More Than Safe and Healthy: The Many Ways Organic Toys are Best for Your Child, Your Home, and Our Planet

Eco-conscious parents tend to be quite mindful of the many benefits of creating a clean, healthy, environmentally friendly home for children. And, as the organic marketplace grows and expands to offer more selection for natural products, you’ll find that you can source organic items for every corner of your home – from organic bedding to clothes to skincare to toys. If you have wisely chosen to fill the playroom with ultra-safe organic dolls, teddies, games, and other playthings, give yourself an extra pat on the back, because organic toys provide a multitude of benefits beyond being the healthiest, safest option for your growing youngster.

Simple Organic and Natural Toys Help a Child Make Sense of His World as He Grows and Develops

The first few years of a child’s life are developmentally his most important, as he learns to organize, understand, and interact with the world around him. While your little one grows from baby to toddler to child, he is developing physically, cognitively, and socially each and every day – and his toys play a very significant role in helping him successfully accomplish these tasks. Typical toys today depend on gaudy plastics, flashing lights, and loud noises to excite a child; such toys tend, however, to bombard a wee, growing child and send him into sensory overload. Because natural toys, by comparison, depend on less garish eye-catching colors, inviting textures, and simple, appropriate, child-centred designs to draw a child, he can interact with the toy in a manner fitting his age, temperament, and developmental level as he experiments with his environment, develops motor skills, and learns to play independently and with others. His creativity and imagination will develop uniquely and naturally, rather than being controlled by the simulated pathway of a battery-operated game. The gentle simplicity of natural toys encourages interaction and a healthy attachment between parent and child, too.

Organic Playthings are Toxin-Free, but Did You Know…
Informed parents know that organic and natural toys are made from materials that are completely natural and free from harmful chemicals that pose a serious threat to our children. You may not, however, know these facts about these safe, healthy toys…

• Choosing an organic toy doesn’t mean sacrificing selection or imagination for safety. Today’s marketplace provides a plethora of enchanting, eco- and child-friendly toys, from bamboo play-kitchen sets, soft toys, and natural-rubber or sustainable-wood teething toys, to musical toys, dolls, and wooden puzzles or building blocks.
• Natural toys make your home a safer place for your child. Young children are at risk for many kinds of accidents, and poorly made, unsafe toys – with loose parts, weak fabrics, and badly sewn seams and trims - can be a danger. If a toy is made from certified organic materials, that toy is required to meet standards that ensure it is made from the best quality materials and made well. 
• Benefiting Our Planet - Organic producers and processors don’t only make planet- and people-friendly choices to provide us with organic and natural products – they are also considering the well-being of the planet and all of its creatures now and in the long run. An organic farmer, for example, farms his corner of the planet in a way that replenishes, rather than depletes the soil. He uses crop rotation, legume ploughdown, and other organically approved techniques to provide nourishment for the land, without using harmful pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. Organic producers and processors strive to leave Mother Earth in a better way than they found her, and to be kind to all living creatures along the way. 
• Naturally Grown Materials - Each part in an organic plaything is chosen not only because it is organic, but also for the inherent qualities that make it a wonderful material for a child’s toy. For example, did you know that natural, unfinished wood is a naturally germ-free material (and so makes the perfect teething ring)? That organic wool stuffing not only smells wonderfully natural, but is also inherently flame-retardant, water-repellent, and self-cleaning? That organic bamboo is naturally hypoallergenic and anti-bacterial? 

Organic, Planet-Friendly Toys are Made to Last a Lifetime

Many of us still have one or two favourite childhood toys that our mothers (or fathers) lovingly and thoughtfully tucked away for us. Chances are, if that beloved toy is plastic or synthetic, it will be a little worse for wear. If your child’s toys are natural and organic, no matter how enthusiastically she plays with them, those toys will be as good as new when you put them aside for your next child – or your grandchildren – because natural toys are inherently destined to be heirloom toys. Organic fibres and materials are grown only with natural inputs, and when these natural ingredients are put together to make child-friendly toys, they are also processed without any toxic chemicals. With no synthetic chemicals to weaken or harm an organic plaything at any stage of its creation, and because stringent organic certification standards guarantee this to be so, you can be sure that any organic doll, teddy, or other toy will last… and last… and last. Consider planet-friendly, non-toxic toys an excellent investment, and be prepared to store them for your next baby or the next generation, or to gift the toys to another family that would delight in these eco-friendly additions to their child’s playtime.

Before you know it, your “baby” will be leaving for college. Right now, you have the chance to influence and shape her development by choosing toys that are not only safe, but also inspiring, well-made, and developmentally appropriate. Don’t underestimate these child-friendly playthings: Your choice of organic, wholesome toys will benefit your child in a multitude of ways, making a lasting impression on her and on her planet, too.