Are Wooden Toys more Suitable for Children than Plastic Toys?

January 3rd, 2010

Currently in the toy market, the vast majority of toys offered for sale are made from metal and plastic.  However, there is a growing market for natural wooden toys, but what makes these wooden toys so attractive?

Most toys are subjected to a vast amount of safety testing and standards.  Safety is a big issue for parents, particularly because babies and small toddlers explore with their mouths.  Absolutely everything will be inspected in this way,  so when it comes to buying toys you want to be sure that they haven’t been painted in anything toxic and there are no small pieces or sharp edges that could cause harm.

The inherent charm of wooden toys is that they are often simplistic in design.  They have large but smooth and tactile surfaces to touch, grab and hold, and are these days painted in child-friendly paints.  Children and babies can become acquainted with their new wooden toys intimately without fear of swallowing parts or coming into contact with undesirable substances.

From an environmental point of view, many plastic and metal toys unfortunately end up in the landfill.  Due to our throwaway society and the short life span of many plastic toys on the market, they are difficult to recycle.  However, wooden toys are often designed to take a baby or toddler through several stages.  The classic wooden jigsaw or wooden building blocks will take them on towards preschool.

At My Natural Wooden Toys we have a charming range of wooden toys to choose from.

Working with wood

January 1st, 2010

One of the pleasures of going to craft fairs and markets is watching the craftspeople and artists at work. Seeing a skilled person creating a household ornament or child’s toy from a piece of wood or lump of stone is fascinating, as the crafted shape starts to emerge from the formless wood or stone.

For many people, this type of skill is something to be aspired to, but maybe not achieved, as not everyone has the aptitude or training for it.

Although it is not possible to predict what children may do and certainly isn’t possible to ensure that they will follow a specific path just because of the toys they are given, it is a possibility that if they are given natural wooden toys to play with it could awaken their interest in natural wood and possibly inspire them to want to work with wood.

The wooden toys we have at My Natural Wooden Toys are all skilfully crafted from natural wood, and are made to be enjoyed by touch as well as by being played with. As children handle the wooden toys and learn what they can do with them they are subconsciously and naturally absorbing information and knowledge about the feel of wood and what you can do with it. It may be that a small child’s experience of playing with wooden toys could be the starting point for an interest in working with wood that stays with them in adulthood and who knows, could even turn into a career.

Traditional wooden toys in a threatened world

December 30th, 2009

Some people used to laugh at those who were environmentally conscious and would mock their concern to protect the natural world from pollution and resource depletion. It has been quite a time since then and despite climate change denial, most people are now aware that we do need to look after our fragile world.

For those who have known this for a long time it is very satisfying to know that there are natural wooden toys available from us at My Natural Wooden Toys. These are sourced only from wood that is sustainably produced. Being able to provide the children in your life with wooden toys that will both entertain them and are good for the environment is a double bonus.

Not only do you know that your child is safer from any potential harmful chemicals that may sometimes be found in some plastic toys, but wooden toys aren’t contributing to the pollution that is created through the manufacturing process of making plastic toys.

Wooden toys have always been popular, from the home-made efforts of parents who either couldn’t afford anything else and those who love the idea of creating something especially personal for their child, to beautifully craft made toys that seem to be more like works of art. Many people want wooden toys for their children that are lovely to look at, but most wooden toys will provide pleasure and entertainment for both children and parents. As you enjoy the wooden toys in your own family, you know you are part of a long and sustainable tradition.

Wooden toys and counting

December 23rd, 2009

Not all children find it easy to learn how to count and thus parents sometimes have to come up with quite inventive ideas to help. Here at My Natural Wooden Toys we have delightful wooden toys that can be used as counting games. We have animal shaped abacus toys and traditional style dominoes that you can use to count with a small child.

Helping a child to learn doesn’t have to be a hard grind for either of you, parent or child. Using the wooden dominoes, for example; you can count them all up into a pile with a small child, seeing how many it takes until the tower starts to wobble, then the child can have the fun of knocking them all down again. Once they are scattered round the floor it is easy to encourage your child to count them all up one by one as they collect them together for the next go. They will not even realise that they are learning, which is sometimes the best method for maintaining their concentration.

Once they feel more at ease about the idea of numbers and counting, you could move onto the wooden toys that have an abacus in them. By this time they will enjoy the experience of knowing they are learning as they say with you one, two and three. Before they even know it, they will be counting accurately and easily. They will probably never realise how much their wooden toys or wooden puzzle did to help start them off with their education.

This association between wooden toys and subconscious learning is one of the reasons for our popularity here at My Natural Wooden Toys, so why not invest in your child’s future?

Natural wood for adults and children

December 16th, 2009

How often do people find, when shopping for furniture and strolling around the displays of tables and settees, that they are unaccountably wandering over to a wooden dining table or chest of drawers to admire the smooth sheen and finish of the natural wood?

Adults can appreciate the quality of the craftsmanship and the smoothly finished surface, but children also enjoy the experience of wood and are attracted to wooden toys – even though they may not be able to explain what it is about the smoothness of the wood or the carefully dovetailed joints that they like. They just enjoy the shapes and the feel of wooden toys, much like the ones we have at My Natural Wooden Toys.

Wooden toys have the advantage of being made from a natural material, so they are better for the environment as they do not need to go through an industrial manufacturing process with the use of toxic chemicals and high energy input. For this reason, wooden toys also are safe for small children to play with – even if they are at the ‘putting everything in their mouth’ stage, there is no danger of them taking in any harmful chemicals (as long, of course, that the toys are not small enough to choke them).

