Saturday, August 4, 2007

Holztiger Wooden Figures

I've just discovered Holztiger wooden figures. Handmade in Germany from wood and painted with non-toxic paints there is something very desirable about these little figures. I treated myself to a mushroom but I'm also coveting the owl and turtle.

Holztiger Mushroom

I'm not sure you could say these are "green" exactly. I couldn't find out if the hardwood they use is sustainably produced wood and they have to make the journey from Germany but they sure beat the toxic Elmos and Doras currently coming out of China.

You can find a list of US dealers on the Holztiger website. PADiLLY seems to have one of the largest selections and that's where I got mine from.

Let us know if you know of any other greener toy options.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

We adore holztigers in our house! we started our daughter's collection when she was 18 months old and she now has 28 animals, (a year later), which she plays with every day. They are so wonderful in person, especially the bigger chunkier ones like the polar bears. We do prefer the Ostheimer people over Holztiger's though. Not sure exactly why. There is one other company making similar wooden toys but we didn't like them as much...I can't remember the name offhand though.

People make comments about them being expensive, but these same people who have said things to me think nothing of spending $5-10 a whack on junk to mollify their kids, so...$10-14 for an animal you can pass down forever is by far the better deal.

I certainly wasn't trying to avoid poison when we opted for haba blocks and holztiger animals, but with everything I'm reading lately, I'm sure glad we did.

Anonymous said...

i spent a small fortune on these holztigers, they are so addicting! i bought them for everyone for every birthday party when my buddy had them in her store. the kids love them too and they should last for generations.

Anonymous said...

I love the Holztigers as well, and my son has the owl. I found them at the Wooden Wagon, which also has other wood toys. I also read about a new company that is going to make toys out of bioplastics - Green Toy Brands. I am not sure how much safer bioplastics are, but they have to be better than lead Dora toys.

Tracy said...

you know i love mine ;)

GrittyPretty said...

Wow, the Holztiger toys sound fabulous. Ever since I happened upon a Waldorf school toy/book shop (at the Rudolph Steiner College in Northern California) I will never buy "normal" toys again. All of the dolls and activity toys are made from natural materials. My friend buys from the magic cabin catalog for her 9 year old daughter. Check out www.magiccabin.com. We enjoy the beautiful toys as much as the nine year old! I don't have kids yet but I want those toys for me! =)