vegan natural felt crafts /toys suggestions please

[Guest guest]

Hello friends,

I am a vegan mom and I in the process of getting rid of a lot of

plastic toys in my house. My son is three yrs old and I am trying to

find vegan natural toys that I can make (or buy as along as they are

affordable). I really like the idea of making felt food but don't want

to use wool felt, but at the same time don't like the idea of using the

synthetic felt because of all the chemicals. I love the idea of the

wooden toys however we are pinching pennies right now so it's not in

the budget. Anyone have any suggestions please?

 

Thanks

Christine (Tampa Bay Area Florida Mom)

[Guest guest]

christine,

 

my husband is a waldorf teacher, so this has been an important issue to us

from birth. we have a 3 y/o and a 20 m/o. here is what has worked for us

as a low-income family.

 

first, pick up a copy of the book " you are your child's first teacher. "

rahima baldwin dancy discusses the toy/play needs for each developmental

period within this book. this is an eye-opener as far as what most of us

think kids " need " to play.

 

kids don't need many toys. in fact, in my experience, the more toys there

are, the less inclined they are to play with them. organization is also

important - a place for everything. my children have a single bookshelf

for toys and books. the top shelf has books, stacking boxes and a basket of

wooden animals and people. the second shelf has felted wool balls

(homemade), aromatic bean bags (homemade), a little basket of items from

nature such as large stones, pinecones, sturdy seed pods, etc., and some

wooden and metal cars. the third shelf has two simple puzzles, wooden

rainbow stacking bowls, a wooden rainbow pie puzzle, and a basket for

playsilks (we use ahimsa silk and dye it ourselves) and stuffed baby dolls.

there are a few odds and ends as well, like an old calculator that my son

learns numbers on with hardly any provocation. we also share a box of art

supplies as a family.

 

these are all the toys our children ever need. they play with them for many

hours a day. i can only contrast this with most friends and family whose

small children have their own rooms full of toys and never play with them.

having a small number of toys with good organization makes clean-up very

easy and fast; both of my children have helped to clean up their toys since

they were old enough to walk. it just comes naturally now, with no

prodding.

 

we don't have plastic toys except for the old calculator. toys made from

natural materials can indeed be very expensive. but we've found that if

we're careful and don't get sucked into the belief that our kids need lots

of toys, we can buy things that are high quality that our kids really

enjoy. we always set limits on what we buy. for example, birthday gifts

are always books, preferably used or traded with friends. at solstice

(christmas) we have a limit of three gifts per child, maximum. at the same

time we donate old toys so that our kids aren't accumulating; they generally

keep the same number of toys and at the same time learn about giving and

sharing. (we also end up donating most of the toys people give us because

nobody pays attention to our guidelines about things violent, sexist,

media-related, plastic, and so on, not to mention that we don't want our

kids having a bajillion toys.) every other holiday we only give homemade

things, or nothing.

 

the felt issue was difficult for a long time. i feel extremely

uncomfortable buying non-organic cotton or synthetic, petroleum-based

materials. i did a lot of intense study and decided that i would buy wool

from local farmers. we've always planned to have sheep ourselves. most

sheep need to be sheared. sheep in vegan animal sanctuaries are sheared,

too. they simply must be. the farmers we work with are kind and careful

with their animals. we don't live in an area where mulesing is necessary.

so we buy our wool once or twice a year and use it for stuffing dolls and

other creations and for needle-felting. i certainly understand why someone

would choose differently but this is what made sense for our family, in

considering a wider context than just veganism.

 

i highly recommend seeking out used wooden toys not only for monetary cost

but because of the environmental cost of throwing out a bunch of stuff to

buy new " green " stuff. i do believe that getting rid of plastic toys is an

important choice from many different angles, however! if you do buy new

toys i highly recommend this site:

 

www.atoygarden.com

 

their toys are lovely and the most affordable i've found and sonia is a

delight to work with. another good one, more expensive but still good:

 

www.novanatural.com

 

those are the only two online stores we use, about once a year.

 

the best way to replace toys is to do it a bit at a time. replace a toy (or

several) with something new every few months when you have the cash.

remember, kids don't need many toys. and at 3, they still enjoy household

things the most. my kids have their own cabinet in the kitchen with old

pots, pans, silverware and so on, along with some wooden and felted food, so

they can cook along with me.

 

simple toys are still good at this age. art projects are important.

outside play time is the most important and you hardly need anything for

that.

 

HTH!

chandelle

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Definitely try freecycle and thrift shops for the wooden toys.  Also the

discount stores like TJ Maxx.

 

--- On Thu, 7/24/08, christinepensa <christinepensa wrote:

 

christinepensa <christinepensa

vegan natural felt crafts /toys suggestions please

 

Thursday, July 24, 2008, 3:18 PM

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello friends,

I am a vegan mom and I in the process of getting rid of a lot of

plastic toys in my house. My son is three yrs old and I am trying to

find vegan natural toys that I can make (or buy as along as they are

affordable). I really like the idea of making felt food but don't want

to use wool felt, but at the same time don't like the idea of using the

synthetic felt because of all the chemicals. I love the idea of the

wooden toys however we are pinching pennies right now so it's not in

the budget. Anyone have any suggestions please?

