Tommy Turtle. Photo courtesy of Earthentree.
With the weather warming up, it’s a great time for the little ones to get out more, and pull toys are a great way to make it more fun.
Pull toys are great motivators for walking, promoting stability, and bring a sense of joy, self-confidence and control in being able to pull something around.
But as with all toys, it’s also important to make sure that they are safe for your child to use. Things to consider include whether there are removable pieces, their size (choking hazards), and the paint (toxic poisoning) because little kids are always putting everything in their mouths.
Always looking for things that are good for people and the environment, I found three great online boutiques – Earthentree, Maya Organic, and Little Zen Minds – that work with traditional artisan communities that create beautiful handmade pull toys that are non-toxic and made with sustainable materials.
Earthentree
Engine Stacker. Photo courtesy of Earthentree.
Earthentree prides itself on providing toys that are safe and beautiful. All of the toys are traditionally handmade by an artisan community in the city of Channapatna in southern India, where the company stresses that “absolutely no form of child labor is employed in its production process.”
Also, the materials used in making the toys are all sustainable, and the dyes are made only of natural materials. The toys are made of hale wood and rubberwood because they are lightweight with fine grains and the company assures that “the wood does not contribute to deforestation.”
GoGo Stacking Pull Toy. Photo by Earthentree.
One of my favorite toys from Earthentree is the Engine Stacker. It has a dual function of being a pull toy as well as a stacking toy with five large removable pieces. Stacking is great for building motor skills. These toys have dimensions of L 5 ¼ x W 3 x H 5 inches and are great for toddlers 15 months and up.
Similarly, their Gogo Stacking Pull Toy is also very cute. It has three large stackable pieces on the wheel base, and is also great for toddlers 15 months and older. Its dimensions are L 4 ½ x W 3 x H 4 ¼ inches.
Earthentree also has a wide variety of other toys including traditional stackers; educational toys, like an abacus; musical toys, like ornate whistles and rain shakers; and rattles.
The colors on the toys are made from natural organic resins mixed with different natural and vegetable dyes. The colors and their sources include:
- dark blue/ black – derived of extracts from the indigo plant.
- yellow – from turmeric powder.
- orange – from kanchi kumkum and turmeric.
- red – from kanchi kumkum and natural alizarin.
- dark brown – derived of extracts from the ratanjyoti tree.
- light brown - derived of extracts from the katha plant.
All of the toys from Earthentree also meet ASTM F963 safety standards.
Maya Organic
Hee Haw. Photo courtesy of Maya Organic.Maya Organic is an online boutique and development initiative that works with networks of artisans making handmade lacware wooden products, including: rattles, stackers, push and pull toys, counting toys, beading toys, and puzzles.
Maya Organic also supports artisans in Channapatna, in building their micro-entrepreneurships through product development, marketing, and skills enhancement initiatives.
A great thing about Maya Organic is that it provides a platform for designers to explore and develop new ideas, and bringing them to fruition using its infrastructure, employees, trial production, and test marketing.
Bovow Dog. Photo courtesy of Maya Organic.Some of the defining features of the toys and other products sold through Maya Organic are that they are handcrafted with natural materials and colored with natural dyes.
Maya Organic provides a huge toy collection online, but there are a few toys that I especially like. One is the Hee Haw horse rider stacking and pull toy. The rider is made of removable stacking parts that are great for building hand-eye coordination and motor skills. This toy is great for toddlers that are 18 months and older.
Another great toy is the Bovow Dog pull toy. It’s a cute toy with bright colored bead parts. The toy is ideal for children about three years old and up. It lets them feel all grown up, walking a dog.
Also very cute is the My Train pull toy, which has 20 different pieces which are great for teaching about shapes and colors. Also the three cars are great for promoting a toddler’s motor development through controlled walking and making sure they don’t tip over the trains.
My Train. Photo courtesy of Maya Organic.These toys are sold both through retail channels out of India and through global markets, including through Amazon.com. All of the toys meet ASTM F963 safety standards. Maya Organic is a member of the World Fair Trade Organization.
Little Zen Minds
Pull Along Zebra. Photo from Little Zen Minds. Little Zen Minds is another great online boutique that specializes in a wide variety of educational toys, including baby blocks, stacking, sorting, building, counting, lacing, time telling, kitchen play sets, and pull toys.
This online boutique assembles its inventory from companies that create their toys from natural materials and use natural and non-toxic paints.
One of my favorite toys at Little Zen Minds is the Pull Along Zebra from Plan Toys. A great feature is that while being pulled, the wooden pieces make a rhythmic click-clacking sound as it rolls along and bobs its head.
The zebra toys are made in Thailand, and are made using natural rubberwood from rubber trees that no longer produce latex. Plan Toys says that “to keep the rubberwood pure, no fertilizer is added to the soil for three years before the trees are cut.” The company also says to strengthen the wood, it uses “a special chemical-free kiln drying process.” Also only non-toxic, water-based dyes are used on the toys.
Dancing Alligator. Photo by Little Zen Minds. The dimensions of these zebra pull toys are L 6.6 x W 3.1 x H 5.7 inches, and are great for toddlers 19 months and older.
Another toy at Little Zen Minds from Plan Toys is the Dancing Alligator. It also makes a rhythmic click-clacking sound as it rolls along. The alligator is made using the same materials and dyes as the zebra, and manufactured in Thailand.
The alligator is a little bit bigger, with dimensions of L10 x W 3.75 x H 3.5 inches, and is also great for toddlers 19 months and older.
Mini Pull Along Dog. Photo by Little Zen Minds.Another great toy at Little Zen Minds is the Mini Pull Along Dog from the Italian company, Sevi. A cute feature of the toy is that it has a bell that chimes when the dog is pulled along fast.
The dog is handmade from wood and the paint is non-toxic and resistant to saliva, making it safe for children to put it in their mouths. The toy’s dimensions is L 3.5 x H 5 x 3 inches, and it has a string that is measured at 20 inches long.
Sevi, which has been making toys since 1831, says that its production policy requires that its suppliers adhere to a code of ethics that includes: forbidding child exploitation, forced labor and discrimination, protecting the rights of workers and the environment, and guaranteeing legal wages.
Reader comments are always welcomed!