Wooden Pretend Play Kitchens & Toys

It’s a problem every parent faces – the battle of the child room clutter. No matter how hard we try to disguise them, many toys peek from the toy box as a giant eye sore. If you too are at your wits end with those unsightly or wayward toys, wood toys are a design savvy solution to this common headache. Here are a few tips that are sure to please your little ones, all while helping you “take back” your house . . .

. Treasure Blocks

Wood blocks are a wonderful investment for any room. They are a canvas of endless possibility and you can match them to the theme of your child’s room. All you need is a few bottles of acrylic paint and a glossy sealant such as Mod Podge. If your child has a pirate themed room, you can create Jolly Roger flags with black and white paint, wood planks, ocean waves or anything you can imagine. After painting each block, let dry and then, apply the glossy sealant. These are a beautiful and decorative addition to any child’s room.

2. Buried Treasure Toy Chest

A wooden “pirate” chest is the perfect place to house your child’s toys. Telling him that it is a place to “bury all his treasures” will encourage him to keep his prized toys off the floor. You can store your treasure blocks away in clear, shapely containers and set them up on your child’s shelves. Wood toys such as classic ships are also a perfect decorative touch to grace the walls.

You can keep a tidy, design savvy home – even with a houseful of tots. All you need is a little time, a little hard work and most importantly, a BIG imagination.

When it comes to baby showers, it often seems that everyone gets mom and baby a variation of the exact same gifts. If you want to give a gift that breaks the “baby shower” mold, wood toys are the perfect solution to giving mom and baby a toy that is sure to stay in the family for generations to come.

From baby rattles, to pull along duckies and alligators – there are so many unique items from which to choose. By picking a unique wooden toy over your run of the mill plastic baby keys, you can be sure that your gift will not make it to the returns line or to the bottom of the toy basket. With their traditional and aesthetically pleasing appeal, these toys even have the potential to end up on display in baby’s room.

If you want to be twice as unique, opt for an unfinished wood toy and decorate it yourself. Make sure to choose paints that are baby friendly and not lead based as the toy will certainly make its way to baby’s mouth. If you just cannot find the time to create a masterpiece of your own, create a shower gift basket for mom and baby. Include unfinished wood toys, a variety of paints, artist brushes and a bottle of good glossy or matte sealant. It will be a fun do together project for mom and dad.

The most important thing to remember when choosing a shower gift is stay true to your budget. If you cannot afford a large wood toy, opt for a smaller one instead. Do not stress over counting pennies you do not have. After all, when it comes to gift giving, the only thing that really “counts” is the thought.

Recall after recall, it seems that every day we hear a new one on the evening news. It is scary to think that after so many advances made in technology, we seem to be taking more steps backward than forward. If you too are worried about the safety of your children, wood toys are a great alternative.

Just last week I was reading over a recall alert on my home page. All the recent recall alerts had not really scared me too much until I saw it . . . a tiny metal Spiderman ring that toy companies had warned could cause lead poisoning in small children. I had bought the same exact ring for my son a few months prior. I remembered how he had loved it because it flashed shades of red and blue. He called it his “superpowers ring”. I also began to remember how I had witnessed him many times touching the ring to his face and even once, how I had scolded him for putting it inside of his mouth.

That was when it hit home for me. The dangers of these recent recalls are real and these types of scary situations can happen to any of us. It is so scary to think that my child could have swallowed that ring. If he had gotten sick, I might not have even known what was wrong with him. It was that moment that I went straight to the toy box and threw that ring into the garbage. I began to bring out his wooden blocks, his toy trains and his Lincoln logs. To my surprise, he did not mind one bit. Actually, he seemed to be having a much better time with the wood toys than he did with any of the umpteen plastic toys I had bought him this year.

When it comes to protecting our children, nothing is more important. The great thing about wood toys is that they are all-natural and contain no harmful substances that can make our little ones sick. Make sure to keep your little one safe from the recent recalls and opt for a safer solution that will keep your child happy all while keeping your mind at ease.

With today’s toys following the trends of movies and cartoons, last month’s favorite toy can quickly make its way to the bottom of the toy box. It really makes you long for a simpler time when old trains and other wood toys were scattered across the floors, a time when the only sound effects you heard were an adorable “choo-choo” from a wee aspiring conductor.

Just last year, I watched my son as he pushed a red plastic fire truck across the kitchen floor. It was exactly the same as the one I had bought him the year before – only this one still had all four wheels. After going through several toys that couldn’t stand up to my son, I too began to think about the simpler days when a toy outlasted its first “crash” . . . and even the rambunctious ways of several generations.

My grandfather had an old wooden train that sat atop the fireplace of the den. I can still see him sitting there in his old red recliner and faded overalls as he watched me push it along the floor for hours on in. Born in 1915, he would tell me of the times he himself would see how quickly it could fly from atop the back porch in the summer and how it even survived the roughhousing of my nine aunts and uncles. It was amazing to think that it had been through two World Wars and even the Great Depression. It was more than just a toy. It was a history.

As my mind went back to that old farmhouse, I decided to pass the train down to my own son. When I did, it quickly replaced the likes of that old three wheeled fire truck! I could not stop him – he was all over the house, pushing it across the floor for hours on in . . . just as I used to do and my grandpa before me. It was that instant that I knew why Grandpa had watched me with that same old smile each time I took it from the mantle. It was a magical thing that managed to surpass the seventy-year gap between us and somehow make us both kids again.

To this day, my son still asks me every night before bed to “tell the one about grandpa” one more time. That old train has become something that has bonded us together like nothing else I could ever imagine. We sit and share the stories of a man he never got to meet and only knows through a few old photographs . . . and now, stories attached to one wooden train with a squeaky wheel.

If you do not have your own passed down treasure – create one. When it comes to longing for days gone by, online retailers have heeded the call by breathing new life into the heirloom toy, making it easier than ever to start your own cherished tradition. Wood toys make the perfect heirloom and there is just something so special about knowing that someday your children’s children will be pushing those same toys across the floor. When buying heirloom toys you are buying much more than a manufactured item, you are buying memories and a history that will last for generations to come.