What Are Your Easy Eco-Craft & Green Toy Ideas?

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What Are Your Easy Eco-Craft & Green Toy Ideas?

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Tuesday, July 19, 2011

by Janelle Sorensen, Chief Communications Officer, Healthy Child Healthy World

We’ve been receiving a lot of questions from parents looking for ideas for safe, eco-crafting ideas and non-toxic toys. Here’s a round-up of ideas from the Healthy Child archives and our community. Enjoy! (And add your ideas to the comments!)

From the Healthy Child archives:

Craft ideas from our Facebook Community:

Christine My daughter loves reusing toilet paper rolls for binoculars and telescopes. I tape them together and she stickers and colors them :)
The Natural Nanny pudding finger paints? repurposing old household items as canvas (ie an old fabric window blind is now a mural in our play room)
Stephanie gluten free playdough colored with vegetable dyes.
Lori i keep a drawer of materials which are leftovers from packing, etc for the kids to use creative freedom on...cardboard pieces, boxes, envelopes, small wood items. they love it and the drawer is a different project everytime
Jackson Hole Nannies, LLC Pine Cone Birdfeeders! Just add Peanut Butter to a pinecone and roll in birdseed! Hang with Floss
Rebecca Moonsand! You use 4 cups sand, 2 cups cornstarch and 1 cup water. It is so much better then the stuff on store shelves and lasts a long time. Just add water as it drys out.
Mom's Healthy Market I like making nature collages. Have the children find some sticks, leaves, flowers, pine cones, etc. from a nature walk then give them some glue and paper and let them create! For preschoolers try having them spell their name with sticks and for school-age children, have them make a face or car with the items.
Michelle Osborne Cooking and baking are crafty.

Toy recommendations from our Facebook Community:

Jennifer Hand Made Toys ;)
Cortney Little Saplings teethers on Etsy
Silvana Haba toys
Bonnie Waldorf dolls. So soft and usally made with organic materials.
Heather Peapods in St. Paul MN
Zaira love Plan Toys
Nicole dirt! organic of course ;)
Mandi sprig toys....made out of a material called sprigwood which is reclaimed sawdust from furniture factories and recycled plastic
Jack It's not really a toy but Clementine Art/ playdough and crayon rocks
Elizabeth tree blocks from Etsy
Carrie I love Green Toys
Laura sticks and cardboard boxes.

And a few from Twitter:

@GetActiveToday Anything Melissa and Doug.
@bodhi_bear My son is really into a couple of cars from this etsy seller lately
@lovemykeiki Green Toys Tea Set is one of my daughter's absolute fave toys!!!! Has been for over 2 yrs already! ;)
@allerair Unplugged Play: No Batteries. No Plugs. Pure Fun. - Best & most thoughtful of all my baby shower gifts. Games, crafts, songs, recipes, b-day party ideas...great book!

There were tons of other great ideas for crafts and toys-check them out! What are yours?

Join us on Facebook and Twitter to connect with our awesome community!

Note: The above brand recommendations are those of our community and not necessarily of Healthy Child Healthy World. You can find brands that meet our Quality Standards at Shop Healthy.

Posted by Yoga Teacher Training on 07/27/2011 at 11:48 PM

What Rebecca suggested is a great moonsand mix. For me, pressing flowers and leaves make an excellent activity. Gathering these items as time goes by and building a scrap book, turning it into framed art, cards, or bookmarks, is fun and easy and can be kept for many years.

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