Who: tweek by David Weeks Studio

What: Areaware Cubebots

Where: Amazon – $21.86 & up

Why We Love ‘Em: A toy that combines modern lines and sensibility with old-fashioned appeal… who wouldn’t love it? These wooden robots move like their plastic counterparts, but their warm wood and appealing little faces make them toys you don’t mind having scattered about in the family room.

Made of beechwood and cherry, each of the three bots (Julien, Guthrie or Cubebot) folds down into a compact 2.5×2.5 cube. Unfolded they measure 8 inches high, and 10″ wide (arms extended). The robots can be manipulated in more than 100 poses – that’s at least 100 hours of fun!

Who: Tegu – Rowayton, CT

What: Tegu Magnetic Wooden Blocks

Where: Tegu.com – $30 (Available in natural, tints or jungle)

Why We Love ‘Em: So, yes, these magnetic wooden blocks might be designed for child’s play, but we have yet to meet a grown-up who could resist their magnetic charm. Whether toyed with on their own or in combination with the original Tegu blocks, this six-piece set stretches the imagination so you can create more intricate shapes than with square blocks alone. The handy wool felt carrying pouch makes it ideal for travel, as well as an entertaining companion for coffee tables and office desks.

Parents and eco-conscious consumers will appreciate that these blocks are crafted in Honduras using FSC-certified hardwoods with non-toxic, water-based finishes, and that a portion of the proceeds of the sale of each Tegu product is used to send a Honduran child to school for a day or plant a tree–your choice! Planet-friendly, people-friendly, and fun? Now that is a business model worth building on…

*Note: Tegu kindly sent us a set of prism blocks to test out, and we haven’t put them down since! But, we assure you that we were not influenced or swayed by this gift in our review of these blocks. As always, we are honest in our opinions and reviews of the products featured on Urban Sherp.

Who: Earth Divas – New York, NY

What: Koala Hat

Where: Earth Divas – $15.99

Why We Love ‘Em: What could be cuter than a little munchkin in a Koala Hat? This topper is not only adorable, but it has all the benefits of all natural wool–toasty warmth–without any of the scratchiness that kids can’t stand. The fleece lining keeps sensitive noggins itch-free while adding extra warmth.

Earth Divas sent us a sample so we could run it by our quality control experts a.k.a. the nieces. Suffice to say, it was scooped up immediately and worn all weekend long surviving multiple trips to the playground including an icy 6 am rope climb. The hat only came off when temperatures rose to a whopping 30 degrees and they got “too sweaty.” The dangling pom poms were a huge, huge hit.

What was fun about seeing the girls embrace these products was knowing the story behind them. Each hat is fair trade certified and handcrafted by women-owned, women-run artisan co-ops in Nepal. Earth Divas provides design collaboration, sourcing assistance, sales, and marketing to help foster sustainable business opportunities for women across the globe with 100% of profits going back to the women who made them bringing smiles all around the world.

Who: Little Sapling Toys – Sheboygan, WI

What: Organic Driving Toy

Where: etsy – $32

Why We Love It: With all the plastic around us, it’s comforting to find good solid hand-crafted toys back en vogue. Ones made of natural materials and not concocted in some chemical lab. Designers Nick and Kimber Christensen, the duo behind Little Sapling Toys, clearly feel the same way too. They’ve got a sweet collection of wooden toys with everything from bowling pins to rattles to teethers to puzzles to memory games to this rugged car and truck set. Love that the kit comes with hills and mountains for climbing and a handcy cotton drawstring carrying pouch for toting.

What we love even more about Little Sapling toys is that they are green inside and out. All are made from FSC Certified hardwoods (maple, cherry, or walnut) and finished with locally sourced beeswax and organic jojoba oil–except for the teethers, they are unfinished. The hardwoods they use don’t splinter when finished properly, so are safer for kids. In addition, the company itself makes strides to conserve energy and promote conservation; planting a tree through Trees for the Future for each toy sold–to date they’ve funded the planting 20,000 trees!–and participating in a local green power program to offset their energy use, to which we say ‘thank you!’

Who: Fort Standard – New York, NY

What: White Blocks

Where: Fort Standard – $85

Why We Love It: For the grown-up who never outgrew playing with blocks, or for the kid who prefers a more sophisticated toy, this artfully designed set from Gregory Buntain and Ian Collings of Fort Standard challenges block-building abilities of kids of all ages. Whether played as a game in the vein of Jenga or as personal pursuit, these faceted blocks add an interactive element to your coffee table or bookshelf. Both decorative and entertaining, we like the idea of leaving your creation on display or corralling the blocks in a decorative bowl awaiting the next architect.

Each piece is made from salvaged hardwood scraps collected from local Brooklyn furniture shops and finished with a non-toxic white paint. The 10-block set comes packaged in a handy silk screened cotton drawstring bag.