 

Thanks

Christine (Tampa Bay Area Florida Mom)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Chandelle, what awesome advice! I know it wasn't directed at me, but I

wanted you to know I really appreciated it anyway. I'm going to check out those

websites. I have been SO much more careful about Abby's (21 months) toy choices

than I had with the other kids. Abby has a toy basket, largely filled with

hand me down stuffies, and a two shelf unit in the living room for a couple of

puzzles, and her other things. That's it. Books--well, that's another story!

We're book-a-holics here! LOL!

 

I have been heading largely in the direction of natural materials in baskets

to sort and count, child sized, but all natural and functional cleaning

supplies, and similar types of things. I have really enjoyed the Montessori

Services and Small Hands catalogs (both catalogs come from the same

company--www.montessoriservices.com) for materials. Garage sales are also an

awesome way to

find wicker baskets for sorting,and trays and mats for individual work

spaces. You can also find strainers, spoons, cups, and other kitchen items for

measuring, transferring/small motor activities, and water/sand/homemade

playdough play, etc.

 

Marilyn

 

 

 

**************Get fantasy football with free live scoring. Sign up for

FanHouse Fantasy Football today.

(http://www.fanhouse.com/fantasyaffair?ncid=aolspr00050000000020)

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

There is also a called Montessori Makers (just search for

them). They have some stuff that folks work on if they want to - sort

of like the 'fly lady' approach to making Montessori materials.

 

We also ahve the books Teaching Montessori In The HOme (I forget the

author now) and we have the preschool years and teh school years (so

birth to age 3 and age 3 or 4 to age 6). It's been fairly helpful.

 

We are in need of paring down the toys again here, they seem to

accumulate but we try to get things like games we can all play and he

does have a large collection of cars and some other things. We're not

strict montessori in our house, but we don't like to have a lot of

things (it is very true that having too much stuff will result in much

of it not getting played with).

We have one shelf organizer thing with different colored baskets that

we sort out toys in (animals/ people/cars/ trains/furniture) we found

it at Aldi (it's wood but does have colored plastic bins, but it was

inexpensive, and I've seen the exact same thing elsewhere for nearly

3-4 times what we paid for it there!)

 

We also check resale shops, we have a consignment sale (they don't

usually have a lot of toys, but they do have books and TONS of clothes

- it's 2x a year, summer/spring and winter/fall). even Goodwill has

some stuff too. (A friend of mine is jazzed because she found stilts

and a pogo stick that was real metal and both in excellent condition).

 

Missie

 

On Fri, Jul 25, 2008 at 2:54 PM, <sahmomof8 wrote:

> Chandelle, what awesome advice! I know it wasn't directed at me, but I

> wanted you to know I really appreciated it anyway. I'm going to check out

> those

> websites. I have been SO much more careful about Abby's (21 months) toy

> choices

> than I had with the other kids. Abby has a toy basket, largely filled with

> hand me down stuffies, and a two shelf unit in the living room for a couple

> of

> puzzles, and her other things. That's it. Books--well, that's another story!

> We're book-a-holics here! LOL!

>

> I have been heading largely in the direction of natural materials in baskets

> to sort and count, child sized, but all natural and functional cleaning

> supplies, and similar types of things. I have really enjoyed the Montessori

> Services and Small Hands catalogs (both catalogs come from the same

> company--www.montessoriservices.com) for materials. Garage sales are also an

> awesome way to

> find wicker baskets for sorting,and trays and mats for individual work

> spaces. You can also find strainers, spoons, cups, and other kitchen items

> for

> measuring, transferring/small motor activities, and water/sand/homemade

> playdough play, etc.

>

> Marilyn

>

> **************Get fantasy football with free live scoring. Sign up for

> FanHouse Fantasy Football today.

> (http://www.fanhouse.com/fantasyaffair?ncid=aolspr00050000000020)

>

>

[Guest guest]

www.etsy.com

 

everything on this site is handmade. there's also an option where you can search

for sellers in your area. there are so many toys and things for kids. prices are

extremely reasonable. be careful though, looking through all the different shops

can be so addicting!

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Thank you so much for the suggestions. I have boxed up 3 huge boxes

of plastic toys so far to donate. I still have a long way to go but

we are getting there. Most of the toys are from my 12 yr old son.

(we fell into the 1st child he needs everything under the sun trap).

So here's what I decided. For now we are keeping the wooden blocks

of course,action figures, legoes, matchbox cars, Mr. Potato Head and

any board games. Instead of felt playfood I am making crocheted

playfood from all cotton yarn stuffed with non-poly stuffing. I

couldn't find organic cotton yarn so I will just have to use what I

have for now and keep looking. My son thinks it's so cool that he

can pick the color and size of what he wants. In fact he just told

me that he wants me to make him some pink corn on the cob.

