Wood Toys

It can be carved more thinly and precisely than stone or animal bone because of its fibrous strength. For making large sculptures two or more pieces of wood may be carved then joined. Hardwoods possess greater luster and endurance but are more difficult to sculpt, while softwoods are easier to shape but less durable.

Wood toys and natural material toys blend so well with our decorations and furniture that is practically unnoticeable which is another plus! Now, if you’ve ever visited The Wood Value you may have noticed that all the toys are made of wood and natural materials. We are here to tell you some of the differences between wooden and plastic toys.

Safety

We’re very concerned with the child’s safety. We want to bring healthy, natural materials into your room. A lot of plastic toys contain harmful chemicals and substances like BPA and phthalates. Some of them may have lead paint. Especially when children are putting things in their mouths you want to keep these chemicals away from young children.

Wood is also naturally antibacterial. Another safety issue is that plastic toys can break easily and leave sharp, jagged edges. It’s not to say wood—wood does break too but not as often and less likely in a way that would be harmful to a child.

Sensory Experience

A wooden toy is very soothing and appealing to the child’s sense of touch. It’s warm, it feels good where plastic feels kind of cold and almost oily. It doesn’t smell the same. A young child is going to experience wood toys, discovering the world, with all of her senses and that’s by putting it in her mouth or smelling it and touching it so we want to give children an experience that will really gratify their sense of touch.

Quality of Play

The quality of imaginative play that we find wooden toys encourages. Wood toys tend to be simpler, less formed. They leave more room for a child’s imagination. We strongly feel the importance of imaginative play in early childhood. If a toy doesn’t have batteries, if it doesn’t have any bells or whistles and makes no sound, that lets the child make the sounds and imagine what the toy is doing and makes the toy move himself.

Aesthetic

Wooden toys tend to be more aesthetically pleasing than plastic toys. Plato was attributed to have said, “The most effective kind of education is that a child should play amongst lovely things.”

You should give children things that not only feel beautiful to the touch but look beautiful and surround a child with beauty. Just because they’re a child doesn’t mean that they deserve junk. And wooden toys just look nicer displayed in a child’s room. If you had, say, this wooden Knight on a shelf or a plastic Batman. They look beautiful displayed in your home, as well. Your kids are grown now but you can still have lots of their wooden toys all-around your house.

Eco-friendly

The most important reason of all: wooden toys are simply more eco-friendly than plastic toys. Wood is a sustainable material, it’s recyclable, it’s biodegradable. There was a study recently that showed that three months after Christmas, 41% of toys that were given to children are broken and end up in a landfill. Wooden toys, on the other hand, are heirloom toys, generally.

They’re built to last. We always say they’re not throwaway toys. When your child outgrows one you’ll save it for grandchildren or pass it on to someone else. And children play differently with wooden toys. There’s a very big difference in the quality of play.

If you ever saw the movie Toy Story 3, there’s a scene where all the toys are waiting in fear. They’ve been donated to a preschool and they’re waiting in fear for free playtime and the children come in and just start throwing them around and I’ve seen children play that way and you probably have, too. But if you observe them playing with wooden and natural toys there’s a very different quality in their play.

So We hope that gives you some insight. We always say it’s not about good toys versus bad toys, it’s just bringing a new consciousness to the quality of toys when you’re choosing what toys to provide your child with.

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