A special gift from A Toy Garden

I just received a package I ordered from A Toy Garden, one of my favorite natural toy stores.  This was a gift for my 2-year-old and it arrived so quickly that I'm having to hide it a few more days until it's time to open it.  This was the fuschia pink Sweetie Pie Doll and the set of 4 Summer Play Silks, all lovely in color and of heirloom quality.  The doll is the perfect 13" size for her right now, slightly weighted with millet and surpisingly sturdy.  The silks are thicker than others on the market and are the most versatile "toy" a child can own.  She loves building with them, they're blankets for her stuffed animals, it's for dress-up, it's for scenery, or just snuggling with the natural silk fabric. 

This gift was purchased because I am in the process of transitioning out of our old plastic, battery-operated toys to more natural, open-ended ones.  For instance, the toy "wish-list" for my daughter includes: Waldorf dolls (handmade of wool with minimal features), wooden Ostheimer/Kinderkram animals and people, thick play silks, wooden puzzles, handmade musical instruments, Stockmar modeling beeswax, Stockmar block crayons, little face-less gnomes, silk and felted crowns for dress-up, a handmade train set, some needle-felted figures, a set of wooden eggs and more wooden pretend food. 

I've donated, sold, and thrown away a lot of my daughter's old toys as I have slowly and thoughtfully replaced them with high quality ones that encourage open-ended play.  (Let me reiterate that we've done this gradually throughout the past year and I don't advise anyone to switch toys on a child overnight. Start by replacing the toys they don't use anymore. And, yes, some of her old toys we have decided to keep.  For instance, she loves her pink plastic kitchen with the blender that makes sounds.  We've also got this giant plastic riding horse that says, "Giddy up, partner! Let's set up camp for the night! Oh, no!  It's a stampede!" So we are in no way Waldorf purists!  It's all about the small changes here and there.)  Many of these were gifts so we've kindly asked loved ones to avoid anything with batteries and popular cartoon characters.

Speaking of the cartoon character issue, I had a conversation with a like-mided mom last week and made the comment that we were a "Dora-free family".  She knew exactly what I meant.  We want our kids to use their own brain power to develop the characters in their play and to write their own scripts.  We want our kids to be surrounded by more wholesome and innocent figures than Barbie dolls.  We don't want advertising campaigns influencing what our children consume or their values.  I'd seriously prefer my family give her a sock filled with rice, a basket of acorns, a hand-made item, or an experience such as a trip to the museum...anything but SpongeBob.  To explore this topic more, please click on this link to read the Chicago Tribune article, "Cartoon pals stay home:  Looking to combat classroom distractions and marketing overload, some schools are banning media characters":
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-01-04/features/sc-fam-0104-character-free-class-20110104_1_private-schools-waldorf-schools-american-montessori-society

And let's not forget that the best part of any new package is the box it came in!  My daughter loves turning these boxes into cat houses, she decorates them with crayons, it's a boat, it's a car, it's a table for a tea party...you really see those little minds constructing and creating. 

Making this toy conversion gives some parents pause due to the higher cost compared with items found at the local chain or big box store.  (It certainly gives me pause, which is a good thing!  It forces me to think about what and how much I purchase.  It forces me to be a conscientious consumer and mother.) The cost reflects the high quality materials used such as woods, silks, wools, linens, cottons, metals, beeswax, organic herbs, and they cost more to manufacture.  You won't be pulling any "made in China" stickers off these toys.  Most are made in the USA or are Fair Trade items made in developing countries.  A Toy Garden offers lots of unique fair trade toys that make your dollars stretch even further into the lives of others.  Even with the higher cost, I've come to see that these toys are worth it in the long run.  They are an investment.  You won't be throwing away broken parts the day after Christmas and they're so open-ended that their multiple uses last more years.  A toy a toddler can play with can also be used in a different way by an older sibling.

It is far better to have fewer toys that will recieve much more use.  Try visiting these stores for some beautiful children's items:
http://www.atoygarden.com/
http://www.palumba.com/
http://www.novanatural.com/
http://www.rosiehippo.com/
http://www.thewoodenwagon.com/