Store Review: Palumba

This week, there was another round of recalls of plastic toys -- and the moms who buy these toys are scared and outraged. Not only do these toys pose potential danger to our children, but when we buy plastic, we ,in some not so small way, exchange the future of our Earth for our child's fleeting enjoyment of the toy. Wouldn't it be better if toys were non-toxic, Earth-friendly, and made to last?

I was thinking of this last week when I did a search on organic toys, and found the website of Palumba. Palumba offers organic, green-built, handmade children's items created from ALL-NATURAL materials. Eighty-percent of their products are made in the USA, and the rest are crafted in Fair Trade Cooperatives. ALL of their toys are made without any toxins or unsafe parts, all are of heirloom quality and crafted with "green" technology. Many of their wooden items are made of dead or fallen trees and are protected with a beeswax finish. Smaller item are made of scraps (called fall-off) produced from their larger items. They do not like to waste ANYTHING - it is their "leave no footprint" philosophy which is reflected throughout their site. They even save sawdust to create their own own cherry-walnut glue.

Pictures of the Camden Rose (American) workshops where many Palumba products are made.

What I like best about the beautiful Palumba site is that it reminds me of my own childhood on a farm in Kentucky. I would play with my dolls on the banks of a small waterfall. I had sticks, stones, leaves, grass, water and clay -- what more did I need? I could use my imagination to transform these raw materials into castles or space ships or gourmet meals, and I learned an appreciation of nature that later led to my career in science.

I now live near a busy highway, and our village is not a safe place for my children to run free and play outdoors like I did. Lucky for us, Palumba offers simple, natural toys that bring nature indoors and mix well with a bit of imagination. For instance - Sticks! A muslin bag full of cherry wood sticks (6” long, and 3/4” wide and 3/4” thick) that are very smooth with rounded edges, and finished with beeswax. I ordered two sets of 20 ($12.99). One was for my home and one for a sweet little boy who is turning three this month. Well... they arrived today, and I have to order another set. I left them on the table and Merlin (almost 18 years old!) got into the first set. Arielle came along to play with him and build a house out of sticks for her pig puppet. Then Linnea crawled over and looked at the sticks enviously - where were the baby sticks? Sticks are non-toxic and perfectly fine for little ones, so I opened the second bag for her. Obviously, 20 wasn't enough!



I also ordered A Simple Strainer, the Good Honey Pot and Dipper (Army Bear loved this), and Cute Cherries. And, I have my eye on quite a few other items (I'll let you know about everything, of course).

In addition to their beautiful selection of hand-crafted toys, Palumba offers clothing items, bowls and spoons, watercolor supplies, carefully chosen books, handmade lyres and child-sized cleaning tools. Palumba has asked that I feature the following products.

Baby & Toddler Woolen Slippers ($29.99-$39.99 depending on size)

These colorful slippers are made of New Zealand wool and hand-crafted in Canada. The slippers come in a kaleidoscope of lovely and vibrant colors and are sure to stay on even energetic toddler feet. They even have adult sizes. It's an icy cold morning here, and I'm thinking I may need a pair to warm my own icy toes.

Skittles ($24.99 unfinished, $29.99 finished with bee's wax)

Skittles are made of all solid hardwood pieces. The game is similar to bowling, as the goal is to knock pins down with balls. There are nine plain pins, one striped headpin and two balls in a cloth bag and a link to instructions for many different games from ancient to modern. The hardwood bowling balls are choking-safe (if little ones are around) and have no finish, but you can shine them up with bee's wax polish. The game is just right for playing in a long hallway on an icy cold day when you can't go outdoors.

Treasure Chest ($29.99 or $32.99 with a set of jewels and wood coins)

We could have used a treasure chest like this one a few days ago when we were pirates sailing the living room floor in search of hidden treasure. It is constructed from solid cherry wood with formaldehyde-free leather and rivet detail and measures 8.5 W x 7H x 6D. They also offer a treasure map for serious treasure seekers.

