Playing with organic toys can safeguard your baby’s health.
As we strive to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle, we find more and more areas of our lives in which we can make changes. Raising children is a huge responsibility, and one of our challenges is to teach our children how to live in such a way that the impact they have on our planet is a positive one.
Organic living is a perfect way to help the environment, as well as a way to protect the health of our family. This can start with the first choices we make for our babies ? including what toys they will play with. Providing organic toys to our children is a simple step on the path to living a more organic, green lifestyle.
What are organic baby toys?
Organic baby toys are toys made from organic materials. These toys are as close to nature as possible, making them healthier for our kids. Babies explore the world and the objects around them by putting everything into their mouths. With the recent scare over toys imported from China containing lead paint and other harmful substances, more and more parents are turning to organic toys as a way to be sure that their child is safe.
Organic toys are simpler, with fewer bells and whistles than their plastic, factory-made counterparts, but their simplicity encourages children to use their imagination and engage in creative play. The colors may not be as flashy, but they are sturdier and more pleasing to the child’s sense of touch.
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What kinds of toys are available?
Stuffed animals and dolls
Some of those earliest, most beloved toys in our memories are those cuddly, soft animals we slept with at night. Organic cloth animals and dolls are made with organic cotton and other natural fibers. One major benefit of toys made with natural fibers is that they are usually machine washable. When the toy or doll becomes dirty or stained, simply throw it in the wash and it comes out clean. Also, the natural fibers will pick up the scent of the mother, which is a huge comfort to a baby.
Wooden toys
Baby’s first toys are usually simple: rattles, blocks, teething rings. All of these items are available as organic toys, made from wood that is either left natural or stained with organic stains and paints. There is no reason to worry about your child chewing on these toys ? there are no chemicals or lead.
Wooden trains and pull toys can quickly become family heirlooms that are handed down from generation to generation. The quality of organic wooden toys is much higher than their plastic counterparts, and they are safer, with less small pieces to detach and become choking hazards.
Dress-up clothes
As your children become older, they will start to engage in imaginary play ? and playing dress-up is one way to encourage creativity. Many organic toy stores have beautiful dress-up clothing, silk scarves and curtains for draping forts and playhouses, and other fabric items that will enhance your child’s play.
Why use organic toys?
Aside from the fact that organic toys are healthier for our children to play with, they are also beneficial to the environment. Every year, parents throw away thousands of toys that their children have outgrown, and those toys fill up our landfills. Parents are more likely to hand down or give away organic toys rather than discarding them, but if they do end up thrown out, they will not harm the environment.