# Plastic vs wood ; toys



## Lilly12

Am thinking of giving away Aleena's plastic toys ( maybe keep a few) and starting over with just wooden ones.

Anyone have just wooden toys for their babies/ toddlers?
Also why do you prefer wood over plastic?


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## Whatme

I really like the look and feel of wooden toys, I'm not sure why, have you seen the HABA wooden toys? There really lovely.


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## Lilly12

I just don't like the chemicals in plastic and wooden toys seem so much more "real". I don't know how to explain it.
Feel like she could learn much more from wooden toys than from plastic. Majority of the plastic ones are too overstimulating.


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## mandarhino

She's got mostly wooden toys. However, she also has loads of Duplo, which is plastic and amazing. I don't like noisy toys or toys that flash, hence the preference for wooden ones. She has a Leapfrog laptop which drives me bonkers. 

Some decent brands for wooden toys are Haba, Djeco, John Crane, Big Jigs, Sevi, Janod, Pintoy. People often sell bundles on ebay which is a good way to build up a collection on the cheap.


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## Rachel_C

We have a mix of both plastic and wooden. I prefer wooden just cos they look nicer but the kids don't care - they seem to like both types equally. It doesn't bother me that plastic is unnatural... I've never seen painted wooden beads growing in the wild either :rofl:.


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## freckleonear

We have nearly all wooden toys now, I think duplo is the only exception. There are lots of reasons to choose wood: environmental, safety, stimulation of senses (texture, variations in colour, smell, temperature), but mostly I buy wooden toys because they tend to be good quality, open-ended and not battery operated. :)


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## Lu28

I prefer wooden toys but she does have her fair share of plastic too, I wouldn't ban them from the house but they're not my preference. I am mean though and either don't let her have toys that make noise, have flashing lights etc or if they do these things, I just take the batteries out! :blush: I think it's better for them to use their imaginations rather than press a button and let the toy do the work / have all the fun but that's just me :)


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## pattysurveys

Wooden toys are wonderful and we prefer them over plastic. They contain no BPA and chemicals and the HABA ones are great. Wood is a natural antibacterial so even better :) We love wood!


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## Vrinda

I also prefer wooden toys, I do not like plastic ones, again the same reasons as above


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## oread

About half or 3/4 of the toys we have are wood. I love toys by HABA, Plan, and Melissa & Doug. Not all of them are wood, but I'm ok with having high quality toys that are made from other materials. Natural rubber things like Sophie and Vullie products are good as well. My daughter has a couple of Lamaze toys that are synthetics, but they are really great. Lasting quality is most important to me, I hope she will use them a long time and to keep most of them for our next kiddo.


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## emmylou92

I love some of the wood toys on here.
https://www.hippychick.com/index.cfm/categories/ride-on-push-along-toys-180

My DD loves her wooden blocks and is pretty niffty and building towers with them, they have really heleped her had eye co ordinations compaird to her plastic toys, she has a wooden xylophone that she adores and the wooden animal shapes that are like jig saws. Come to think of it the only non wooden toys she plays with is her dolly and drums.


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## jcg0506

DS isn't really to the toy-playing stage yet, but I do try to stick to more natural materials, like wood, cotton, or rubber (he loves Sophie to chew on). I worry about the chemicals in plastic, especially since it all goes in their mouth, and I refuse toys that require batteries. We do have a couple plastic things but only if they are BPA and phthalate free. I've told my family that for birthdays and Christmas we prefer wood toys. We got some for Christmas, but he's not ready for them. With wood toys, you also have make sure the paint is safe.


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