Why? " Because pink is pretty " How adorable...

 

I'm still unsure about about using wool felt. It just doesn't feel

right to me. Perhaps if I knew a local farmer that I could see how

the sheep were treated etc... perhaps I would feel differently. I am

very glad to hear that you have a local source of wool that you are

comfortable with.

 

Last year we had to trim a big oak tree that grows over our house

and we saved the branches. So last weekend I had my husband cut some

small pieces that I plan to sand and hopefully carve into something

interesting. If I start soon I will have something for Christmas to

give both my boys. I am really excited about that!

 

Thank you everyone for your kind suggestions. They really meant a

lot to me and opened my eyes to some new possiblities.

 

Christine

 

, chandelle' <earthmother213

wrote:

>

> christine,

>

> my husband is a waldorf teacher, so this has been an important

issue to us

> from birth. we have a 3 y/o and a 20 m/o. here is what has worked

for us

> as a low-income family.

>

> first, pick up a copy of the book " you are your child's first

teacher. "

> rahima baldwin dancy discusses the toy/play needs for each

developmental

> period within this book. this is an eye-opener as far as what most

of us

> think kids " need " to play.

>

> kids don't need many toys. in fact, in my experience, the more

toys there

> are, the less inclined they are to play with them. organization is

also

> important - a place for everything. my children have a single

bookshelf

> for toys and books. the top shelf has books, stacking boxes and a

basket of

> wooden animals and people. the second shelf has felted wool balls

> (homemade), aromatic bean bags (homemade), a little basket of items

from

> nature such as large stones, pinecones, sturdy seed pods, etc., and

some

> wooden and metal cars. the third shelf has two simple puzzles,

wooden

> rainbow stacking bowls, a wooden rainbow pie puzzle, and a basket

for

> playsilks (we use ahimsa silk and dye it ourselves) and stuffed

baby dolls.

> there are a few odds and ends as well, like an old calculator that

my son

> learns numbers on with hardly any provocation. we also share a box

of art

> supplies as a family.

>

> these are all the toys our children ever need. they play with them

for many

> hours a day. i can only contrast this with most friends and family

whose

> small children have their own rooms full of toys and never play

with them.

> having a small number of toys with good organization makes clean-up

very

> easy and fast; both of my children have helped to clean up their

toys since

> they were old enough to walk. it just comes naturally now, with no

> prodding.

>

> we don't have plastic toys except for the old calculator. toys

made from

> natural materials can indeed be very expensive. but we've found

that if

> we're careful and don't get sucked into the belief that our kids

need lots

> of toys, we can buy things that are high quality that our kids

really

> enjoy. we always set limits on what we buy. for example, birthday

gifts

> are always books, preferably used or traded with friends. at

solstice

> (christmas) we have a limit of three gifts per child, maximum. at

the same

> time we donate old toys so that our kids aren't accumulating; they

generally

> keep the same number of toys and at the same time learn about

giving and

> sharing. (we also end up donating most of the toys people give us

because

> nobody pays attention to our guidelines about things violent,

sexist,

> media-related, plastic, and so on, not to mention that we don't

want our

> kids having a bajillion toys.) every other holiday we only give

homemade

> things, or nothing.

>

> the felt issue was difficult for a long time. i feel extremely

> uncomfortable buying non-organic cotton or synthetic, petroleum-

based

> materials. i did a lot of intense study and decided that i would

buy wool

> from local farmers. we've always planned to have sheep ourselves.

most

> sheep need to be sheared. sheep in vegan animal sanctuaries are

sheared,

> too. they simply must be. the farmers we work with are kind and

careful

> with their animals. we don't live in an area where mulesing is

necessary.

> so we buy our wool once or twice a year and use it for stuffing

dolls and

> other creations and for needle-felting. i certainly understand why

someone

> would choose differently but this is what made sense for our

family, in

> considering a wider context than just veganism.

>

> i highly recommend seeking out used wooden toys not only for

monetary cost

> but because of the environmental cost of throwing out a bunch of

stuff to

> buy new " green " stuff. i do believe that getting rid of plastic

toys is an

> important choice from many different angles, however! if you do

buy new

> toys i highly recommend this site:

>

> www.atoygarden.com

>

> their toys are lovely and the most affordable i've found and sonia

is a

> delight to work with. another good one, more expensive but still

good:

>

> www.novanatural.com

>

> those are the only two online stores we use, about once a year.

>

> the best way to replace toys is to do it a bit at a time. replace

a toy (or

> several) with something new every few months when you have the cash.

> remember, kids don't need many toys. and at 3, they still enjoy

household

> things the most. my kids have their own cabinet in the kitchen

with old

> pots, pans, silverware and so on, along with some wooden and felted

food, so

> they can cook along with me.

>

> simple toys are still good at this age. art projects are important.

> outside play time is the most important and you hardly need

anything for

> that.

>

> HTH!

> chandelle

>

>

>