I don’t know if you remember the DIY doctor’s kit post, but I just found a super sweet felt box that would be perfect if you’re considering making this for your child.

This wonderful First Aid Basket, made of eco-friendly wool felt is made by the always amazing En Gry og Sif, a company started by two sisters who in Copenhagen, Denmark. All their toys are handmade and lovely. This box would be perfect for medical pretend play.

Kids love to play doctor and vet pretend games. Sadly, for kids who like to pretend there aren’t many play doctor kits available. Or at least there are few made of non-plastic materials AND I’ve never seen a pretend vet set made with eco-friendly materials. I know of two decent doctor kits if your kiddo wants to pretend to give his little sister shots though…

Doctor`s Suitcase from Haba – This German made kit is made with metal and wood non-toxic materials – not plastic. Comes with 1 prescription pad, 1 pencil, 1 tongue depressor, 1 wooden syringe, 1 little medicine tube, 1 tube of ointment, 1 spoon, 1 wood thermometer, 4 band aids, 1 elastic bandage and 1 metal suitcase with a wooden handle. The small size of some of the pieces in this set means it’s not suitable for children under the age of 3 years.

Wonderworld Eco-Friendly Handy Doctor Set – this kit made by eco-friendly Wonderworld from environmentally friendly rubber wood and strictly using non-toxic paints, dyes and lacquers and formaldehyde free glue is plushy and soft and nicely multicolored. Suitable for ages 36 months and up

BUILD YOUR OWN DOCTOR’S KIT:

My son never owned a play doctor’s kit because before I started writing full time I was in college planning on becoming a CNM. Time wise writing made more sense for my family. However, we didn’t realize this until after clinicals. So, long story short – Cedar had access to some actual medical supplies. He love playing with my (very expensive) stethoscope, wrapping his arm up in gauze and taking his own blood pressure. After supervising him with my medical gear I realized he wasn’t going to kill himself with it so when he wanted to play doctor I’d let him use my stuff and never had to buy him a pretend kit.

Luckily, although my gear for clinicals was more expensive, you don’t have to spend a lot on medical gear if you’re not actually treating real patients in clinicals. You can snag some cool stuff and build a DIY play doctor kit for about $40-$50 depending on how well you shop around. Bonus, real gear works better and lasts longer than fake gear. Just aim for small sizes.

• First snag a plain metal lunch box for less than $10 – you can write “Doctor’s Kit” on the outside with a non-toxic permanent marker. Then fill it with the following supplies…
• $6 – Discount Single Head Stethoscope
• Better yet grab a super deal on a Classic Blood Pressure Kit, Pediatric – comes with a pediatric cuff and stethoscope for just $12 – a great deal considering most blood pressure cuffs for kids run $40+.
• $5 – Reusable Penlight – for checking eyes! Print out a free eye exam chart on recycled paper.
• Kids Bandages from All Terrain Company
• Latex Free Gauze Roll Bandage
• The one advantage of play doctor sets is they come with fake immunization toys. Of course you aren’t going to give a child a real needle but one alternative I’ve found are those little syringe-like medicine droppers. American Red Cross makes one for $8 that actually looks like a “shot” – at least enough for a child. Even your basic 50 cent syringe will resemble a shot though. Just make sure you don’t give a child one with a cap.
• Child safe medicine spoon – for pretend medicine of course. About $2.
• A child safe and super cute Digital Thermometer – $8 IF your child is old enough to know not to poke this in anyone’s eyes/stick it down someone’s throat. If not skip it, because safe digital ear thermometers don’t come cheap.
• Add a little recycled memo pad and pencil for note taking. Usually about $2 at an office supply store.

Other ideas: Some of this gear you may be able to scrounge up used or from friends who work in the medical field. Then a DIY kit can cost less. All in all though just make sure everything in the kit is child safe (this is not a kit for a baby) and shop around because if you can’t build your own doctor’s kit for $40 or less it makes more sense to purchase one, like the Haba set shown above.

Also see how to make a Thrift Store Dress-Up Costume Kit.

Review summary: When Tegu blocks first hit the toy market (back in 2009) the small company received a warm welcome from parents looking for eco-friendly toys (good) but couldn’t keep up with demand (not so good). They closed up shop to regroup and the wait list for their blocks grew to 2000+. Now Tegu is back in business. If you’re looking for a unique alternative to the basic wooden block you’ll love Tegu. Not only are their blocks beautiful but they have secret hidden magnets that allow kids to build some crazy cool creations. This toy is really fun and has eco-perks but also has a major con for most families – the price tag.

Product: Tegu Wooden Blocks – Discovery Set from Tegu.

Cost: The Discovery Set is $50 and includes 26 blocks made with Huesito wood in three shapes: Cubes, Long Planks, and Short Planks. The Discovery set made with mahogany wood is $65. A full set of Huesito wood blocks (52 in all) is $90 while a full mahogany set is $125.

