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: 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 »

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.

Who: Gween Toys – Bangalore, India

What: Picazee Stacking Toy & Zarafu Counting Toy

Where:Amazon.com – $14 – $25

Why We Love It: Children can learn their colors, numbers and letters with these artfully designed wooden toys. Count to ten as you stack the rings on the Zarafu, match colors as you insert the stripes onto the Picazees midsection, fun fun!

Gween Toys says that they use wood sourced from sustainably harvested locally sourced trees to create their handcrafted toys. The colors applied are made from a combination of a natural resin called lac and natural pigments sourced from the roots, bark and leaves of native plants, and keeping their toys free of glues, paints, metals, plastics and synthetic materials.

Who: Zoë B Organics – Salem, NC

What: Zoë b Beach Toys

Where: Green Rainbow Shop – $22

Why We Love It: Hopefully you’ve still got time to squeeze in one last beach trip before back-to-school chaos descends. If so you’ll likely be packing up all sorts of toys, boards, coolers, towels, games and you’ll likely lose a plastic shovel along the way (we did on our last visit). Instead of worrying (as we are) about whether that little plastic shovel will find its way to the giant plastic island in the sea, slowly poisoning the sea and its precious inhabitants as it biodegrades over hundreds of years; consider an alternative.

Zoë b Organic just created the world’s first biodegradable beach toy and they are quite cool. The colorful 5 piece set includes a bucket/carrying case, a sifting lid with geometric cut-outs, 2 cups, and a sturdy shovel all made out of Mirel™ bioplastic which is made from corn sugar, not petroleum, and is BPA, phthalates and PVC-free, so it’s a safer plastic for your kids. Plus, it will biodegrade when submerged in 2-3 years when buried in soil, immersed in water, home composted, or composted in industrial facilities, a far cry from the 500+ it takes most plastics to biodegrade. And it’s made in the USA, not China!

Who: Mi Yim

What: Organic Cotton Horton Lovie Blankee

Where: Amazon.com – $14.49

Why We Love It: Two of our favorite things have come together is this new collection of MiYim’s simply organic lovie blankees and plush toys featuring beloved Dr. Suess characters like the Cat in the Hat, Horton and The Lorax. The oh so snuggly Lovie Blankies are sure to be a favorite with your little ones and likely will go with them to ‘all the places they will go.’ Click to continue »

Who: Kaiku – Palo Alto, CA

What: Zen Wagon

Where: Kaiku – $319 w/free shipping

Why We Love It: The little red wagon gets a modern update with this hip design by husband and wife designers Scot and Amy Herbst. The updated design features ergonomically designed seats with a dip in the base for feet making rides to the market and to the playground more enjoyable and making the wagon a viable alternative to a stroller. Just chuck kids and gear in the wagon and you are ready to go. Ideal for beach trips! Click to continue »

Who: millergoodman – Brighton, England

What: PlayShapes

Where: Land of Nod – $150

Why We Love ‘Em: This is just the wildest, most innovative toy block sets we’ve seen. It is a modular set composed of 74 different geometric shapes – certainly more shapes (Sgt. Pepper mustaches, teardrops and curly cues??) than we ever learned about in geometry class! They are the building blocks for creative mosaics and a great platform for kids and adults to stretch their imagination and exercise creativity.  Just imagine what Frank Lloyd Wright would have come up with if he had these in addition to his Froebel blocks… Click to continue »