droolicious : plan toys

5 Ways to Play with Your Food

SunnyChanel — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 23:30:00 GMT

Teach your kids that playing with your food is a-okay. But just not at the dinner table. Here are five play food sets for your little one to help teach them about the food groups, healthy snacks, organics, how to pile a sandwich and last but not least, how to learn to make you breakfast in bed.

Learning Resources Pretend and Play Healthy Food Snacks Set (above)
Yeah, you won’t find any Cheetos or Oreo’s in this healthy snack play set but instead you’ll get strawberries, grapes and other natural goodies that look good enough to eat. You can pick it up here for $19.35

Melissa & Doug Food Groups
Teach your kid all about the four basic foodgroup with this wooden set by Melissa and Doug. This set includes goodies from all four food groups - 21 pieces in all! $19 here

Plan Toy Breakfast Menu
I have dreams of the day when my little one is old enough to surprise me with a nice breakfast in bed. Sigh. But she can get some practice with the Plan Toys Breakfast Menu set. This wooden set features bacon, bread, sausage, cheese, fried egg, hard boiled egg, salt & pepper, all on a serving try. Available here for $23.31

Wooden Sandwich Making Set
Oodles of combinations can be created with this kids sandwich set. This wooden kit features Velcro on each side of the pieces for easy piling action. It also comes with a safe wooden knife for slicing through the sandwiches. This 16 piece set is available from Land of Nod here for $24.95.

Organic Baby Veggies by Under the Nile
Go green with this Organic Baby Veggies set by Under the Nile. This set is made from Egyptian cotton and natural dyes. The set includes a green bean, carrot, eggplant, mushroom, broccoli and tomato. You can pick one up from Chasing Fireflys here for $44.

Eco-Friendly Washing Machine By Plan Toys

Lisa Estall — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 21:41:00 GMT

At first glance, I thought this was a lighter. Actually, it's a very fun looking washing machine made by Plan Toys. Made of replenishable rubber wood, it’s eco-friendly and big enough to fit in a playhouse.

Kids can really open the door and pull open the slot to place pretend detergent. Also the knob cranks which turns the tumbler inside.

Measurements are: H 15.6 x L 12.2 x W 23.6 in.

Price is a hefty $200. You can buy this at oompa.com

Time to Tie the Knot

Heather Kuldell — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 12:27:00 GMT

I took a poll at the school bus stop and learned that most of the kids don’t know how to tie their shoes thanks to the plethora of slip-ons, hook-and-loop closures and those elastic zip pulls. Call me old school, but I think teaching kids shoe tying is fighting a good fight. It’s a long process; you’ll have to sit for what feels like a half hour as a little one loops the rabbit around the tree (or whichever method you use). Then you just might have to stop every 10 feet for a re-tie. But eventually, it will pay off. Before you get impatient trying to herd them out the door, practice the basics on Plan Toys Tie-Up Shoe ($5.40). It’s just a simple wooden shoe, but it removes one of the biggest obstacles of shoe tying: the knee.

Organic Picky the Penguin

AmandaHill — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Plan Toys' Organic Picky the Penguin is a green toy for all to enjoy. It would be easy to slip into an Easter basket. The tiny penguin is just 2.8 x 2.2 x 2.4 inches.

You can find one at Good for the Kids. It is currently 20% off.

Green Baby: WoodPecker Walker

Cathy Hale — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 01:00:00 GMT

If you're looking for a walker without lots of buzzing, dinging, ringing and batteries, this might the one for you. What a fun & safe way for your baby to build gross motor skills and improve balance. The WoodPecker Walker from Plan Toys features two wooden birdies that peck when the walker moves. It's beautifully crafted and has no sharp edges. Your child will love the click-clack sound. Retails for $72 at BabyEarth.

