Parents may wonder what the benefits of choosing wood over plastic toys are. Plastic toys have loads of bells and whistles. They are shiny, make noise and seem like they provide hours of playtime for your wee ones. Despite all of the bling that comes with plastic toys, there are many reasons to choose wood toys instead.
They involve your child. Your child can physically interact with the toy by manually pushing, pulling, turning, or connecting its pieces and parts. This leads to a more active mind. There is much less chemical toxicity. Wooden toys do not contain plastics or other toxins usually found in toys. They are made of natural materials and are consequently safer for your child. Wood has a fun and interesting texture. Your wee one will be able to explore the lovely bumps and grains of wooden toys. Though most wooden toys are sanded down and some may even be slightly painted, the texture is still different than a completely smooth piece of plastic. There is less impactful on the environment. Wooden toys require wood, possibly glue or screws and occasionally some paint. This is less impactful on the environment than plastics and batteries containing chemicals like zinc chloride, alkaline, lithium, NiMH and lead acid. Plastics take hundreds of years to degrade. The manufacture of plastic also requires vast amounts of resources. Wood has less resource cost especially if it comes from sustainable plantations. Wood isn’t as dangerous. Swallowing a battery can be harmful or fatal. Swallowing small pieces of plastic is also a health hazard. Though caution should be used with smaller wooden toys that can be swallowed, wooden toys do not contain toxic materials can can harm your child. Wooden toys can be used for generations. Let’s face it wooden toys have been around for a thousand years. They last a long time. Plastic toys, even with their long and unsustainable lifespan, tend to break too easily. Children use their imagination more. When your child presses a button and a toy sings them a song or says “I love you”, it leaves little room for imagination. Learning to control and move things manually will teach them that they can create a world of their own. A song is much more fun for a child when sung by a parent or friend and the words “I love you” are more meaningful when coming from a real person.
Above are some of our favorite wooden toys. Below are the links to where you can find each of them: