Baby toys: back to basics

Over the holidays, my husband and I were lucky enough to have our two year old nephew in town for a visit. Not only is my house far from baby proofed and filled with glass bobbles and vintage collectibles, but the only toys I have lying around are the mouse-shaped, catnip-filled variety. Hardly enough to keep a toddler pacified for three minutes, much less three days straight.

To my Dad’s chagrin, thank goodness my Mom stashed our old favorites away in the attic “just in case”. As I dug through the treasures of 1970’s wooden blocks, stuffed animals, Little People, puzzles, and books, I noticed something – or the lack thereof I should say.

The most technological (if you can call it that) one of the bunch was the scratch-n-sniff paperback edition of Bambi. No blinking lights, no obnoxious sounds, no batteries required. Just a fingernail, a tiny nose, and a little imagination.

I completely understand the value of today’s electronic toys that teach little ones to count and spell practically before they can walk. LeapFrog and Discovery Toys are absolutely brilliant, and fun for even adults to tinker with.

But I do wish more parents would also look to handmade toys and basic teaching tools like wooden puzzles, blocks, and pretend food. Wide open minds and bright imaginations are what make kids so amazing. And I have to believe that fostering creativity in this way does make a child just as smart, sharp, and inventive as the one playing with the turbo-charged, sing-a-long, glow-in-the-dark learning pod.

I bring all of this up to encourage people to support handmade and help make sure small businesses like Lilly Bean Play Food stay alive to provide our kiddos with such fantastic goods.

In case you have not yet heard, the Unites States Congress recently passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) which mandates third-party testing and certification for all toys, and requires toy makers to permanently label each toy with a date and batch number.

All of these things will be easy for large, multinational manufacturers to comply with because of the sheer volume they produce. But for small toy makers, the costs for testing and labeling will likely drive them out of business. The CPSIA simply forgot to exclude the class of children's goods that have earned and kept the public's trust: toys, clothes, and accessories made in the US, Canada, and Europe.

You can read more about the CPSIA and find out how you can help save handmade goods at the Handmade Toy Alliance. Two Blue Peas is in full support of the Handmade Toy Alliance, and we hope you join in too!