Enter "sarastoybox" in the coupon code section of our checkout page for 5% off your purchase at Palumba. The code is valid until 12/10/07. Remember that the coupon name is all one word and does not contain an apostrophe.

Gifts Ideas from Super Stores

This post is especially for wonderful Carrie, although recently I've heard this question asked on every mommy-board I've visited.



What do you do? You've stopped buying toys that are made in China, but your child is having a birthday party and the guests are calling and asking what to get her. You don't want to ask for pricey gifts, you know money could be an issue ,and it is so much easier for the gift giver to pick up something at Target. Most of all, you dread taking away that obnoxious toy with lights and squeaks after your child has bonded with it. What do you ask for?

Alternately, you get a last minute birthday party invitation and have no time to shop and don't want to pay outrageous shipping fees for a nice gift to arrive in time. What do you give?

Clothing
Always a good stand-by. Winter is coming, do you have enough socks, slippers and woolly hats?

Music
Music tames the savage beast. Or, gives her something to dance to. From Baby Einstein and Sesame Street to Hannah Montana and High School Musical, kids of all ages like music.
We like:
A Mother's Gift: Lullabies From the Heart
Groove to the Music
Wonder Pets!
Philadelphia Chickens
Not for Kids Only

DVD's
Again, good for all ages.
Some of our favorites:
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (The Friendship Edition)
The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Other Stories
Curious George (Full Screen Edition)

LEGO
The LEGO company is amazingly responsible. You can feel good about LEGO. This includes Duplo and Quatro for younger children.

Edited from the Lego website:

"The LEGO Group has been a world leader in such areas as human rights, labour standards, the environment and the fight against corruption. LEGO tries to minimize the waste and energy used during the manufacturing process, avoiding materials which cause toxic substances and fumes, and are harmful for both children and their employees. LEGO uses primarily ABS plastics in the manufacture of its products. This ABS material has been specially developed for our company and is constantly tested in the company's laboratories. All LEGO play materials carry the EU CE symbol. The symbol means that the LEGO Group guarantees that the product complies with the European Toy Directive. Products manufactured for the American market must satisfy the Code of Federal Regulation and ASTM standard F963. The LEGO Group is a member of both TIE (Toy Industries of Europe) and TIA (Toy Industries of America), and chairs the European committee for standardisation of toy safety. Through TIE and the European standardisation committee, CEN, the LEGO Group is actively engaged in defining toy standards which can promote safety in the toy sector. LEGO is manufactured in Europe and North America"

Art Supplies and Office Supplies
Scissors, sketch books, construction paper, crayons, staplers, Post-It pads, colored pencils, crayons, paint, big rolls of adding machine paper, labels and especially stickers can provide hours and hours of fun. Big kids love calculators.

Books
Board books, picture books, chapter books and pretty pop-up books. Books are great gifts, and my kids love them. Schools have Scholastic book fairs where you can get great deals. Or, give a Border's gift certificate.

Gift certificates for a movie, play, zoo, bowling, skating, etc.
There's nothing a child likes more than having fun with her family. If there's something you've always wanted to do with your child, ask for tickets. Then you'll have to make time.
Or, DVD rental and snacks.

Think outside the toy box
Potting soil, flower pots and begonia seeds. Paperwhite bulbs and a shallow dish to grow them in. Knitting needles and a ball of pretty yarn. A bird house and an identification guide. A disposable camera and photo album. A portable CD player. Homemade muffin mix (just the dry ingredients) with a recipe and child-size muffin tin. A sewing kit. Homemade play dough (or cookie dough), a rolling pin and cookie cutters. California Baby bubble bath and a bath mitt. Posters. A magazine subscription.

An on-line wish list, such as Wish Central, allows you to create wish lists from any store in one place that is easily accessible to family and friends.

Ten awesome toys under $10

Ten wonderful toys under $10.00 - for gift giving, stocking stuffing or just because.