Plan City Deluxe Road System Offers Plenty of Mileage

Aaron Burgess — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 17:30:00 GMT

We're frequent travelers of Plan Toys' recycled-rubberwood roads here at Droolicious, so give us the chance to expand our Plan City freeway, and we're all over it.

Perfect for train-table top or playroom floor, the Plan City Deluxe Road System includes two miniature cars that look like they'd get plenty of mileage cruising the set's wooden roadway tracks and suspension bridge.

The set also easily expands to accommodate whatever Plan City Rail or Road add-ons (we dig the City Station) you can add to it, and as always, it features just enough of Plan Toys' trademark minimalist detailing to kick-start the imagination.

$45 (regularly $59.99) from Amazon. Ages 3 and up.

Go Ahead, Give Your Toddler A Cactus

Cathy Hale — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:00:00 GMT

It's just like Jenga, but it's a cactus and made from plantation rubberwood. And it's loads of fun for youngsters. Build their imagination and sense of balance with this Plan Toys Balancing Cactus Game. It's just challanging enough to be fun, but not too hard to be discouraging. $19.99 at Moolka. Ages 3+

10 Baby Gifts UNDER $10

Cathy Hale — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:30:00 GMT

Just in time for holiday shopping, BabyEarth unveiled a new "Under $10" gift category. There are lots of cute items to choose from, including plenty of organic and eco-friendly products. After much deliberation, here's my list of Top 10 Baby Gifts Under $10. Enjoy!

$8.00 - Organic Bear Teether by Under the Nile Organics

$6.00 - Boon No-Spill Sippy Cup

$9.00 - Roller with Sounds by Plan Toys

$9.95 - Green to Grow Bottle - 5 Oz.

$5.95 - "I do all my own stunts" Message Onesie

$7.50 - Baby Einstein Discover & Play Teether Book

$9.95 - The Oh-So-Famous WubbaNub Infant Pacifier

$8.95 - Organic Wash Cloths (set of three) by Bumkins

$9.00 - Mudpuppy Photo Album

$8.95 - HuggaCub Security Blanket

This Toy Is More Than Meets The Eye

SunnyChanel — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT

I love stuff that multitasks. And kids, they are always using forks as telephones and plates as flying saucers, so they instinctively get the whole concept. You know who else gets it? Plan Toys. Their Road & Railway Set looks like a simple wooden toy box but that’s hardly what it is at all. This unpresuming object converts to a “bustling train station.” The piece includes road and rail tracks, train, train station, vehicles, figures, trees, traffic signs and lights. And it's all made from recycled materials, so you get bonus karma points too! You can pick up your own for that 4+ year old child in your life from Saks for $210.

Bring the Train Station Inside with Plan Toys City Station

Heather Kuldell — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 21:04:00 GMT

Any faithful Droolicious reader may have noticed that we have a crush on Plan Toys. Here’s another piece for your children who are probably playing inside more these days: the City Station. This multi-level playset features a revolving door, check-in areas, a shop stand, a staircase and of course, two figurines to wander around the station. If you have the Rail and Road Systems, you can attach the City Station. As always with Plan Toys, the set is made of chemical-free, recycled rubberwood.

ABC Kids Expo 2008: Animal Memory Game and Animal Dominos From Plan Toys

Chris Ford — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:29:00 GMT

I've told you already about the really cool Adventure Set from Plan Toys, and another product I saw from them is a lot more simple but no less cool. The Animal Memo and Animal Domino are beautiful versions of classic games, and are great for kids of all ages.

All the toys are (as are all of the Plan Toys products) made from recycled rubber wood and completely safe for kids. The Animal Domino game has 28 wooden tiles with seven different animals. The memory game has 24 picture tiles of 12 different animals. All the tiles are also rounded on top, which requires children playing with them to use all five fingers (which is better apparently than just using the thumb and forefinger).

Animal Domino, $25 and Animal Memo, $22 both available from PlanToys.com.

