June 2020

Why choose wooden toys?

Toys are loved by all kids but did you know they are also a wonderful “tool” to promote learning and early development in your child? Toys encourage constructive play which in turn will assist in a child’s development progress.

With all this wonderful play and learning to be had we should ensure our children are playing with quality products and we believe wooden toys fit this bill perfectly. Wooden toys are not only timeless and (generally) can be handed down from one child to the next (and even from generation to generation), but they are also environmentally friendly. We here at bug + bean kids love wooden toys and as you will see there are several more reasons why wooden toys are a hit for both kids and parents alike.

Let's be honest, children are far from delicate, as they grow and mature so naturally toys will take a battering. The joy of wooden toys is that they are durable and stable. Unlike many of their plastic counterparts, well made wooden toys rarely break or have pieces come off, and this sturdiness will reduce your worry about broken parts of toys being swallowed by, or harming your little one . Wooden toys are environmentally friendly and that's in part because they are sustainable. This is twofold. As discussed above, they are more durable, this means that there is less need to replace toys that are broken or unsafe (this also has a knock on benefit to your bank balance - less toys to replace means less cost). The other being that wooden toys are made from the much loved renewable tree. Our wooden toys are made from sustainable forestry methods. 

Classic wooden toys like building blocks help promote skills that we adults take for granted, such as coordination, decision making and balance. Or perhaps a small wooden bike for your little one, this helps again with coordination, but also strength, because greater effort is required to turn the wheel and push a wooden bike. The other wonderful outcome for children playing with wooden toys is the promotion of an active imagination which is extremely valuable in the classroom and is a great foundation for life going forward. Playing with such toys allows for lateral thinking to come into effect - think of a child progressing from stacking wooden blocks into towers to knock down to later the more advanced play of building a house  from those very same blocks. 

A wooden toy is also said to reduce anxiety and have a calming effect on children playing with them for periods of time. Typically plastic toys are bright and noisy and therefore they can overstimulate children, which in turn can cause stress and exhaustion. Compare that to the minimalistic, natural and muted colour of many of our wooden toys. This allows children to slowly familiarize themselves with them rather than offer up a one-time parlour trick. 

Wooden toys are also ‘style’ pieces for your child’s room. Not only are they great for your beautiful child to play with and learn great skills from,  but once they stop playing with them for the day they can be placed in and around their room as wonderfully crafted decoration.

And, they’re healthier for children. Yes, they are! Quality wooden toys don’t contain PVC, phthalates or similar chemicals used in plastic toys. You know that young children tend to put anything in (or near) their mouths, especially toys, and plastic toys can be either harmful due to the substances used in the manufacturing process or can harbour germs. Whereas toys made from wood are naturally antibacterial, which can lessen the presence of both toxins and germs. 

BPA, PVC and other similar substances that are known to exist in the manufacture of children's toys have proven to be hazardous to all of us no matter what our age, so let's keep our most precious little people away from them as much as possible.

So if you’re thinking about spoiling that little person in your life, perhaps think about gifting them a wooden toy!