$10-$30 – Sprig toys are battery-free, eco-friendly, paint-free, kid-powered toys made with Sprigwood, a child-safe bio-composite of recycled wood and reclaimed plastic that smells like pine and has visible wood flecks. Sprig makes adventure play sets, trucks, sand and water toys, and much more. AND only one item they sell clocks in at over $40 – all other products can be had from about $10-$30.

$28.99 – Eco-Friendly Tea Set from Green Toys – made with recycled milk cartons AND comes gift ready wrapped for free.

$25.00 – Organic Joobles from Fair Indigo are made of soft organic yarns and eco-friendly dyes and come in many adorable characters from penguins to bears to lions and more.

$20.00 – Eco Playdough all natural, made with plant, fruit and veggie extracts with no chemicals, artificial dyes or metals. Containers are made from cornstarch and are 100% compostable and colors include orange, yellow, green, and pink.

$19.99 – Imaginarium Green Triangle Activity Center – made with eco-friendly rubberwood and non-toxic paint.

$25.00 – Eco-Friendly Tool Set – made by Green Toys with recycled milk cartons.

$24.99 – Cardboard treehouse – totally creative, fun, and 100% recyclable. Comes in unpainted cardboard so kids can paint it however they like.

$38.90 - Plan Toys – Water Blocks made with eco-friendly rubberwood and non-toxic finishes.

$24.95 – Earth-opoly is a game made with all easily recyclable paper, soy inks, and game pieces are made made by nature or completely recyclable. Plus this game celebrates the Earth one turn at a time. “Players buy properties, collect Carbon Credits and trade them for Clean Air. As they travel the board visiting each impressive land form, they will learn about the planet and pick up Go Green tips from each deed card. Learn about Earth and how to care for it as you play. There is Traditional Play or One Hour Version.“

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Nine inexpensive green gifts for kids

While the bike accessories and necklace contained the most lead, the CHE also found levels of lead in violation of the new federal law in a Dora the Explorer game set, two children’s shoes, a child’s poncho, and a child’s belt.

Obviously there hasn’t been enough of a crackdown on some major toy companies.

The California Attorney General has notified the retailers and the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) of the lead-tainted products but even so, Michael Green, Executive Director of CEH, notes, “When parents shop for toys this year, they need to know that there are still some lead problems on store shelves.”

A full report of the results from all the CEH tests and more testing by other groups will be published by Healthy Toys on December 2. Of course if you don’t want to wait, you can still shop smartly for safer toys. Read the following for tips…

• Find toxic free toys for the holidays
• Shopping for safe toys made easy
• Less expensive green toys

[image via stock.xchng]

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Lead found in common holiday toys

Each Concept Box is filled with eco-friendly toys, books and games, pre-packaged to teach specific concepts to young children. Plus the boxes give a parent, grandparent, teacher or caregiver ready-made tools for teaching a child an array of concepts from health and the body to personal safety, good eating habits, geography, travel and even sustainable architecture. For example, the Moody Foodie Concept Box (shown above) comes with US-made, colorful pots & dishware made of recycled milk jugs, sensory dough, food puzzle, cooking/art apron, games, sliceable fruit & veggies and more.

Concept Boxes come in a wide array of interest choices and are ready made for babies, toddlers, and preschool aged kids. Jade’s ToyBox has carefully selected each toy, book and game and also donates a portion of the proceeds to a variety of charities that benefit kids. Visit Jade’s Toy Box to learn more.

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Shopping for Safe Green Toys Made Easy

Green Toys Indoor Gardening Kit – made eco-friendly with recycled milk jugs, this great little toy set comes with a pea pod shaped garden tray, three wee pots, a garden trowel, organic seeds, and soil. The whole set is packaged in recyclable materials.

Alex My Wooden Flower Press – this award winning kit comes with a 7″ wooden flower press that your child can paint plus blotting paper, paints, brushes, tweezers, wooden beads, craft glue, hemp, hole punch and easy instructions.

The Root Viewer Kit is really fun – my son has this and loved watching the roots take shape. The kit includes three heavy-duty viewers, a wooden stand, onion, carrot and radish seeds, growing medium, simple instructions and a growing journal so your child can measure how long it takes for the roots to grow long.

Build-A-Greenhouse Kit – with this kit your child can assemble and paint their very own little greenhouse, decorate it, then grow some plants.

If you’re looking for child sized gardening tools, for a kid who loves to help in the garden already, don’t buy plastic junk, take a look at Ames brand kids’ tools which are downsized for young hands and arms, but quality-built for big (and real gardening) jobs.

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Best Holiday Gardening Gifts for Kids

On the flip side, Toys “R” Us actually has some decent green toys now that cost less than green toys from specialty green toy shops. However, when looking for green toys, at Toys “R” Us or any other toy shop read the fine print. Make sure the toy is actually green. There’s a lot of greenwashing going on and toys are one of the major categories where retailers stretch the truth.