Haba apple $1.94

One perfect tiny apple to tempt the imaginary snacker. It was these apples, that started my love affair with Haba.

Tiny Pot $2.50
This 2 inch "useful pot" is perfect for toy kitchens, hungry teddy bears, storing acorn caps, or a finger puppet's bath. Babies love them, too. But, Linnea can fit the whole lid in her mouth - so supervise them.

Tree flakes - $3.25

One hundred tree flakes in a bag. Three Sisters Toys suggests these for art projects. They look like troll money to me. How many tree flakes to cross that bridge?

Baby bucket - $5.69

We have one for the sand box, one for the bath tub, one for the toy box, one for the trunk of the car. PVC free. Linnea loves to eat with the spoon-shaped shovel. Arielle likes to cook blueberry porridge for her bear or to collect pretty leaves on our walks. They have a thousand uses.

Acorns $4.25

If that troll won't take tree flakes, give him an acorn. Or invite squirrels to tea. Maybe even use them to catch fairies. Who doesn't need an acorn?

Ball - $4.79

Just right for babies, toddlers and preschoolers. This small ball (5.5") rolls and bounces and lasts for years.

Play clips - $5.99

Play clips are useful for holding a blanket securely over two chairs and making a castle or a pirate ship. No more worrying that the sail is going to fall down while you search the seven seas for hidden treasures.

Cape $9.00
Super heroes, brave knights and beautiful princesses need capes. These capes are 22" long and fit ages 2-7. If your hero is especially super, matching masks are $3.00


Cubes $9.99

This set of 35 1-1/4 inch natural wood cubes comes in a muslin storage sack. Who needs fancy?

Magic wand - $10.00

When you have a magic wand, all your dreams can come true. Perfect for granting wishes and turning your brother into a toad. This one is handmade and super special. Or you can make your own.

Potty Learning Adventures - Books, DVD's and Dolls

This week we've been busy with potty learning. It's been an adventure - especially since pretending the potty is a hat is the funniest thing ever around here. One would think that since Arielle is my third child, this would be easy. Ha! Elfie was bribed with ruffled underpants and never had an accident because she didn't want to mess them up. Merlin just needed a guy to show him how to pee standing up. But, Arielle... well, she wants to do it her own way.

My biggest mommy challenge has been keeping her on the potty long enough for something to happen. Fortunately, Arielle loves nothing better than a good book, and there are some excellent potty stories out there. While not exactly toys, I think books fall under the scope of this blog and this gives me an excuse to ramble about them.

We started off with rather conventional books like Big Girls Use the Potty! ( or Big Boys Use the Potty!), First Experiences: It's Potty Time (First Experiences), Once Upon a Potty -- Girl ( also available in Once Upon a Potty -- Boy) and A Potty for Me!: A Lift-the-Flap Instruction Manual. These books are useful because they convey the basics of what needs to be done; however, as stories, they are boring. We like storie with a sense of humor - even potty humor. Here are my picks for your bathroom library.

Sam's Potty - ($4.91) This is part of the Sam series by Barbro Lindgren that was originally published in Swedish. My older kids loved the Sam books, but Amazon reviewers claim they aren't very politically correct. Sam's potty isn't very educational. Sam doesn't want to use the potty and tries to get Doggie to use it for him. Doggie doesn't sit on the potty very well, so Sam shows him how it is done. The illustrations are hilarious and Arielle thought Doggie on the potty was just so funny.

Zoo Poo - ($5.95) The main point is that all animals poop, but children can use the potty. It's pretty silly and made Arielle laugh.

Where's the Poop? - ($8.99) This is another book about animal poop. In each illustration, there are three flaps. The parent animal always asks the child if they pooped today, and the reader has to find the poop. The poop is always in the same place, indicating that there is an appropriate place for poop. The final illustration, shows a child using the toilet. Arielle loved the flaps, and seeing the penguin poop made her day.

