To think wooden toys aren't necessarily better than plastic

[BleepingSooty]

I was reading a blog where the author told a story about how she had an unexpected visitor and was worried because her son's toys were still lying out in the living room. Rather than be put out by the mess, the visitor praised her for being such an excellent mother for buying her son wooden toys. She then went on to list the benefits of wooden toys and how they last longer and have more educational value. She did make an exception for Lego.

Now, my kids are very hard on their toys so I feel somewhat qualified in this subject. We have had a mixture of wooden toys and plastic, cheap toys and expensive (mostly gifts) and I have to say I see no difference. The wooden toys break just as much as the plastic ones. We especially have problems with paint flaking off. I also don't get how wooden toys have more educational value at all.

I know I probably should have written this on her blog but don't want to upset her. And yes, her blog is a tad self absorbed but I love reading it!

Thanks for that THUNKSHEAD! I think you have given me perfect idea for DS10 Christmas, the geocache thing sounds amazing! (although we live near dartmoor, so go letter boxing anyway and love it)!

PRAIRIEFLOWER,I agree with you. Wooden toys made in china are regularly recalled! The lead in the paint is not allowed but still happens all the time, often with huge American toy companies that manufacture in china. There are small fair trade toy sellers working out of African and south American communities that are ethical and beautiful and safe, but harder to track down. European toys are less likely to be manufactured in china, and have a higher safety standard. Also less miles to travel to us...

I think you have the main point there, greengoose, with the 'open-endedness' of toys. Regardless of material, the good ones are the ones that aren't limiting, in that they can be played with 'easily' (eg, I have a train set which is good but so bulky that once it's set up DD spends most of her time tripping over it and getting frustrated with the fact that there is always something in the way)and adapted to suit the child's mood (eg pretending bits of Lego are peas in a toy pan).

Things that do one thing and one thing only are often not quite so good. For example, I have a beautiful wooden hobby horse (hand made by my late father so ticks all the poncey boxes!) that DD couldn't care less about at the moment. All you 'do' with it is hold it and bounce about- she prefers to cut out the middle man and just do the bouncing without the horse.

[hijack] I have just dragged my 11 & 13 yo DSs out from in front of the XBox to try and hide a pigeon in a tree :o We've been geocaching for years :)

Interesting thread. My daughter will play with any little figurine whether made of wood, plastic or fabric for hours and hours. My son loves lego. I love wooden toys. What are your best examples of the German wooden toys?

Forget weighing up the relative merits of wooden or plastic toys, it's the cardboard box they came in that are the most fun!

I think toy kitchens and train sets are better in wood. Otherwise a mixture/ whatever's best value!

Wooden toys are often far less gendered too.

tada... [hgrin]

www.themarblerunshop.co.uk/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=107 We have this at preschool ...amazing and changeable and lasts.

We also resource from this place .. www.mindstretchers.co.uk/category.cfm?category_ID=61&mystartrow=9

I don't think there is much difference in price between wooden and plastic unless your looking at the cheap pocket money style stuff , which if its wooden wont last...but neither will the plastic.

Ohh and forgot to add the only exception I have is toy animals ... I'll go for whatever looks most realistic which tend to be the sort of rubbery stuff ones.

Ds1 has got HUGE use out of a wooden fire engine and London bus from Habitat. Got them in a January sale on a recommendation of a friend when he was one and initially he used to spend ages shoving the wooden people into the slats of the bus and just assembling and dismantling it, now it plays along beside Fireman Sam's jupiter etc. I think I'd like a wooden pirate ship for him or a knight's castle but otherwise not too pushed about wood.

Greengoose you're welcome - it's great fun. Just did one in Dublin. Never heard of letter boxing!

Yes wooden definitely look nicer but in plastics defence they are IMO easier to give a proper clean [OCD cleaning]

Mum you'll have to Google as it can change.

Try www.squidoo.com/toysnotfromchina

Holtz carries some eg Hess.I think some Djeco(French) you can add to that list on Squidoo and Kathe Kreuse,Haba,Plan does.Holtz tells you what many are made from re toxicity etc.Pintoy is Thailand.

