I’ve been doing a lot of research around wooden toys for JT’s Montessori-style bedroom. It’s important to me that the products are safe and as natural as possible. I’ve been studying some of the past recalls, so I try to stay away from brands that don’t have a clean track record… think back to 2009 when Melissa and Doug recalled over 26,000 toys due to high levels of barium on the surface paint. As you know toddlers like to put everything in their mouths so to me this is a major concern.
My first preference is wooden toys made in Germany and as of now Grimm’s & Ostheimer are my top two favourite brands – but they come at a heavy price tag. I heard a lot of good things about Plan Toys so I decided to try out a few items.
I started off with the Hammer Balls & Chicken Nesting set. These two sets are appropriate for children ages 1 and up. Now my little one is still under a year old, but I’m starting to plan out his Montessori bedroom… which includes the types of toys I want available to him.
Some key facts about Plan Toys:
- 73% of materials used to make their toys come from resources found within 30km of their factory in Trang, Thailand
- They focus on sustainable play
- Their toys are made from rubber trees that no longer produce latex
- Their toys are painted with water-based dyes/organic pigment
- They use of non-formaldehyde glue
- Packaging made of recycled paper and soy ink (no plastic from what I can see!)
- Their toys were created to encourage child development (physical, social & emotional, intellectual and language)
You can learn more about the Plan Toys & their process here.
So far I’m happy with the two toys I purchased. I think the quality looks good and I’ll be sharing my review over the next few weeks. In the meanwhile, here are some other sets I have my eyes on:
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