About Tegu blocks…

These aren’t just plain old wooden stacking blocks. Tegu blocks do much more due to safely hidden magnetic connections between the blocks. These tiny magnets (you can’t see them) allow kids to create amazing structures that defy gravity and flexes a child’s creative freedom.

Tegu uses a sustainable hardwood called Huesito sourced from Honduras and Central America, to make their blond blocks and also has a limited block run using safely sourced Mahogany. Blocks come in a natural finish that are water-based and non-toxic. Blocks do contain magnets – although after playing with them I seriously doubt a child could ever get to these magnets (they’re VERY embedded – you can’t even see them). However, because of the magnets blocks are only for children ages 3 years and older. Blocks meet stringent safety standards and you can view their CPSIA mandated General Conformity Certifications online (pdf).

Eco-perks of Tegu blocks:

The wood used at Tegu is sourced from small-scale FSC-certified woodcutting cooperatives supported by international NGOs focused on sustainable forestry. Wood suppliers have the requisite legal permits from the Honduran governmental forestry agency (ICF) and oversight from international NGOs (Nepenthes, Rainforest Alliance). Tegu is also currently developing relationships with cooperatives in the Biosfera Rio Platano, Honduras’ largest deciduous forest, who partner with GTZ and Rainforest Alliance.

Tegu also has a recycling program in place. If your Tegu product ever becomes less fun (I doubt it) you can contact Tegu and the company will pay for shipping to take the toy off your hands.

Whenever you purchase a Tegu toy, you have the chance to contribute to a charity of your choice. You can choose to send a Honduran child to school for a day or you can plant a tree. Tegu’s partner, Trees for the Future, facilitates their replanting project.

Tegu was originally launched with two main ideas – to bring safe non-toxic toys to kids and to create a for-profit company in Honduras that can not only create a positive social impact through its business efforts i.e. by creating jobs but also by giving back to the people of Honduras through unique programs such as mentioned in the bullet above.

Tegu is not Fair Trade certified from what I can tell after checking around. Although they do have a Fair Trade statement of sorts. AND they allow anyone to visit their factory, which bodes just as well with me as certification does.

“Tegu treats all its people – from the toy maker in Honduras to the marketing guys in the USA -with respect and dignity. We believe in the intrinsic value of each human life, and we strive for our approach to fully reflect that belief. In Honduras, for instance, we pay a true living wage (much higher than the minimum wage most factories pay production workers), offer unparalleled benefits and maintain exceptional working conditions at our toy factory (health and safety, lighting, ventilation, working hours, etc).

We encourage all of our customers to visit the tropical country of Honduras. While it has its challenges, we are striving to create a small beacon of hope for the Honduran people. We are proud investors in the people and industry of Honduras and want to share it with anyone who’s interested. Please contact Tegu to request a factory tour.”

One downside of Tegu, which Tegu themselves point out – is the magnet sourcing. As noted, “The negative effect on the earth of mining for the materials in our magnets. At this stage, there’s not a whole lot we can do about this impact (mining is mining, never pretty), but we’re working to make sure we source from responsible suppliers who treat their workers well and minimize, themselves, the negative effect mining has on the environment.”

The Tegu experience:

Bella - very excited with the new blocks

What sets Tegu blocks apart are their hidden embedded magnets. Because of said magnets, Tegu Blocks let kids build complex designs and structures that can move, bend and stand up to rough play. Cedar my nine year old and Bella my best friend’s three year old (with supervision) put these blocks to the test.

Right away the kids were utterly delighted with these blocks because they were so surprising. We test a lot of eco-toys and Cedar is not one to be overly thrilled by new items but he loved these blocks. He was surprisingly not limited by having just 26 blocks and managed to build houses, robots, a car and more. He also made a ton of abstract designs just to see if gravity would hold. Most of the time gravity did hold. What Cedar seemed to like best is that these blocks, once configured into a design won’t fall apart. The magnets hold the designs in place.

Cedar's walking robot

Bella the three year old, liked the blocks too, but she more enjoyed stacking them up and trying to pull them apart – she was very enthralled with how they stuck together. The adults in the house found these blocks amusing too and more than once adults built stuff sans any kids around.

Another cool thing about these blocks is that they are packaged in an attractive, easy to recycle box, that’s strong enough to use as a carrying case. Bella, who my son calls, “The little destroyer” didn’t harm the box in the least even though we let her play with it. The box also boasts some fun educational facts for kids to ponder about trees, recycling, Honduras and more.

The price debate:

As Tegu notes, “Handcrafted wooden toys will always cost more than injection molded plastic…  Tegu toys offer a unique combination of quality craftsmanship, luxurious materials, and a wholesome and developmentally beneficial play experience for years to come. It should come as no surprise that you get what you pay for in toys.” I agree to a point. You should expect to pay more for handmade wooden toys. While you can get a very nice (and large) set of sustainable wooden blocks for around $30-$40 they won’t do what these blocks do – i.e. defy gravity and more. So partially the price point for these is set due to their unique qualities.

