Educational Toys and Games:
Inspire Creativity, Not Clutter

• Consider durability.

  If your toddler can break or rip a plastic toy apart, it creates clutter in your home and ends up in a landfill. You may hope to pass your baby's toys on to her future siblings or a favorite charity. Wooden toys tend to win in this category.

• Electronic educational learning toys can be noisy and toxic.

  They also increase your child's exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs). EMFs have been linked to headaches, digestive complications, memory problems and other chronic health problems.

  You won't be able to eliminate your child's exposure to EMFs entirely as you probably have appliances, outlets, computers, phones and televisions in your home.

  However you can minimize the number of electronic gadgets in your

  and toy chest during the first few years and place them far away from where your baby is sleeping.

  Also remember to dispose of dead batteries and broken electronic toys immediately to prevent unnecessary exposure.

• Open-ended baby toys require imagination.
  

  Toys such as building blocks with colors, letters and numbers allow a child to play with it a number of different ways.

  Rather than telling your child how to play with them, these toys encourage children to come back to them again and again with a different approach as they master new skills. Non-toxic art supplies also give your toddler a blank slate to express himself.

• Don't count out traditional infant toys.

  Some examples include shape sorters, stackable wooden rings and wire bead mazes. Not only can your child be stimulated by these toys for several years, but they also learn without knowing it.

  Without feeling pressured they enhance their spacial, motor, counting and color association skills.

• Natural toys are generally more aesthetically pleasing.

  Classic educational toys and games tend to complement a simple and minimalistic setting.

  Wooden toys painted with one or two colors make great nursery accessories when your child is not playing with them.

  On the contrary bulky plastic toys with many parts can make you feel like you always need to clean up.

Natural Toy Resources:

Some of our favorite nontoxic, educational toy manufacturers include Melissa and Doug, Plan Toys and Haba Toys.