Before the holiday season hits, make sure you do some winter cleaning. Take a look at all the toys in your child’s room and chuck out any containing toxic chemicals or lead.

The NRDC, among others notes that toxins found in toys related to plastics can interfere with normal sexual development, and may even lead to early onset of puberty.
Collect up any soft plastic toys, toys with older paint (could be lead based), and drop them off at the recycling center. Make sure that friends and family know that your goal is safe holiday toys. Tell them to limit the amount …read more

With the holidays coming up fast, you’re probably starting to consider child gift options. If toys are on your list you’ll want to aim for safe, eco-friendly options, but these toys aren’t always inexpensive. Here are some ideas for affordable green toys…

Eco-Friendly Tea Set from Green Toys – $24.99
Oval Xylophone from Plan Toys – $22.99
Crayon Rocks – $5-27
CitBlocs – starting at just $15
Contemporary Dollhouse from Plan Toys – $99.99 (seriously, one of the best deals for an eco-friendly dollhouse, most are well into the triple digits.
Sprig adventure toys – $9-28
Organic Veggies and Crate from Under The Nile – $25.99
Whole World …read more

Over a year ago, my son, Cedar and me made a video review of Playmais for Tree Hugging Family, but after we made the video, Playmais, by that name, basically vanished off the face of the planet. I looked everywhere and found them very few places and they were going out of stock, so I didn’t write up a review here. Then this morning, I noticed HappyMais Building Blocks at Peek A Green. HappyMais are just Playmais by a different name. And your kid will love them.

What are HappyMais: Natural arts and crafts material made with GM-free certified cornstarch …read more

Remember the very cool Green Toy Giveaway we had here last year? Well, Green Toys just introduced their new spring line, and they’ve got some great new toys available. I like the new line a lot because it really encourages your kids to get outside with fun toys like a jump rope with recycled handles and a recycled ecosaucer flying disc.

Like all Green Toys, this new collection is made with recycled milk jugs. Other new toys include a recycling truck, dump truck, and adorable play tool set. Go see all of them. Oh, and speaking of giveaways, we’ve got one …read more

Most likely, not all the toys your kids get this year are going to be perfectly green. First of all, for holidays, you should do the following:

Encourage family and friends to purchase green toys for you child. Of course, you need to do the same.
Make sure that handmade, safe, green toys continue to be an option for your child.
Buy less or give the gift of time over simply giving products to kids.

Not all the tips above work all the time though. Some family members can be a hard sell, and will continue to give your child toys that aren’t so …read more

Planet Happy Kids has all kinds of great earth-friendly toys, accessories, and projects for your happy kid. This company is super in-depth which makes them a winner. On each product page they list “What We Love About This Company” so you get a nice snapshot of how come a specific item is worth buying. It may be organic, creative, or Fair Trade, but whatever it is, Planet Happy Kids fills you in. I love that.
I like the Fair Trade Alpaca Wool Finger Puppets. Super cute, simple, and fun, these little animals won’t cost you an arm and a leg. You …read more

Right now we’re running our Green Toys giveaway, and have been looking at the toys offered. So far we’ve seen the Cookware & Dining Set and the Indoor Gardening Kit. We’re going to look at the last two toys today, and then later this week learn a little more about the actual Green Toys company.
Sand Play Set – super cute and includes a shovel, hand rake, cool sand castle mold, and of course a bucket. Perfect for summer beach fun.

Last, but not least, the adorable Tea Set. I really like this set. If you were setting up a kitchen play …read more

You know, I was going to do a Green Toys focus yesterday and plum forgot. I thought it might be nice, since I already posted about how to garden with toddler and gardening tools for kids – to showcase one of our prizes in our Green Toys contest. A prize that fits the whole children gardening theme.
In our current Green Toys giveaway, one of the prizes up for grabs is the very cool Indoor Gardening Kit.

I LOVE this set. It comes with the most adorable pea pod shaped planting tray, 3 planting pots, a trowel, soil, and organic Teddy Bear …read more

Since we’ve got all four sets of Green Toys available to win in our summer fun contest, I wanted to take a closer look at each over the next few weeks.
My favorite toy set is the Cookware & Dining Set. As a kid, I had a toy kitchen and it was one of my favorite toys ever. I played that toy to death. It encouraged me to do all sorts of other things like create pretend menus with old magazines, open pretend restaurants with my siblings, and bake up fancy clay cakes. Really I think every kid needs a toy …read more

Toys are tricky. On one hand toys can be imaginative and useful learning and developmental tools for kids – not to mention all kids need some fun. On the other hand toys can be toxic, bad for the environment, cause health issues, and contribute to an overall major consumerism attitude.

Here are some ideas.
Buy natural, non-toxic, Fair Trade toys: We don’t do this 100% (Cedar loves Legos) but the more you can do this, the better for the environment and your child’s health.
Limit sets: One large problem seems to be sets. At least in my experience. Kids don’t just collect one …read more