Everyone Poops - ($4.96) This Japanese book explains that "everyone eats, so everyone poops". The illustrations aren't particularly great, nor is the text especially enlightening, yet all my children loved this book and giggled like crazy at "A one hump camel makes a one hump poop. And a two hump camel makes a two hump poop." Maybe it's just me that doesn't get it.

Time to Pee! - ($7.25) This book I get, and love. Mo Willems is the award-winning author of the wonderful Knufflebunny and Pigeon books and a writer for Sesame Street. It features children going potty accompanied by swarms of mice that carry signs reminding children to flush, wipe and wash hands. It's instructional and plain silly. It also come with reward stickers.

The Story of the Little Mole Who Went in Search of Whodunit - ($10.71) Poor mole! He leaves his hole one morning, and Splat! a poop lands on his head. So he goes in search of Whodunit. It is too funny, although maybe not so polite. If you just get one of these books, this should be the one. Both Arielle and I love it.

I also encourage Arielle to sit on her potty and watch her DVD's. We suggest the following.

Sesame Street - Elmo's Potty Time ($9.99) - Every one's favorite furry red monster explains using the potty, and Curly Bear (Baby Bears younger sister) makes her first poop in the potty. There are also segments about hand washing, growing up, and giant gorillas. Arielle loves Elmo and I love Sesame Street, so this appealed to me. I can't count how many times we've watched this and it is perfectly oriented towards two- and three-year olds.

Once Upon a Potty For Her ( 0r Once Upon a Potty For Him) - ($12.99) This got some poor reviews on Amazon, but both Arielle and Linnea enjoyed it. It's basically the book with a song about going potty. Linnea was bouncing up and down and clapping to the song and Arielle asked to watch it three times in a row. I could see the song driving me batty if we watched it every day, but if it gets my girls on the potty, I'm all for it.

We also received the Once Upon a Potty Doll ($16.99). The doll isn't of great quality and looks better in the picture, but Arielle doesn't care. The doll is somewhat anatomically correct and comes dressed in a removable diaper and t-shirt and with her own mini potty. Arielle has been teaching the doll to use the potty all day. The doll is made in China.

Corolle also makes a potty training doll. Emma ($34.95 or Paul) is a drink and wet doll that comes with a bottle, pacifier, potty, diaper and underpants. This vinyl doll can also be played with in the bathtub and meets European safety standards.

All too soon, it will be Linnea's turn.

First Birthday Toys

Our babies are turning one, and the hottest topic of discussion in our mommy's group is First Birthday gifts. By this time next year, our babies will have strong likes and dislikes and gift giving will be easier. For now, do we choose that special gift that our one-year-old will love, but not quickly outgrow?

Here are my top suggestions.

1. Blocks


A good set of blocks starts out small and grows with the child. They can be used for knocking down, stacking, and building. My older children played blocks until their early teens and can still be persuaded to build a palace or a robot for a younger sister.

I love the bright colors and patterns on Haba blocks. They have mirrors, prisms - even bells. When Linnea finds a block with a bell, her whole face lights up. Either Haba's Discovery Blocks ($17.99) or Erste Steine Wooden Baby Blocks ($23.49) or even Fantasy Blocks ($32.98) are great starter sets that can be expanded on when the baby is ready for more blocks.

2. A Doll

On Merlin's first birthday (he'll be 18 soon!), I took him to the toy store to see what kind of toys he liked. The thing that really appealed to him was a big squishy baby doll.

Babies like to cuddle and a cuddly doll will be the focus of pretend play for a few years. I'd keep the doll simple, with sewn down hair and no parts that can be removed.

Linnea will be getting the Pea Pod Baby from A Toy Garden, which is made by hand in the U.S. (be sure to use our discount code STB1007). Another nice option is Magic Cabin's organic woolen baby doll which sells for $49.98. Joy's Waldorf Doll's Heavy Baby ($49.98) is very sweet and is also available in a kit, if you'd prefer to make your own. And you can't go wrong with a Kathe Kruse Nicki Baby ($18.95).

