Traditional wooden toys

January 22nd, 2010

Nowadays is a good time to be a child, with the enormous profusion of toys and games that are available. There are computers specifically designed for children, even pre-school children and any number of battery operated toys from cars to robots. You would think there could not be anything else a child could genuinely want.

This may leave you wondering if there is any place in the modern world for wooden toys, which may look a little as if they no longer have a place in the toy box.

However, this is not the case. Although children enjoy being amused by toys that do everything for them and only need to have a button pushed to do something exciting, children still hanker after toys which need them to do something and use their imagination. Children have lots of energy and need to play with toys that give them an opportunity to use up some of this energy.

Here at My Natural Wooden Toys we know all about providing wooden toys that positively invite children to touch and feel and start using their imaginations as they play with the wooden toys.

From pull along toys that encourage toddlers to walk and run, so hopefully tiring themselves out, to dominoes and the abacus for the older child who is learning to count, wooden toys follow on from a long tradition of wooden toys that children have always played with. Traditional wooden toys continue to be enjoyed by the children of today and can still be a fundamental part of childhood.

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Toys for generations

January 15th, 2010

Wooden toys that had previously belonged to and been played with by parents, aunts, uncles or even grandparents are a lovely gift for a child. This is one of the advantages of wooden toys; that they last, are sentimental and never go out of style.

The same cannot be said for some types of plastic toys, which may be carefully put away when children grow out of them in hopes that a new generation will enjoy them one day, for example when grandchildren arrive. Then when the toys are retrieved from the attic and unwrapped, it is found that the plastic has degraded and the toys are no longer brightly coloured and fun, but fit only for throwing away.

Short of being hacked up or set on fire, this doesn’t happen to wooden toys. They may need a bit of tender loving care in the form of a good scrub and maybe some new varnish or modern non-toxic paint, but the toy will be just as ready to play with as it was when it was put away all those years ago.

The same is true for wooden toys that are bought for children now. They are durable and do not break easily and will continue to give pleasure for years to come.

Here with us at My Natural Wooden Toys you can find traditional wooden toys and puzzles. Whether you choose the natural look or brightly coloured wooden toys, you will find that your children love the feel of wood and the look of the wooden toys and can’t wait to play with them.

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Presents for young relatives

January 8th, 2010

Sometimes it can be really difficult to decide what to give a young niece or nephew for their birthday. You can feel quite bewildered by the array of bleeping and flashing toys on offer, especially if it is a while since you last looked at children’s toys, and you may leave the toyshop with nothing as you try to work out what on earth all of these things are for.

Here at My Natural Wooden Toys you will have no such problems. All our toys are exactly what they sound like – natural wooden toys that children will be delighted to play with these days just as much as children in the past always have done.

You can choose from pull along toys for tiny children who are just starting to walk, or dominoes for the slightly older child who will enjoy playing a quiet game with a favourite adult. Wooden toys create a lovely atmosphere of calm and comfort for children as they enjoy the natural smoothness of the wood and its solid construction, even if they don’t really realise what it is about the wooden toys that gives them this cosy feeling.

So, make your birthday shopping a pleasure for yourself, as well as for the nieces and nephews who will receive your gifts, by finding wooden toys for your younger relatives and then bask in the glow of achievement as their parents congratulate you on finding something that doesn’t make strange noises and is actually a genuine pleasure to have in their home.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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?

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Wooden traditional toys at Christmas

December 9th, 2009

There are many different types of wooden toys and most are a delightful gift for any small child. With Christmas approaching, it’s the perfect opportunity to make room for these unique wooden toys in your home.

Wooden rocking horses are traditional toys that have a place in almost everyone’s hearts. Just to look at a wooden rocking horse in a shop window conjures up an idealistic, nostalgic picture of a cosy fireside and a small child playing happily on their new toy.

So there couldn’t really be a better Christmas present for a small child. We at My Natural Wooden Toys have endless different designs to be chosen from – even a rocking dog or cat, if you prefer. One of them is sure to be right for the child in your family and receiving such an exciting gift will certainly make Christmas Day special for any small child.

Other traditional toys to think about as Christmas presents for small children are wooden pull toys, such as trains and animals. These toys are always popular and the pleasure you will get from choosing and wrapping these presents will add to your Christmas fun, too. These toys are also available from our diverse collection at My Natural Wooden Toys.

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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.

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