Following are some less expensive non-toxic and green toy finds available at Toys “R” Us that are actually green…

• Eco-Friendly Rainbow Soundblocks (shown above)
• Peter Rabbit Snuggle Organic Cloth Book
• Green Toys Eco-Friendly 17-Piece Tea Set
• Animalz Wooden Hippo
• Eco-Friendly Classic Wooden Balance Bike
• Build and Decorate White Mobile Recycled Cardboard Home
• Green Toys Tool Kit
• PlanToys Eco-Friendly City Station
• Boikido Eco-Friendly Wooden Stacking Gaston the Hedgehog

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Less Expensive Green Toys

Season’s Original Treehouse – BEST toy ever. So darn cute and way fun, this amazing treehouse comes with access from all six sides through windows and doors, trap door, skylights and tower ledges. Kids can pretend to excess with cool extras like the look out tower, swings, rope ladders, transport pulley system, loft, opening and closing shades, knot ropes, clothesline, even a tire swing. Handmade wooden house with non toxic finishes.

Making Flower children – a wonderful and detailed, step-by-step book about making a range of lively, creative flower figures. All activities are organized by season.

The Little Daisy Doll Kit is so sweet and summery! Everything you and your child needs to make your own little Daisy. OR pick up some of these too cute for words new, Wee Seedling Babies (below!)

Last, but not least if your little one has a birthday in August these beautiful little packets of Fairy Garden Seeds will make the perfect party favor. Packaged in a pretty reusable gossamer bag with pressed flowers seal, comes a generous mix of annuals made to please fairies, butterflies, and kids alike. Mix includes bachelor buttons, cosmos, small sunflowers, zinnias, and forget-me-nots, plus comes with a sweet little fairy garden verse.

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Non-toxic summer fantasy toys

Eco Home

Plan Toys makes all their toys with natural fertilizer-free rubberwood recycled from rubber trees that are no longer able to produce latex. Plan Toys are assembled with a proprietary non-formaldehyde glue and contain no formaldehyde emission (E-Zero). Their toys are painted with non-toxic, water based dyes free from lead and mercury. Even their shipping is eco-friendly; all Plan Toys are packaged in recycled and recyclable materials and packaging is printed with soy and water based inks. PLUS Plan Toys uses sustainable energy methods (solar cell and biomass) for their plant machinery that kiln-dries their wood and paint.

Eco Charging Station

Oh and did I mention their toys rock?! In my opinion, your best bet for summer-long fun is to hit the Plan Toys City Collection. You’ll find dollhouses, cars, small people, a hyper cool eco-charger station, pets, gardening supplies, and more.All their toys have eco-aspects that teach littles about going green, like wind turbines and solar panels on the dollhouses, recycling bins, and more.

Rescue Set

Eco Street Accessories

You can find Plan Toys all over the place, but Kangaroo Boo always has a great selection, including the entire Eco Town by Plan Toys shown above and Oompa carries a huge selection of Plan Toys, including extras like all the furniture you need for a Plan Toys dollhouse.

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Plan Toys City for Summer Fun

Simple Shoes: Simple has a great line of eco-friendly kid shoes (and adults if you’re so inclined). They’ve got shoes made with recycled car tires, certified organic cotton, plastic bottles, recycled bike tires, and hemp, among other materials. They’ve even got baby eco shoes and vegan kid shoes to choose from. Simples are not only green but they last and last. I LOVE them. I’ve had one pair of Simples going on 7 years now, and they’re just now starting to be TOO old. They can handle what kids dish up.

ECOZOO animal bags: Perfect for lugging all sorts of summer gear around. Made with organically-grown cotton canvas, non-toxic dyes, recycled plastic components, sustainable wood accents. These bags also have padded shoulder straps and internal pockets. They come in four fun flavors and in case your kid has outgrown the “carry around an animal” stage, Ecogear also carries older kid eco bags too.

Natural & Organic Kids Sunscreen: All kids need sunscreen and Alba Kids Sunscreen 30+ is made with an infusion of certified organic lavender, aloe vera, chamomile, ginkgo biloba, and green tea. Another good one is Goddess Garden’s Kids Natural Sunscreen SPF 30, made with 70% organic ingredients.

An earth friendly kiddie pool: GOOD LUCK! It’s not likely you’ll easily find this item. So far there’s no non-PVC pools for kids readily available that I’ve heard of. You can actually get an earth-friendly (or at least more natural) home swimming pool or somehow locate a smaller used livestock water tank , BUT that seems like a lot of trouble. My advice – check into your local city pool.

Bonus: see some great green toys for summer fun!

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Four ways to outfit kids in summer green

Baby Bronti Small Shelf Unit – made with earth-easy birch panels and child safe powder coated panels. From Glosto.

There’s storage and fun with the ducduc – parker Playtable – Paper Roll – this cool art table with a removable rolling drawer for storage is 100% hardwood, and created with non-toxic lacquered paint. From 2modern.

Jax Organic Storage Tower: Orange from Nest comes in other colors, but my son likes orange so there you go. This is storage made with organic cotton and a sturdy frame so it’ll last for years. From Oompa Toys.

With the above pieces, you can store toys and stay green, all at the same time. Yay.

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Three Green Kid Storage Solutions