ebabee likes:hand made wooden toys Archives

Entries Tagged as 'hand made wooden toys'

Playful handmade wooden toys from Hungary

August 18, 2015

I am very partial to toys that allow kids to play with them using their imaginations. I have pretty much stopped buying toys for Anya but I do make exceptions for toys that let the child make up different games and allow them to play without any rules, especially wooden toys. So when I came across these beautiful handmade wooden toys from Hungary, many of which are games, I knew that these are the kind of toys that I like to encourage in my home. When the ladies behind these toys offered to send Anya one, I wasn’t going to say no.

All the toys in Eperfa’s collection are inspired by nature and childhood games. The three mums who started this collection are from Hungary and were inspired by the Hungarian countryside where they grew up, played and had many adventures as children.

What I love most about the toys is their simplicity and because of it, the amount of endless imaginative play they offer. Take these wooden eggs that are a rolling game – you put the smallest egg on the floor, stand some distance away and roll the other eggs towards it. The player who gets closest to the smallest egg wins. We’ve had fun playing this game but Anya has also used these eggs for so many other things like making breakfast, egg hunts, drawing eggs – the list goes on. I also love that the eggs come beautifully packaged in a box full of hay, adding to the endless ways in which it can be played with. Similarly the fish puzzle in their collection is a beautiful puzzle of joining up the fish but the fish can be used to play with in so many ways.

I am all for wooden toys like these but sometimes they can cost ten times as much as the plastic ones. Luckily Eperfa’s wooden toys don’t cost the earth. They are very fairly priced especially as they are all handmade and hand painted. And for me, it’s always quality over quantity. Are you a fan of wooden toys?

Happy toys…

April 23, 2013

I recently came across these ‘Happy Toys’ and I wanted to share. The toys are made by a Dutch design duo called Usuals and are carved from spare wood found on their family farm. I’m a big fan of wooden toys and these are probably some of the most natural ones I’ve ever seen. I love the little details they’ve put on each one without using anything but natural wood. Very creative and very cool!

Simply beautiful wooden toys…

February 8, 2013

When I watch my daughter Anya play, it’s always the simplest of toys that encourage her to use her imagination and create little make-believe situations. She talks to the toys or she talks on their behalf and together they have tea parties, they have sleepovers, they adopt imaginary pets… the list is endless. The other day I found that she had stuck a plaster on the edge of our coffee table and was pretending that it was a diving board. She had managed to make a game out of a humble plaster! So I’m all for simple toys that don’t do much but instead allow the child to imagine what they will and these beautiful animals and cars are a perfect example. No batteries, noise or shiny buttons here, just a piece of smooth wood in the shape of an animal or car and the rest is up to the child.

These gorgeous toys are made to order by a London based design house. They have their workshop in Brick Lane and all the toys are made at the back of their shop. It reminds me of how things used to be done when our parents were kids and sometimes I wish we could go back to more of those ways. But before I get all nostalgic, I’ll stop myself there and go back to admiring these beauties made by Unto this last.

4 beautiful wooden rattles

March 27, 2012

I’m a big fan of wooden toys not only because they look good but also because they last and last and last. This weekend I went on the hunt for a wooden rattle that I wanted to gift to a friend’s bambino. I was looking for something unusual and of course beautiful. I ended up finding 4 that I loved and now I have a new dilema… how can I choose between these 4, they’re all so lovely! Here are a few more details on the 4 chosen ones:

1 & 2. A fish shaped rattle and a sphere shaped rattle both of which are made in the German Alps using only local timbers. Both look beautifully crafted and are described ‘as an absolute joy to hold for both adults and children’. You can get these 2 at a store called Objects of Use where they sell many other covetable wooden goodies too. 3. This wooden rattle by Timbur is a perfect new baby gift. I’m loving the flowing curves, the smooth finish and the combination of light and dark wood. 4. Handcrafted in the USA, these Earnest Efforts wooden baby rattles are filled with beans or lentils and are great for teething too. They come in various woods so you can choose light or dark. Both the Timbur rattle and the Earnest Efforts one are available from Fawn & Forest.

5 little trucks went out one day…

November 30, 2011

5 little trucks went out one day, over the hills and far away… sorry, I couldn’t resist and now the song won’t leave my head! Moving on to the wooden trucks (not ducks!), I think wooden toys are just the best. They’re keepers that can be handed down from child to child, even generation to generation. And of course they look beautiful too. Today I’ve rounded up 5 fabulous wooden toy trucks or lorries as some may call them. Some are colourful, some are natural wood but all are fine looking toys that can be treasured forever:

1. A smooth natural wood truck and a crayon holder by Country Side Gifts on Etsy.

2. Bold and bright yellow, is it a truck or a tank?! It’s by Kids on roof.

3. Natural wood again but this time it’s a cool log transporting lorry by Bella Luna toys.

4. A chubby looking little wooden dump truck in glorious lipstick red from a store called Theo.

5. Another dump truck but in green with a slim body and chunky wheels by Manny & Simon.

P.S. Have you seen our Christmas 2011 wooden toy gift selection?

