droolicious : gardening toys

Explore the Outdoors: A Playhouse for the Nature Lover

Lisa Mulcahy — Tue, 19 May 2009 17:30:00 GMT

With the marketing theory that a lot of families will be forgoing expensive summer getaways and spending more time at home, Step 2 has introduced some new backyard gems.

I’m liking the Nature Station Playhouse, $275. Designed to encourage kids to interact with nature there’s a shelf for examining flowers, bugs, and other outdoor things. It also comes with a plastic shovel, bug collector, butterfly net, lantern microscope, tweezers, bug trap, binoculars, and a periscope pivot for 180 degree viewing. Another bonus feature is the storage bin that doubles as a planter to grow flowers, herbs or small vegetables.

Even Tiny Farmers Deserve John Deere

Heather Kuldell — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 01:36:00 GMT

When I get tired of traffic and concrete, my mind drifts to a fantasy farm where my family pitches in together and lives off the land. In reality, we’d starve because we have no know-how and less discipline. Still, we can add some farm-clout to our yard play with a John Deere Wheelbarrow ($39.99). Sized for tots 2 and up, the wheelbarrow features a rubber tire, steel legs, wooden handles and the iconic green and yellow paint job. While it’s sturdy enough for real yard work, it’s also small enough for just give a teddy bear a ride outside.

Green Tea, Thumbs Part of Green Toys' Spring '08 Line

Aaron Burgess — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:03:00 GMT

A while back, we covered San Francisco-based Green Toys' venture into corn-based bioplastic playthings -- well, the company's resources seem to have changed a bit since then, but the output is as green as ever. This 27-piece Green Toys Cookware and Dining Set ($39.95 at Rabbit Kinney) is part of a new line of recycled-plastic toys that also includes a Tea Set, an Indoor Gardening Kit, and a Sand Play Set. Though it's not corn-derived (the actual material is high-density polyethylene, or HDPE), each set is made in California using recycled milk containers as its primary material. The toys also feature no external coating (and pose no lead-paint risks) and undergo testing to ensure no traceable amounts of Phthalates or BPA.

And thus concludes today’s chemistry lesson – for more information on Green Toys, including info on where to find them locally, visit the company's site.