Wonderworld Toys

In an earlier post I believe I mentioned how much Jem loves his Wonderworld Wooden Stacking Rings.

Well, he still does. At 8 months he loved to bang the rings around and teethe on them, and they are durable enough that they didn't chip or show any signs of wear. Within a month he was taking the rings off the stacker like a pro, and by 10 months he was learning to put them back on.  Now at 14 months he's a pro at this and sometimes I swear he's intentionally putting them back on in creative patterns (okay, these patterns may be coincidental, but proud mama finds them amazing just the same).

I love how well made these rings are, and that they are just the right size for little hands!

What I really love, however, is that Wonderworld toys are a truly eco-friendly company, one of the few toy companies that uses wood from older rubber trees that can no longer produce latex. The company is committed to replanting one tree for every tree they use...this is in addition to those already replanted by the farmers who provide their rubber trees.  They use only high quality, non-toxic, water-based paints in basic primary colors.  They are a fairly small company based in Thailand (no Chinese manufacturing) with only about 500 employees (according to their website), and the literature enclosed with the stacking rings spoke of their commitment to fair wages and working conditions for those employees (sadly I didn't keep this literature for the specifics).  Packaging is minimal and 70% recycled content, and of the three Wonderworld toys we own I don't remember any plastic used in the packaging.

I loved the concept of this company, and since the stacking rings (which he received from his Grandma for Christmas) were such a high quality we bought Jem the Wonderworld Posting House Shape Sorter for his first birthday.  Another great toy!  While he has not advanced enough yet to figure out the shapes on his own, he does like to take the blocks out of the hinged lid and hand them to me so I can position the shapes over the proper hole and let him push them in. I know soon enough he'll be having great fun doing this on his own!

A friend of ours (knowing how much I liked this company) also bought Jem the Wonderworld First Sound Blocks...some of these are bright, durable, colorful blocks in three basic shapes filled with wooden beads to make different rattling sounds when shaken, and the rest are very basic natural wood building blocks. Like the other toys, these are extremely safe, non-toxic and well-sanded.

Overall I am highly impressed with this toy company! Although I am definitely a big supporter of Freecycling and buying secondhand toys whenever possible, I know sometimes you just want some high quality wooden toys in your collection from eco-friendly, ethical companies that will last for generations.  I believe Wonderworld Toys is one such company.  While most of Jem's Freecycled books and toys will be re-Freecycled when he is done with them, these and other favorite wooden toys will be stored for our future children and, most likely, for their children as well!

***All toys reviewed in this post were bought by myself, friends and relatives, and I have not been paid in any way, shape or form for this review.***

DIY Peg Dolls!

Since my baby showers, I had been saving scraps of ribbon and other trim from gift boxes and such. Some of it I had reused for gifting, but most of it stayed in a box in our bedroom, slowly piling up.  I decided I was going to use it for a fun project.  I just had to find that project!

It came to me whilst surfing Etsy for a wooden birthday toy for Jem a couple of months ago. I stumbled upon several collections of peg dolls from various sellers.  Yes, peg dolls, those little wooden do-it-yourself dolls somewhere between a clothespin doll and a retro Fisher Price Little People figure (I know you remember those).  What a fun and perfect project!  Easter was coming, and though peg dolls are still potential choking hazards for Jem, I decided to fill the Easter baskets of my four-year-old twin nieces with princess peg dolls.  (They've been in the princess phase since about age two with no end in sight!) This was a particularly fitting project since we had just given them a Melissa and Doug deluxe folding wooden princess castle for their birthday.  The peg people would be a perfect fit.  I bought a whole bunch of unpainted female figures (and a few males for princes and Peter Pan) for around $8, including shipping.

When they came I was so excited to have a truly crafty, girly project to work on I almost peed myself.  But I didn't.  Instead I whipped out my supplies and got to work, having a great deal of fun during Jem's naps (and during those rare times when he actually sits and plays quietly with his toys).

SUPPLIES (all of which, except for the peg people themselves, I already had handy)

~ Wooden peg people
~ Ribbon scraps, felt scraps, silk flower petals, curtain trim, an unmatched black sock, other various odds and ends (recycling and creativity are the names of the game! Yes, apparently the game has two names.)
~ A needle and various colors of thread
~ Non-toxic Craft Glue (I used Aleene's tacky)
~ Non-toxic glitter paint
~ A fine-point sharpie for the faces (not non-toxic, but I didn't think the girls would be putting these in their mouths)

Here are my accomplishments.  Look familiar?

Little Tinker Bell did end up looking rather like a demonic version of Mimi from the Drew Carey Show, but I was quite happy with the rest of them.  I think I had the most fun with the hair. For all the black hair I used pieces of the unmatched sock, and for the curly hair I unwound bits of the curtain trim I used to decorate our Christmas stockings!

I had so much fun making these and get a huge kick out of hearing how the girls are enjoying them.  My finishing touch was to make two little twin girl figures and a baby Jem figure (sadly I didn't take pics of those). They got a big kick out of them!  I can't wait till I save up enough scraps to make more!