Traditional toys: Beautiful spinning tops

November 15, 2011

There are some toys that will never go out of style and the spinning top is one of them. Eons ago kids got immense joy from these little spinning wonders and nothing’s changed. Even as a grown-up, I still love tops. I often find one of those little plastic ones in a Christmas cracker and I can’t help but incessantly spin it. So when I spotted these absolutely beautiful spinning tops, I fell in love. Made by Mader, they’re so elegant and graceful looking. There’s a huge range available, with some coloured, some natural, some tall and some short. I have never seen a collection of tops so stunning. Mader was founded in 1991 in Austria by a husband and wife team and all their tops are made by hand. To check out the huge selection visit PucciManuli or try amazon.com who also have loads.

*Via Handmade Charlotte

P.S. Have you seen our 2011 Christmas gift guide? If not, check it out as there’s loads of lovely gift ideas for the kids.

2011 Christmas gift guide: Wooden toys

November 11, 2011

Today I bring you the next lot of goodies in my 2011 Christmas gift guide for kids. And this one is all about wooden toys. It’s no secret that I love wooden toys so I’ve searched the web to bring you some of the loveliest ones around. Here’s the list:

1. A modern dolls house that’s so cool. By Hase weiss.

2. Create your own city with these chalkboards, cars, traffic signals and trees. By Kiko Kids from Sisters Guild.

3. Cute little wooden cat and dog toy from Baileys Home & Garden.

4. A push along giraffe by Manny & Simon. It’s from Huggle (you’ll need to call as they’re not selling online yet).

5. A wooden matching memory game from Little Sapling toys.

6. A sweet hand painted necklace that’s also a stamp from e-side.

7. Colourful and beautiful alphabet blocks with a wagon by Uncle Goose. From Peanut & Pip.

8. Very simple but stylish doctors set all in wood by US based Soopsori. (International shipping’s available but it’s not cheap).

9. A cool wooden laptop that’s a chalkboard. It’s called i-wood and comes from Oliver Bonas.

For lots more gift ideas for kids, check out our other gift guides: Paper gifts, gifts for newborns and babies, kids books and soft toys.

7 Wonderful wooden animal toys

September 6, 2011

There’s something so appealing about natural wooden toys. It’s their simplicity and smoothness that attracts me each and every time. I’ve rounded up 7 wooden animal toys that I love. They can also double up as lovely little decorations in a nursery or play space.

1. The Cheekeyes* make fabby wooden animal playsets with just the slightest hint of colour. They’ve got different playsets on offer including a safari one, a rainforest one and this garden creatures one. Ollie & Forbes have a good selection on offer. Each set has some animals and some extras like trees and mountains and they cost £24 per set.

2. Baileys Home and Garden is a store packed with beautiful objects which include wooden animal toys. This gorgeous chubby elephant is one of their offerings and costs £18.

3. This little wooden monkey can be a playmate or just left on a shelf to be admired. I’m loving his dangly legs and arms. The wooden monkey comes from Not on the High Street and costs £10.50.

4. A natural wood teething ring in the shape of a hippo. So simple, so sweet! Easy to grasp and chew on as much as your bambino likes. This hippo teething toy comes from Little Sapling Toys on Etsy and costs $12 with international shipping available.

5. These beautiful beaky birds come in 3 sizes – small to represent children, medium to represent parents and chubby to represent grandparents (poor grandparents!). They’ve got removable heads so your kiddos can mix and match the heads with the different sized bodies. They cost between $52 and $79 depending on the size and come from the lovely American store Modernchild who ship internationally.

6. Soopsori hand make natural wood toys with good looks and they’re fun too. This cute elephant cart with dominos is a perfect example of their lovely wares. To get this wooden elephant head to Red Lilly where it costs £21.95.

7. This lovely little whale by Areaware isn’t just eye-candy. It slides open to reveal a hidden compartment where your bambino can hide his precious treasures or you can. There’s a range of animal boxes available but the whale is my favourite. I first discovered it at Oeuf NYC but they only ship in the US. For UK readers, you can get the whale at SCP where it costs just under £31.

*Cheekeyes discovered via Babble