If plastic is OK, >Babipouce ($21.95) are adorable and just the right size for a one year old. They have a soft vanilla scent.

3. Cars and trucks

While my son got a doll for his first birthday, my daughters received trucks. Elfie's was a red fire truck and Arielle's was a big yellow dump truck. Palumba's Dandy Delivery Truck ($19.99) appears to be a nice choice with room in the back for a small doll. Although pricey, Selecta cars and trucks like Autorello ($26.99), Autopino ($16.99), and Topeto ($12.99) are beautiful and unique. Selecta also makes an abundance of fun push and pull toys that are available at either Oompa or Blueberry Forest and make excellent gifts. Finally, I love the simplicity of Bajo cars and trucks ($7.49-$19.99) - especially the girly car which is exclusive to Oompa.

4. Wagon

Babies love something to push, and a wagon gives a wobbly walker some stability and allows a little one to take her treasures with her. Arielle had the Brio Doll Pram ($29.99). It was inexpensive, but fell apart within months. I called Brio and they shipped me a new one, this also fell apart. I've heard nice things about the Radio Flyer Walker Wagon ($67.99). The Haba pushing car ($153.99) is quite expensive, and has room for a bear or doll. Other Haba options include the doll pram in blue and red ($119.00) or girly pinks ($148.99) and a walker wagon ($135.00). My only problem with the walker wagon is that it says it is not intended for children to sit in, but it's shape certainly invites sitting. Finally, there is the wagon of my dreams, the Micky Walker Wagon from Bartl. This adorable mouse has two smaller mice that trail behind. I lucked onto a sale last week and ordered it. It requires assembly, but I'll definitely be reviewing it in the future.

5. Ball

It's simple and inexpensive and (yes) plastic, but one of Linnea's favorite toys is this ball from Togu. Maukilo.com carries a wonderful selection of Togu balls ($4.50-$8.50 depending on size, and I suggest the smaller balls like the one Linnea is chasing). Togu balls are made in Germany and their toys meet all European safety standards, so no phthlatates or PVC. This particular ball has been around for almost three years and is still bouncing strong.

The blocks, the Haba and Bartl wagons, the Nicki Doll and several of the cars and trucks as well as a small selection of Togu balls are available at >Oompa, and Oompa has generouly given us a 5% discount code (2007SARAS) which is good until November 21.

Happy Birthday to all you wonderful November 2006 babies!

Making Play Silks

Play silks are an amazing toy. Depending on the size, a playsilk can be a knight's cape or a princess's veil; it can be a magic carpet, a table cloth or a baby blanket; it can be a canopy or a house made of straw for the Big Bad Wolf to blow away. And, finger puppets love them. The uses of a playsilk are endless, so they are a staple for pretend play. They are available from a variety of toy companies: A Toy Garden, Palumba, Magic Cabin, Blueberry Forest, and most of the other web sites I have listed. They run about $10.00-$15.00 for a large square. But, it is both cheap and easy (and a fun activity for older children) to make your own playsilks.

Silk scarves are available from Dharma Trading Company. They are available in a variety of weights, textures and shapes. But, a good place to start is with a 30"x30" square of 12mm silk satin ($3.69). However, heavier weights, feather light chiffon, huge squares, tiny squares and even rectangles can be fun.

And, don't forget that white is a color, too. Linnea loves to play peek-a-boo (and Arielle has pretended to be a ghost) under an undyed chiffon scarf.

Here are two methods for dying scarves. I suggest wearing disposable gloves for both methods.

Kool-Aid Dyeing in the microwave

Kool-Aid dyeing is cheap and works well for bright solid colors. If you do a quick Google search, there are tons of methods for doing this. This is what worked for me.

1. Soak scarf in a bowl of hot water with a splash of vinegar for about half an hour.

2. Mix 2 cups water, 1/2 cup vinegar and 3 packets of unsweetened Kool-Aid in the color of your choice in a large glass bowl.

