Mindzle

Posts Tagged ‘safety’

American made Non-Toxic Toys

One of the greatest times of the year is getting together with family for Christmas morning. Two of my favorite reasons are my niece and nephew. They are fun, happy and are a joy to be around. They are 7 and 4, great ages for Christmas; young enough to still believe in Santa Claus, and old enough to know what is going on and be excited about it.

Children, bright eyed, and full of wonder on Christmas morning is a beautiful sight. In their home surrounded by a mountain of toys, most requiring batteries, with blinking lights, making noises and whirring. Other toys in their toy box because they are broken, the batteries died, or their parents are tired of the noise.

Watching them unwrap their presents I noticed several things. They were only really interested in the process of opening the present and finding the surprise inside. They wanted the toys, but only for a little while. Once they were opened and the surprise was gone, the toys were mostly forgotten. It might be that they only wanted the toys because of tv commercials etc. but it could also be the overwhelming amount of toys they receive on Christmas day and even larger pile that they already own. I really don’t know, but it was clear they wanted to OPEN presents, not really caring about having the contents.

For some time I’ve believed that most toys have taken the imagination and fun out of playing. As a child I loved the original legos, before they started making all the specialty kits. When the niece and nephew come over, they love to get out my old legos and will play for hours. This is something I’ve never seen them do with their pile of battery powered gizmos at home.

I also can’t help but wonder whether all the blinking, talking, whirring, buzzing, lights and sounds of modern toys isn’t somehow associated with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). With so much input, including tv and video games screaming for attention in their lives, kids seem to have trouble sitting down and focusing on one task for any period of time or simply using their imagination.

What we are teaching them by constantly buying them everything they desire and purchasing cheap, foreign made toys?  Children today are surrounded by disposable throw away toys, and items that only fill a want propelled by advertising and “keeping up with the Joneses”. Shouldn’t we be teaching them the benefits of quality over quantity? Shouldn’t we be teaching them to seek the best in themselves and the products they will eventually puchase on their own?

Over the past few years, there has been a great deal of news about toxic pet food,  bad medicine and tainted toys coming into the US market from China. Most recently the press storm has been sparked by the massive recall of Chinese-made Barbie dolls, Polly Pockets and other potentially dangerous toys. Honestly I’m not all that surprised, if you are importing products without restriction or inspection from a country with low safety standards and poor labor laws you should expect cheap, and potentially dangerous products.

The toys we buy today are typically bright, flashy, disposable and often won’t last as long as New Year’s Eve. For our children, they are distracting, annoying and offer little in the way of imagination. Often, they are made in nations without enforceable product or worker safety laws. Sometimes they are even created by workers in slave like conditions who are paid next to nothing.  None of these are values I want to pass on to my niece and nephew.

Next time you are in the market to purchase toys for your children,  try to find toys made in the United States of America, toys that inspire imagination and toys that are of a quality that they could be passed down through to the next generation. There are too few places to buy safe, green toys for the health of your child and the planet. One such store is Hazelnut Kids. Yes, they may be more expensive than the big box stores, but the quality, workmanship and safety of their toys more than make up for the cost differential.  Consider buying more by actually buying less.

My wife and I made the decision to only buy American-made, safe toys for the children in our lives.  Our niece and nephew loved their presents this year, and we feel good about the purchases we made. We know the toys will last a lifetime, and possibly be passed down through several generations. Next time you need to buy a toy for a child in your life, check out Hazelnut Kids and give a gift with value.