Basically, We love these toys...

Toys, toys toys! I have to admit I get just as excited about new toys as my kids (sometimes more so… shhhh….) Bells and whistles can entice me sometimes, but what I really love are bright colors, remarkable workmanship and new things to imagine and play. I can look at play sets and dollhouses, fire trucks and baby toys for way too long online. Having a daughter and two sons just opens up the toy horizon even more. We pretty much drool over toys around here (and not just the baby!)

But, when it comes down to it, when you really analyze what my kids play with? The fancy toys don’t really add up to much playtime. And what they play with, oddly mirrors what I remember playing with when I was a kid.

I’m going back to the basics with this review – Blocks and play "silks."

Blocks from Palumba:

When I was a little girl I had a box of colorful wooden blocks. I used to love flipping over the box, and building a little apartment with my blocks. I would make a dining room table and chairs, a couch, a bed. I have my old blocks to this day, and my kids do love to play with them. However, when we get out the blocks, they gravitate towards the cubes and sticks they got from Palumba. (Well, from Santa a couple years ago, but I have it on good authority that Santa got in touch with the folks at Palumba.)

My kids absolutely adore their Cubes and Cherry Building Sticks. They build towers, and bury treasure, and create little houses for their little gnomes.

Both the cubes and sticks work well for loading up a truck:

As a teacher, I have to admit, that one thing I love is toys that teach through imaginative play. The last time we played with the cubes and sticks, we played around with balance, and counting.

My 4 year old is currently very interested in letters, and cubes and sticks really do make great letters!

Speaking of imaginative play, Those sticks make excellent microphones:

Also, if you need to look at something "Way far away," they are just the telescope you've been looking for!

I would love to show you more pictures of the awesome things my kids do with these blocks, but the baby kept knocking them over… then picking one up that is to his liking, and chewing on it for a bit. Sometimes he does change it up a bit by banging them together to make a beautiful song.

They are really the perfect little blocks, in my mind. They aren’t too heavy, but they aren’t too light. They are made from real wood, and are actually quite beautiful! We have the set of 40 sticks (they also come in sets of 20 or 80) and the set of 25 cubes (they also come in a set of 50). Each set comes in a little drawstring cotton bag, which I always intend to use… but somehow clean up time doesn’t work like that around here!

Etsy Play Silks:

Looking at the pictures, you may notice some play "silks." in the background. I have wanted play silks for my kids for awhile, but I didn't want to get real silk, since we try to stay on the vegan side of things around here. I have some cotton rainbow cloths, but was looking for something silkier, when I stumbled upon etsy seller, DreamSpunKids. Their chiffon play silks are light, flowing, and come in a great variety of colors. For the first set we bought (they come in sets of 6, 8 or 12), I picked a handful of bright spring colors, and most recently, I chose colors that reminded me of the fall:

Good thing. Otherwise, how would my children pretend they are autumn trees? Or volcanoes?
These play silks can really be anything. The kids dress up in them, tie them to chairs to make forts: whatever the kids can imagine. My favorite thing to do with them is to help the kids create play-scapes. Here is our lake under construction (See the spot of yellow and orange? That's the "burning hot sun!"):

Playsilks also make a fabulous back drop for plays, puppet shows, or concerts:

I may or may not have even convinced my husband to wear one as a cape at our son's Super Hero birthday party!

(I wore a blue one!)

We love having a bin of play silks in our playroom, and I highly recommend them as a must-have toy!

They aren't just toys though, my new absolute favorite use for them is as present wrapping:If you want to add some pretty special "basic" toys to your child's play room, I say give Palumba's cubes and sticks and the play silk from etsy seller: DreamSpunKids a try.
The imagination and creativity of your child will shine through.

Happy Playing!

10% off at Carl & Me

Looking for wooden toys for the holidays? Carl and Me: Exceptional Toys For Boys (and girls!)offers a selection of safe, woden toys from the USA and Europe suitable for children from babies to teens.

NIC Wooden Toys - Creamobil Little Men 'Pico' ($12.00)

Small Stacking Man ($24.00)

Scalino Bell Tower Set ($78.00)

Carl & Me is especially great for unusual construction toys - the kind my older son Merlin loved when he was in elementary/middle school (and still occasionally plays with at almost 21!).  If you have the kind of child who loves to build and make things work, definitely check out Carl & Me.

Sara's Toy Box readers can take 10% off through the holidays with code "SARA".

Free shipping at Down to Earth Toys

Down To Earth Toys is offering Sara's Toy Box readers free shipping on purchases over $10. Use code "SARA" at checkout. The code is good until 4/30/2010, so you can use it for Easter shopping.

Down to Earth Toys offers a large selection of toys made in the U.S.A. Personally, they are one of my favorites :0) because I know that everything they sell is natural and safe.

My latest favorite new arrival are the walnut castle blocks ($118.95 for the large set)



I think I'm going to have to start saving. Arielle just came over and said, "That looks like a fairy house!" I can just see little fairy dolls making a home with dandelion beds and daisy chairs.

Down to Earth also has a large selection of toys under $20. That's more budget friendly!

The Roy Toy earth Friendly Tree House($17.00) looks like fun. There are several sets of Roy Toys available. They are an updated and eco-friendly building toy similar to Lincoln Logs.



Our very favorite, of course, is the Organic Sock Monkey ($19.95) from Maggie's Organics. Linnea's monkey Poo-Poo is still her constant companion and still holding up to three-year-old love. I just took of Linnea and Poo-Poo watching "Super Why".



It looks like Poo-Poo needs another trip through the washer. Hanging out with Linnea isn't the cleanest job.