3. Add the scarf and cover with plastic wrap. The scarf should be loosely placed and not tightly wrapped into a ball as you want the dye to permeate through the fabric.

4. Microwave on high for three minutes. Allow to sit for three minutes.

5. Carefully (watch for steam) remove the plastic wrap and stir using a fork. Replace plastic wrap.

6. Repeat steps 3 and 4, stir and then repeat again.

7. After three cycles of heating and resting, allow dye to cool. When it is cool enough to handle, remove scarf and hang to dry. Wash in cold water, dry on low and iron. You have your very own silkie!

Silk Painting

Silk painting is slightly more complicated (although an 8 year old can do it) and slightly messier, but allows you to make textured designs like rivers and multi-colored designs like rainbows.

I use a thin silk paint like Pebeo Setasilk. You will also need gloves, garbage bags and old towels to protect your floor or work space, soft paint brushes, and an iron. You can use a spray bottle of water or a dropper to create special effects.

1. Protect your work area. I use a layer of garbage bags, followed by an old towel, and another garbage bag on top.

2. Lightly spray the silk with water until it is just damp. If it is very wet, the colors will not be as intense.

3. Paint. Rinse the brush between colors. The colors are thin and will bleed and mix together. Red near green and blue near orange will turn muddy, otherwise, there are no rules. Use as many colors as you desire. I think the biggest mistake is using too much dye as it runs everywhere. If you would like try drops of water (fading).

4. Leave scarf to sit until partly dry.

5. Hang to dry.

6. Iron for about 5 minutes. Wash in cold, dry on low, iron to remove wrinkles.

7. You are done. Yay! Let me know how it goes.

A Toy Garden - I got my order!

It arrived so quickly! and the timing (2 days) was perfect. We were on our way to the doctor's office and had a long wait ahead of us.

Everything was beautifully wrapped in sunny yellow tissue paper, so just opening the box made us happy. But, I bet you're thinking "OK already, Sara, tell us what you got!!!"

OK. We ordered this sweet little set of four vehicles.

I recently got rid of the little plastic cars and was looking for an inexpensive replacement. The set of four is $19.99. The wheels seem to be very secure and I had no qualms about letting Linnea play with them.

Arielle was very excited about the "holicopter". She and her daddy spend a lot of time talking about helicopters and she misses him right now. She chose the helicopter and truck and very reluctantly agreed that Linnea could play with the bus and car. These worked great for keeping them entertained as we waited to be called for my appointment.

The wood is not the smoothest, but isn't splintery. Overall, we are quite happy and think this would make an excellent second birthday gift or stocking stuffer for a young child who likes cars.

We also ordered this rainbow puzzle.

The colors are intense and beautiful. The finger puppets had a blast playing on it, and Linnea really enjoyed emptying the tray out - over and over an over. While there is a bit of an oily smell to the plant-based non-toxic stains, we also have Spiel and Holz stacking cups and the smell goes away fast.

While traditional puzzles are great, they are like coloring books. They teach a particular skill and don't necessarily encourage creativity. I love puzzle toys that can be used in a variety of ways. The puppets were building houses for the big bad wolf to blow down. The puzzle could also be used with blocks or as a pie or to learn colors or make patterns. A good deal for $14.95.

Finally, we ordered the medium set of rainbow arches.

The arches arrived separately, and at first Arielle was far more interested in the bubble wrap., so Linnea got to check the arches out first. First she did what eleven-month-olds enjoy most, she threw them. But, eventually she decided they looked like telephones and held one up to her ear while she said "Hi, Dad." So sweet. But, soon enough the bubbles were popped and the arches were snatched away. Apparently they also make excellent finger puppet beds - what a surprise!

These were our most expensive purchase at $24.95. A larger set is available for $59.95. I'm sure they'll be enjoyed in many ways, both independently and in combination with the stacking cups, small puzzle pieces, little cars, finger puppets, wooden animals and other toys.