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...the search for The Perfect Doll...

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Featured Site: Fine Wooden Toys

Here's a tidbit about this week's featured online store, Fine Wooden Toys:

Fine Wooden Toys is a small home-based business in rural Missouri, and we conduct all sales through our website at www.finewoodentoys.com. I started the business in 2005 with the goal of creating a easy-to-use resource for parents and schools seeking the high-quality, natural wooden toys and puzzles that are so scarce in today's department stores.

When I was a new mom, I was disturbed by the prevalence of shiny, unforgiving, hard plastic beeping and flashing toys lining department store shelves - seemingly to the exclusion of toys that might actually require or stimulate imagination. I felt like there was a conspiracy to train my baby/toddler to be a future video-game champion, by only teaching him push-button-get-response.

I remembered my own childhood, where wooden building blocks and other open-ended toys became anything I could imagine and create. Nearly 40 years later, I still remember the smell and the feel of the unfinished hardwood unit blocks - and how they could be roads, fences, castles, towers, boats - anything! I want my own son to experience this joy - the joy of imagination and the natural feel, smell, taste and sound of wood.

When I decided to open a web-based toy store of my own in 2005, my dream was to find beautiful, natural, imagination-inspiring wooden toys and puzzles, and make them available to parents like myself who yearned for them. And find them I did!

When I first discovered the handcrafted wooden puzzles and toys by Spiel and Holz Design of Germany, I was stunned by their unique beauty, versatility and play value, and knew then that I had to bring these amazing products to the US. In addition to the largest online selection of Spiel & Holz in the US, I also offer the very best educational and developmental toys and puzzles by Melissa & Doug, Plan toys, Selecta, Chelona, and more. Most of our toys and puzzles are for toddlers, preschoolers and kindergarten-aged children, but we are beginning to add more baby toys.

One of the true joys of being a small company is that have total control and intimate knowledge of every product that I sell - each has been hand-picked so that I know I am offering only the best. If I feel that a product is not quite measuring up to my standards for quality, it will be dropped and replaced with something better. I pass on the best prices that I can to my customers, and provide large, clear images and informative descriptions of each product, so that my customers are well informed. Every order is then given my own personal attention, packaged careful and shipped quickly. If a problem should arise, I pride myself in my customer service - because don't we all deserve decent, honest and friendly service in this automated age?

Sincerely,
Darci Gonzalez, President

Thanks, Darci!

Featured Site: Kids-Unplugged.com

Here's a tidbit about this week's featured online store, Kids Unplugged:

Our Mission:

At Kids Unplugged we offer a variety of quality wooden toys and games that inspire children to use creativity and develop their imaginations. Our toys have few adult prescribed uses and rely on your child’s imagination instead. They are not battery powered…they are kids powered. Better toys for bigger minds!

Hi my name is Samantha Suter and I am the founder and owner of Kids Unplugged. Established in 2004, we are a small home-based business in San Diego, California, with a passion for what we provide. In the hope of creating a more creative and nurturing environment for my own children I began to explore the concept of non-electronic and open-ended, wooden toys. As parents, we want to inspire our children to develop their imaginations through creative play. A sort of “back-to-basics” approach…no batteries required. I have always appreciated finding noise free, educational toys, and in our family we believe that quality far outweighs quantity when it comes to our children.

We support reforestation projects, and many of our toy makers are actively involved in replanting what they harvest. We have found that many parents in our local community share our desire for high integrity, well-made, open-ended toys for their children and grandchildren. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring these toys not only to our own children, but to our community as well.

Are these toys safe?

At Kids Unplugged we take safety very seriously. We take tremendous pride in only providing safe, high quality wooden toys and games for children of all ages. All of our toys are made from natural, and nontoxic materials with consideration to their effect on the environment. The paints used on our toys are non-toxic, eco-friendly lacquers (polypheyl acetate based). The colors do not contain heavy metals and many are given a beeswax finish to ensure durability. We would like to assure our customers, that none of the brands or toys offered in our store were involved in the recent recalls.

Thanks, Samantha!

A few words...

Okay, so I've run into a couple of things that I feel might ought to be clarified...

1. We are not militantly anti-electronic. You have to admit, there are some battery-operated toys and gadgets out there that come in quite handy when it comes to parenting. We are just completely fed up with the endless barrage of unnecessarily obnoxious toys that jump at us from department store shelves, sometimes when we least expect it. We like to think that imaginations should be more freely allowed to make their own unique sounds during playtime.
2. Some of the retailers on our "Where To Find" list may actually carry some 'noisy' toys -- 'noisy' meaning 'with electronic, artificially created, battery-operated innards.' (*Gasp!*) That's okay. Feel free to shop around them.

There you have it.

Your 2 cents

Have you shopped with any of the retailers on our "Where to Find Toys Without Noise" list? Do you know of another spectacular online store where one might find more Toys Without Noise? We want to hear from you! Please leave a comment on this post and let us know. We'd like to see reviews of specific products, testimonials of shopping experiences with specific companies, and any other useful information that might come in handy to our fellow shoppers. Come on, now...don't be shy!

'Toys Without Batteries' On Display

Check out this article from the Fairmont State University website! It's a year old (10/26/06), but it was a fantastic concept and I wanted to make note of it. Be sure to check out those links! (complete text pasted below):

'Toys Without Batteries' on Display

The Community Education program of Pierpont Community & Technical College of Fairmont State University will present “They Still Make Toys Without Batteries!” This November event will be an opportunity to shop for children’s gifts that don’t bleep, whir, flash or sing.

The one-of-a-kind showcase will be Saturday, Nov. 11, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Pricketts Fort State Park Visitor Center and will feature the toys of Duck Soup, Vitoria & Banks (misprint: should be "Vittoria & Banks"), Usburne Books (misprint: should be "Usborne"), Cecil Craft Shop, Mountain Craft Shop and Discovery Toys. Admission is free.

If you are looking for gifts that will entertain and inspire children’s imaginations (without using batteries), this is the program for you. Whether you are looking for something that is unique, traditional, handmade or “hot off the shelves,” you’ll find it at this event, in which local vendors display and offer their products for sale in advance of the holiday rush.

“Everything is children-focused,” said Melissa May Dobbins, Executive Director of the Pricketts Fort Memorial Foundation.

Ron Weist, Director of Community Education for Pierpoint C&TC, said holding the showcase at Pricketts Fort is a good fit because of the venue’s focus on history and handmade crafts. Those attending the toys program will also have the opportunity to tour the visitor center second floor orientation gallery.