Who: Wee Gallery – St. Petersburg, FL

What: Wee Gallery Art Cards

Where: Amazon – $12.95

Why We Love It: Delight little ones with this black and white art cards. The swirls, whirls, and patterns in contrasting colors are designed to appeal to and to stimulate the developing eyes of babies. As baby grows, they’ll learn to recognize these friendly jungle animals.

The 5×7 inch cards are printed on 100% recycled card stock laminated with food grade lamination, so they are safe for baby should your little one choose to chew on them. And you all know our appreciation of multi-functional objects… well, you can easily transform this collection of cards into a mobile with the purchase of an $8 Kikkerland Mobile Kit.

Who: SewnNatural – Ottawa, Canada

What: Organic Baby Quilt

Where: Supermarket – $58

Why We Love It: Not many baby blankets speak to both our modern aesthetics and our need for, well…snuggliness. But SewnNatural has delivered both with their contemporary, organic baby blanket. The eco-friendly blanket – screenprinted with a flock of sheep equally suited to baby girls or baby boys.

The 27×33 inch blanket is made of an organic linen/cotton blend combined with a cotton/hemp blend printed with solvent free inks. The reverse side is constructed of a soft flannel, great for keeping your little one cozy. The perfect gift for your favorite future environmentalist!

Who: Timbur – Atlantic Highlands, NJ

What: Timbur Wooden Rattles

Where: Fawn & Forest – $90

Why We Love It: So yes, $90 is a bit outrageous for an object that baby is just going to drool on, but it’s just so pretty, and is far more interesting than those dull silver rattles (sorry) that come in that little blue box. It’s just the gift an indulgent auntie, uncle, godparent or grandparent would get if looking to spoil the newest member of the family with a one of kind heirloom piece. If that sounds like you, read on. Click to continue »

or for grown-ups like us who may be slightly enamored with alphabet posters…

Petit Collage – $50/$120; fun factor: key on bottom with all the animal names. elements: hand-printed on 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper; maple hardwood frames handcrafted in the U.S.A. with a no-VOC finish.

Nature Alphabet Poster by Children Inspire Design – $28/$40; fun factor – 26 cute and colorful critter collages; elements: printed on New Leaf recycled card stock with soy inks; packaged with recycled materials.

Animal Alphabet by ModernPop – $38; fun factor: multiple fonts with a splash of retro kitsch; elements: printed on radiant white watercolor paper with vivid color reproduction and archival pigment inks.

Letterpress Alphabet Poster by sycamorestreetpress – $35; fun factor – tangerine and aqua!! ; elements: printed by hand on a vintage letterpress with soy ink and 100% cotton paper in Utah.

Alphabet Signed Print by Alfabetika – $38.89; fun factor – goofy letter characters. elements: made in Paris; 5% of purchase is donated to UNICEF.

Strawberry Luna – $18 each, or 3 for $40; fun factor: a cute way to display babies initials; hand printed with grey water based acrylic inks on archival, cotton rag Stonehenge papers.

Alphabet of Design Classics – $50; fun factor: for the modern design obsessed! elements: digital print on matte finished digital paper glued to heavy stock black mat cardboard by hand.

The Penny Paper Co. Alphabet Print – $15 ; fun factor: add your name at the top and choose your color palette. elements: printed on photographic archival paper for the brightest of colours and longevity, fits in an IKEA Ribba Frame.

Colorful Modern Alphabet Poster by KimsCustomGifts – $ ; fun factor: playful, colorful icons and you can change any or all of the colors. elements: purchase the digital file and print it yourself or pay to have them print it for you.

Animal Alphabet by englishmuffin – $30; fun factor: boxes full of color, animals, words and letters, oh my. elements: printed on a heavy weight 100% recycled paper with a matte finish, using archival inks. fits in pre-matted IKEA Ribba frame.

Modern Alphabet Print by Grace Hester Designs – $ fun factor: cool graphics in an unexpected blue, brown, and green color palette. elements: printed on archival-quality photographic paper with a lustre finish for longevity.

Who: Timo Handmade – Tel-Aviv, Israel

What: Mice Wearing Socks

Where: etsy.com – $46

Why We Love It: You don’t have to be a tot to have a soft spot for these cuddly, longlegged, stuffed animals. Each one is hand sewn with love by Israeli artist Timor Cohen from her collection of upcycled fabrics be it from salvaged linens, dress shirts, handerchiefs, dresses, pillowcases or scraps simply too sweet to discard (and incidentally the perfect size for a polka-dotted pair of mouse socks….).

Each animal is a one-of-a-kind (no two scrap fabrics are alike!) and each seems to exude its own personality; the friendly mouse, the laid-back duck, the long-eared sugar-sweet rabbit but all with Cohen’s signature style — simple construction with modern appeal and complete ‘adorability’ (it’s a word, ha) imperfections and all.