So from the point of view of both a healthy environment and healthy children, wooden toys tick all the boxes. Not only that, but they are also great fun to play with, so why not browse the vast collection at My Natural Wooden Toys?

Winter playtime

December 2nd, 2009

Why is it that winter makes many people feel traditional and nostalgic? Is it something to do with enjoying the comfort of a warm home when outdoors it is chilly and damp? Maybe it is just the knowledge that Christmas is just around the corner, which brings out the child in so many of us.

This certainly is the time of year when people are thinking about the children in their lives and what they are going to get them for Christmas. There are so many novelties and up to the minute playthings around these days that it can be very difficult to choose, so it is refreshing to come across traditional wooden toys and games that look as attractive now as they ever did.

Here at My Natural Wooden Toys you will be able to find something to please even the most demanding child and, even better, many adults will be grateful for the pleasant gift of nostalgia, too.

Looking for Christmas presents becomes a genuine pleasure when you can choose between beautifully crafted natural wooden toys.

Despite all of the techno toys dominating the market, children these days love to play with toys that have stood the test of time. It is often the more simple things that are the longest lasting, and you may well find that the toys that become the ones your child simply will not allow to be given away are the wooden toys from when they were younger.

Wooden toys become part of the family in a way that a beeping and buzzing computer game cannot, so make that investment in tradition with My Natural Wooden Toys today.

Christmas Gifts

November 26th, 2009

For lots of people, there are many happy memories of playing on the floor with mum or dad or grandmas and grandpas on Christmas morning. Memories may be of train sets or wooden puzzles or farm sets. What unites them all is the happiness of the time when everyone joined in to make it a wonderful day.

The best part is that, when you have a small child in the family, it can all be repeated again as an adult. Once again, from the other perspective, you can indulge in the fun of all those toys that you remember meaning so much to you. So what could be better than bringing pre school toys or traditional toys you remember from your own childhood? Not only will you be able to spend that precious time with your small niece or nephew or grandchild, but you will give them wooden toys like pull toys that will become part of their memories. All those toys you remember are here at My Natural Wooden Toys, from wooden rocking horses and wooden puzzles to pre-school toys and pull toys. You can find dolls cots and animals or, for the construction minded toddler, wooden building blocks.

Christmas gifts of wooden toys mean so much, not only because of the pleasure of giving and the fun of receiving, but because these toys become part of the fabric of family life. In addition to this, wooden toys last so well that you may well be able to compare the new toys with the ones you have saved from your childhood.

Enjoying Time With Wooden Toys

November 24th, 2009

There is nothing children love so much as playing with toys. We all know this but sometimes even the most patient of us find that the games that small children play have a tendency to become repetitive, and it is difficult to maintain interest in the game for as long as a child does.

So, anything that makes it more enjoyable for us as adults too is welcome, and being able to share in playing with wooden toys is such an advantage. Instead of gritting your teeth and carrying on, you can really enjoy spending time with your toddler as you appreciate the pleasure of natural wooden toys. They have something that plastic simply can’t compete with and the touch and feel of natural wood is enjoyable in itself.

We at My Natural Wooden Toys know all about this and our wooden toys give delight to small children as well as their parents and carers. Just knowing that you are playing with a material that has probably been used to make toys for children for as long as people have been around makes it even more special. Wooden toys have been around for hundreds of years and bring back happy memories for many adults.

Being able to appreciate the quality of the wooden toys and their construction as well as the soft natural feel of the wood makes any game with a little one more enjoyable. Enjoying playing with your small child is the best way to spend your time.

Wooden Toys For Any Occasion

November 18th, 2009

It’s lovely to meet up again with friends or with work colleagues whom you haven’t seen for a while because they’ve become parents. If you don’t have children of your own though, it can feel a bit daunting as you wonder how you are going to keep a baby or worse still, a toddler amused enough to give you and their mum or dad a chance to catch up with all the news.

Here at My Natural Wooden Toys, we can offer all sorts of wooden toys that would be ideal for just this. You may not have ever thought of buying wooden toys for babies or toddlers but it’s not a bad idea to have some kept in a cupboard somewhere to bring out on these occasions.

Wooden toys are always popular with little ones and with their mums and dads; and for a visiting child, the wooden toys you have are so much more exciting than anything they have at home, just because they are yours and so different from their own.

Even if you don’t usually have anything to do with the world of babies and toddlers, you may find that browsing our website and looking at the traditional toys brings out the child in you, and you find yourself having a spell of nostalgia before making your decision about which wooden toys to buy.  Your friends will be delighted at your forward planning and thoughtfulness and you will be well on course for an enjoyable reunion.

Indoor Playthings

November 12th, 2009

As it becomes obvious that autumn really is here – even if there is a short burst of an Indian summer just as all the children go back to school – so the thoughts of parents and child carers turn to how to entertain the children once it is too cold to spend much time in the garden or park.

Small children have lots of energy as everyone who looks after them knows, and when they can no longer use up their energy in running around outside, something else has to be thought up to keep them occupied.

So here at My Natural Wooden Toys, we have wooden puzzles that are a wonderful way of gaining their attention. Small children love wooden toys with their natural feel, and really enjoy playing a game with wooden puzzles along with an adult.  Memory games with pictures or numbers are a good way of encouraging language and counting skills, all in a game that doesn’t feel like learning at all.

Wooden toys that are building cubes are another entertaining way of spending time with a small child and helps them to develop their fine motor skills, as well as learning the names of pictures on the cubes and, of course, most importantly, having fun.

Once a small child is feeling entertained and amused by wooden toys, they are likely to find that they are not missing the outdoors world as much as you might have expected as the fun of indoors can match the excitement of outdoors.