ABC Kids Expo 2008: Plan City Adventure Set From Plan Toys

Chris Ford — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:31:00 GMT

Plan Toys are really awesome. They're all made from recycled rubber wood trees, stained (as opposed to painted) and fun to play with. Every kid I think who was at ABC with their parents probably stopped by the Plan Toys booth at one point and played with their stuff. My favorite is the Plan City Adventure Set.

The Plan City Adventure Set is a play set that you can buy in parts, and the great thing about it is the tracks build out into four different levels. I can really see lots of parents and kids playing with this together. All of the parts are compatible with other Plan Toys products, and they're also compatible with Brio and Thomas the Train toys too. In the Plan City Adventure Set they drive cars and not trains (as you can see from the picture) but it you're a train family you can get trains too.

Plan City, Table $220 and Adventure Set is $190. Check out all of the great stuff at PlanToys.com.

7 Days of Tricycles and Bicycles: Wooden Trike from Plan Toys

elizabeth leach — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 12:00:00 GMT

This bike is sized perfectly for toddlers. Made from replenishable, durable wood, and non toxic paint. The tires are rubber-like and safe for your floors indoors. Great for learning balance and strengthening their leg muscles.

But the best part is the bright blue and orange! The price is high ($119.99) but it sure looks great! Find it at Oompa Toys.

Plan Toys Banjo for a Lil Steve Martin-in-Training

Heather Kuldell — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:43:00 GMT

Plan Toys makes some sweet toys, like this Banjo. Like the rest of the line, the banjo is made of rubber wood from trees that have stopped producing latex and kiln-dried to insure little pests don’t make it from the forest to your home. Kids can strum and “tune” the strings, or drum on the hollow but sturdy body. And summer’s the perfect time for to keep little hands busy, and preferably practicing their new art outside.

Available from Amazon for $25.

7 Days of Earth-Friendly Toys: Plan Toys Balancing Monkeys

Heather Kuldell — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:24:00 GMT

I never expected to become a toy tyrant but these days I tend to purchase toys that don’t emit electronic whirs, bleeps or sirens. I also look for toys that don't need batteries simply so I don’t have to replace them. It has more to do with my sanity than being green, but that is a nice side effect. Plan Toys Balancing Monkeys qualifies as eco-friendly, entertaining and quiet for a reasonable price of $20.

The whole set is made out of preservative-free rubberwood. Unlike other woods that are harvested strictly for building materials, rubberwood trees aren’t cut until after they stop their latex-producing cycles.

The toy’s concept is simple: Kids hang monkeys on the tree to make it balance. What they’re really using is their counting and math skills to keep the branch level. Turns out a tree full of monkeys is just as fun as a barrel of them.

Green Baby: Plan Toys Shopping Cart

Mir — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:01:00 GMT

There's a lot to love about this simple little cart from Plan Toys: It's made of recycled rubberwood and canvas, it's colored with non-toxic vegetable dyes, the handle is adjustable to your child's height, and there's a stopper on the back to keep it from tipping over. Simply perfect for heading to the pretend Whole Foods to pick up some wooden organic produce, no? $52.99 at Amazon.

Green Baby: Zoom in Natural Style with a Plan Toys Sport Car

Mir — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 21:03:00 GMT

It's the style of a much more expensive metal car with the ease of the ubiquitous plastic ride-ons; yet this retro-styled sport car from Plan Toys is not only fashioned from recycled rubber wood (and colored with vegetable dyes), it's just $99.95 shipped from Amazon. Good for the planet, good for your wallet, and good for cruising for chicks. (Um, in the driveway, anyway.)

Green Baby: Rock Away on Plan Toy's Arabian Horse

Mir — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 13:02:00 GMT

Not only is it fashioned from recycled and sustainably harvested rubberwood, this Arabian from Plan Toys strongly reminds me of the simpler Playskool toys from our youth. You know, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and rocking horses didn't have to look exactly like actual horses. $49.95 from Planet Happy Toys.