I think you just have to research.

They cost more but do kids(particularly tiny kids)needs mountains of cheap toys?

Prarie can you have a word with my MIL? She insists on spending £xxx on the DCs every Christmas. She decides the amount first and then just buys random plastic stuff (and lots of it) until she has spent all her budget.

It is very kind of her and I know she is being generous and does it because she adores the DCs, but if she would just buy one or two slightly more expensive, better quality toys to the same value, I wouldn't spend the rest of the year battling with the toy mountain.

She then spends the rest of the year popping round to my house, shaking her head sadly while looking at the said toy mountain and saying "children have so many more toys these day, they don't know how lucky they are". I have to bite my tongue to stop myself telling her that she is the one doing all the blardy buying.

I may be a bit biased but some wooden stuff is complete shit. I'm a nursery worker. Show me a nursery that invested in some 'Pin Toy' dolls house and wooden furniture and I'll show you a nursery with a big box of broken crap. Some of it lasts minutes, but the managers who buy it think it looks nice in the catalogues and it gives them a warm feeling when they think of the woodeness of it.

Good toys are good. Bad toys are bad.

I work a lot for a chain that like wooden chairs for children. Ever tried to clean one? So many nooks and crannies compared with a smooth moulded plastic chair. They are virtually always dirty.

Wooden bricks are great. Wooden toys outside? Treat them with chemicals and they'll last a bit better. Small children suck toys. How clean can you get wood?

YANBU. This pro-wood stuff gets talked about a lot within childcare and it always makes me feel stabby.

Wood is not "non-toxic". Toys are generally made (well one would hope!) from wood that are non-toxic to humans. There's a substantial difference. As one would find, should one offer a toy carved from some particular species of tree to one's child.

Not sure kids need everything cleaned within an inch of it's life.Kids have been sitting on wooden chairs for years and survived.

I certainly don't agree with wood for woods sake but more toys that foster good quality play.

Bonsoir which doll's house has your dd got?Also does she still play with her Les Cheries( I rem you mentioning this a while back),my dd loves those too.

Environmental impact needs to be considered in terms of a cost/benefit analysis, just like every other manmade item on earth. It isn't a simple case of wood = good (despite the advertising!) and plastic = evil. Even a pencil has an environmental cost. We just consider that it's quite a small cost that's worth paying to have pencils. There are actually several good reasons for toys to be made of plastic - it's robust and hygienic, and stays in good quality for years so the toy can be handed on.

The main problem with plastic is that we use a material that takes thousands of years to degrade for everyday throwaway stuff like milk bottles, and to make parts in household and electrical goods that are not designed to be reparable. Shopping more carefully to avoid these items (ie not just buying them willy-nilly and recycling them, that has a cost too) will have far more impact on the environment than avoiding plastic toys. We fetishise it as a problem, and it's really part of a much bigger picture.

I agree it's about play value. For dd the wooden toys would get played with for a couple of seconds but the noisy toys hours. It's good to have a mixture of wooden and plastic, plastic ones can be very educational and interactive

This website is brilliant for beautiful, wooden toys and will not have peeling paint/toxic paint. Not all wooden toys are equal in quality I don't think!
A lot of the stuff is made from small companies and the quality is simply beautiful. The toys would last for years and could be past down through generations but it is expensive, but you can tell why it is IYKWIM.
www.myriadonline.co.uk/index.php

I think a nursery is probably not an ideal place for wooden chairs- the client base is one with imperfect toilet training. I find it very difficult to get the smell of urine out of wood. Any recommendations? Something with a minimum of hugely hazardous, toxic chemicals, but with cleaning power?

I also think simplicity and not having too many toys is much more important than what the toy is made of.
I think less is more & children today have far too many toys.

I do think wooden toys can make for a relaxing & calming play environment. It can be calm for children and parents visually.
We have nearly all wooden toys, I got my girls a lovely selection Lego last year, but it has not been played with nearly as much as I thought it would. Make -believe play seems to be the biggest thing around here.

You can't get a wooden barbie doll though! :D