
Answered 4 years ago
One of the best eco-friendly toys for kids I've ever seen is eco-friendly musical instruments, more specifically, a wooden xylophone. While this may not be the most beneficial gift for parents, as noise levels may increase exponentially, giving musical instruments to children at young ages is great for their creativity and early development. Eco-friendly instruments are for sure the way to go, with multiple options and products spreading across the web due to increased popularity. Some great eco-friendly toy examples I've personally seen are a xylophone toy llama, tambourines, and even a rubber wood drum set!
My kids love painting and switching to eco-friendly painting colors is one of the best decisions I've made for them and the environment. A toy should be something my kids would have fun with and they love painting with these colors. There are varieties of brands which sells good ecofriendly colors. The price might not be cheap when compare dot regular colors but when it comes to nature's perspective, I think it's worth it.
Tinker Totter robots are perfect for space-crazy kids and their eco-minded parents. You and your child will have fun building and customizing your very own robot using the Tinker Totter Robot Character Set from BeginAgain. This interactive toy allows you to stack and connect rubber wood pieces to create colorful robots, the more outlandish the better. This toy is fantastic for honing problem-solving skills and promoting creativity at the same time. For ages three and up, this 28 piece robot kit is made from eco-friendly rubberwood with child-safe stains.
Lovevery's The Block Set is an educational toy built for children ages 18 to 48+ months. What makes the toy eco-friendly is the company behind it. By 2023, Lovevery wants to deepen its commitment to sustainability by ensuring that each toy is heirloom grade or can be mended or recycled. Further, they plan to produce 90% of their toys out of biobased or recyclable materials by 2025. The toy set itself is constructed entirely of solid wood blocks. Each block is crafted from sustainably obtained FSC-certified wood. The toy facilitates stage-based play, making it extremely practical and versatile. The Block Set was created with the cooperation of researchers, academics, and child development professionals with the goal of helping toddlers develop skills such as problem-solving and spatial skills.
CEO at JOI
Answered 4 years ago
Lovevery offers play kits made with sustainably sourced and shipped materials designed to foster your child’s development. Lovevery’s toys are fun and cognitively stimulating. Lovevery goes beyond many companies in sustainability by being transparent about their product materials and company goals. The reviews reflect happy families and a happy planet.
The Green Toys brand is true to its name. It’s green from start to finish. Green Toys products are locally sourced and manufactured in the United States using 100% recycled plastic. They are not battery powered, which reduces waste, and they’re dishwasher safe, so sanitation is simple. Green Toys meets all three Rs, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, and offers classic, colorful, can-go-anywhere toys.
A toy never used has the worst ratio of bringing fun to negative environmental impact - it is simply zero. The durability and frequency with which a toy has to be replaced bring more context to eco-friendliness. This is especially important when considering recycling toys or having them reused by siblings or other kids.
The LoveEvery subscription is one of the best ways to receive eco-friendly toys for your kids that follow along their growing stages. As the parent, you control how often you receive boxes, and each box is filled with different eco-friendly toys for kids. Overall, it is a parent's dream subscription to provide eco-friendly toys that kids will engage with.
The Micro Scooters Maxi Eco Deluxe Scooter is made from recycled fishing nets and plastics, and the company donates 1% of sales to environmental causes. Plastic in the oceans is one of our most concerning environmental crises, and it isn’t addressed enough. Micro Scooters helps keep one of the largest ocean pollutants–old fishing nets–out of the water. While the scooter is a great, long-lasting gift your children will enjoy, it also provides an excellent opportunity to teach your children about sustainability and environmental-consciousness.
There are many eco-friendly toys on the market that give kids a chance to explore and be creative without contributing heavily to landfill waste. One of the best eco-friendly toys is wooden puzzle pieces because they can last for years as long as you make sure your children don't chew them or paint over them with stickers!