Connectagons at Magic Cabin

Connectagons Treetops ($24.98)



Our playroom window looks out on a huge maple tree. Every day we look out and talk about the changes we see. "What color are the leaves?" "What kind of bird is that?" "Uh oh, where did the leaves go?"

I chose the Connectagons Treetops building toy for Arielle because its a fun way for her play to reflect the things she is learning about AND because the 242 pieces include 3 types of birds - cardinals, blue jays and goldfinches. This is still not enough birds for Arielle who says "the good thing about trees is that birds can live in them." And, of course, the set also includes tree bases, branches (Arielle thinks the half-rounds look like nests), and leaves in five different colors.

According to Arielle this tree is good for "playing birds, and that is it!" I think it is a little more versatile than that. She had a lot of fun building and changing her tree. And, while it is fun to play with, the tree also makes a fun and interactive addition to a nature or season's table.






The pieces are made of wood and painted with non-toxic paints. Yes, like many Magic Cabin exclusives, they are made in China. All products sold by Magic Cabin must undergo safety testing by their Product Safety and Quality Compliance team. You can read more about safety here.

Connectagons are recommended for ages four and up. Linnea (almost 3) found them frustrating and difficult to manipulate, but Arielle (5) could build her trees quite easily. The Connectagons Collection is exclusive to Magic Cabin and HearthSong and includes several styles of Connectagons that can be used separately or combined.

Magic Cabin and HearthSong are participating in the Campaign to Reforest America. For every tree used for catalogs, two seedlings are planted, and when you make a purchase, they will send a seedling to your choice of three state reforestation program. So, playing trees helps trees.

Baufix Super Barrel

If you have a child who wants to fix or build things, the Baufix Super Barrel ($59.95) is a great deal and would make an excellent Christmas gift. This large bucket is filled with 113 different screws, nuts, wheels and wooden pieces galore. They can be combined in endless ways that are as unique and interesting as your child's imagination. Or, there is a picture book of instructions for a variety of vehicles.

For ages 3-6 although I think older children would still enjoy the set. I know that big brothers do. Here's my 23 year old step-son Frank building a fire engine.



Baufix are made in Germany. Most of the pieces are made of hardwoods and painted with non-toxic paints, but a few pieces are safe plastic. Here's Arielle's creation, she followed the instructions with her big brother's help .



But, she usually builds bird houses (of course!).

Linnea likes to take things apart. The little purple washers also make nice princess rings.

The set is of very nice quality and is one of the nicer building sets that I've seen. Our only problem was that in the winter, the girls like to play near the heating vents. I had to put in metal screens to catch the small pieces. Check out Carl & Me; they have a nice selection of Baufix building sets in various sizes suitable for all ages, and other building sets. Everything is made in the USA or Europe. Shipping is only $5.95 and there is free shipping on purchases over $100.

The best sand toy ever!!!!

Even the college-aged big brothers loved it!

The Sand Play Castle ($22.98) from Magic Cabin Toys is comprised of twenty-two large pieces that stack and connect to form wonderful structures reminiscent of Rube Goldberg machines (you know, the mouse pedals a bicycle and makes the spaghetti boil which makes a bird jump which makes a whistle toot... and so on..) The sieves, funnels, wheels, strainers and levers move sand (or water) from top to bottom and actually fulfilled the promise of hours of outdoor entertainment. Not just for the two and four year old little girls, but also for their big brothers and dad. I played a bit as well.

The Sand Play Castle is made in the Czech Republic of high quality, pthallate-free plastic .

Here are the girls and big brother, Merlin, trying it out.



As you can see, the pieces stack together, but can also be used independently. There is plenty for everyone.



They had to try it out while they worked.


Linnea was really busy.


Almost done.


Will it work?


Yay! A moving, working sand tower machine. And next time, they can build something completely different.


What a great way to learn and play.


This is not a small toy, but add a few buckets and you have everything you need for the beach or sandbox.

Piece-ful Farm from Magic Cabin

Pieceful-Farm ($34.98)




This sweet toy from Sevi is a 7 x 7 x 1.5 inch wooden box containing little wooden play figures. These include a little farm mill with water wheel, a barn or hen house, a tree, a duck, a chicken ,a rooster, a tub of water, a laundry line stretched between two poles that insert in the box, laundry that can hang on the line, and a pretty doll with long blond ponytails. And, playing with this can keep my girls busy for hours. Arielle particularly enjoys the farm birds and loves to have the "Princess" take care of them.






The game is suggested for ages three and up, but we've let Linnea play with it while supervised. The biggest problem has been that she wants to dress the doll in the clothes, but they are only meant to be used as laundry on the line. Linnea insists that the tub of water is a TV. She turns it on its side and lines up the farm animals so they can watch it -- so I guess, depending on the child's imagination and interpretation, there are many possibilities for play.



At clean up time, everything fits neatly back in - just like a puzzle with each piece in its specially marked spot.



Little, self-contained sets like these help to promote independent play. They are easy to transport and are perfect for airplane travel, going to grandma's house, restaurants, waiting rooms, etc. They are also a great new sibling gift, as they are a creative way for an older sibling to play quietly while Mom is nursing the new baby. The box makes the toy feel special, and clean-up is easy. I've been keeping ours on the dining room table to keep the girls occupied while I cook.

It could also be combined with blocks for more fun play options.



Also available are an eight piece transportation set (very cool with train, helicopter, construction vehicle, truck, taxi, garage and mechanic) and a bigger, nineteen piece city set ($69.98). The sets are mde of wood and colored with vegetable-based dyes. They are very high quality, but they are made in China. They are manufactured under the direct supervision of Sevi, an Italian company that has been making toys since 1831. Sevi products meet all U.S. and European safety standards.