Also I’m guessing that the higher price is due to issue like fair wages, the charity programs Tegu is involved in and travel costs – since they’re not made in the USA shipping is likely taxing.

Still, that said, I believe in affordable green toys for families and I find it hard to believe that $90 is reasonable for many green families. Would I pay that much? No, but I’d buy the Discovery Set ($50) as a nice gift for a child. These blocks will last years, they’re not full of toxic goop and I’d consider them a safe fun investment.

Overall score:

I can’t in good conscious give this toy a full five points due to the fact that all day long here I talk about ways to save money while going green. The blocks are just too expensive for many families. Also, while I love the idea of what the company is doing in Honduras, I’m a local advocate. So I took off one full point.

Would I still recommend these…? Yes. I like the fact that they’re a safe, non-toxic, long-lasting and most of all fun, toy. My kid testers adored them and do play with them often, so the blocks are an excellent investment. I’d suggest Tegu blocks as a special gift for a holiday or birthday.

See a gallery below of all the cool Tegu designs your kids can make…

Learn more:

• Visit the Tegu website to buy a set of blocks.
• Follow Tegu on Twitter.
• Follow Tegu on Facebook.

See my green product rating system and green product rating criteria or read more green product reviews.

Today I’ve got a video review that my son Cedar and I made in summer 2008. Or I should say a video that my son reluctantly made. Cedar would rather be showing off his dance moves than talking about a toy, but he’s also a semi-good sport. It’s nuts to see this old video by the way; Cedar’s hair is so long now. He looks like one of the Beatles.

Note: I originally posted this video at another blog of mine that has since merged over to this blog. Since this is a cool crafty art supply for green kids I figured I’d re-post it.

PlayMais is an eco-friendly craft material that’s fun and 100% biodegradable. In the video review below we say “cornstarch” to make things simple, but if you want to get technical, PlayMais is made from non-GM maize, semolina and water, and dyed with natural food coloring. When you’re done playing, PlayMais washes away down a sink. PlayMais sets come with a little knife made with biodegradable materials as well.

PlayMais are not only eco-friendly, but easy. Even small children can use them. No glue is required, just a dab of plain old water will hold these together. Various kits are available, which I’ll post after the video. And now, for a little demonstration of what you can build with these…

Where to find PlayMais:

PlayMais are super inexpensive which is a nice bonus but they can be hard to find. For a while I thought maybe the German based PlayMais company went out of business, but lately I’ve seen them around the web with some new PlayMais products, so I’m not sure what’s up with the hard to find issue.

We bought our set locally, at a small town toy shop; Kazoodles. If you have a local toy store, you should check with them – it’s way more eco-friendly to buy local. If you can’t find PlayMais locally, here are some places online sets you can buy.

• PlayMais Large Box
• PlayMais XM Box
• PlayMais Ocean Theme Box
• PlayMais Fun Farm Theme Box
• Organically Hatched carries an assortment of PlayMais, including the harder to find creative model sets (dragons, castles, and more).
• PlayMais – what appears to be the official website for PlayMais in Canada.
• UK PlayMais retailer

Have your kids used PlayMais? What do they think?

See my green product rating system and green product rating criteria or read more green product reviews.

Ok in my bling find of the week I’m in love with these new Grimm’s Spiel & Holz Alphabet Magnets. And by bling I mean expensive. You can get a boring old set of plastic alphabet fridge magnets for what, $10? Maybe less. This set will run you $67.95. Gulp.

However, in their defense, Grimm’s Spiel & Holz make the most wonderful wooden toys with mainly alder, lime and maple wood that’s sustainably sourced. All colored dyes, inks, high grade biological oils and glues used for their products meet the European Standards EN 71 for toy safety and are lead and phthalates free. If your child munches on these letters it’s not like munching on icky plastic. Also these Alphabet Magnets are gorgeous. Grimm’s Spiel & Holz always uses the best, most brilliant colors for their wooden products which will entice your child to create and create again.

The Alphabet Magnet set comes with 77 wooden pieces – 6 different shapes in 26 highly-vibrant and rich colors. This unique set has an additional learning possibilities because it’s not just letters, but an alphabet puzzle. Each letter is a certain color and contains up to 5 pieces. Little ones can also use these to create shapes and designs.

Personally, I think these are one of those big purchases worth the cost, because you’ll use them for years. However, to balance out this bling set, I also rounded up a couple of lower cost, non-toxic alphabet magnet sets.

Magnetic Fancy Letters – ABC’s – wooden with non-toxic gloss finish.

Magnetic Refrigerator Alphabet Blocks – awesome price for wood magnets (under $13), but be aware the magnets on these are small – it’s not all magnetic backing. Still, very cute with supervision and comes with a little fridge container.

OR learn to make your very own homemade felt alphabet magnets – a great low cost eco-project for you and the kids, although, I’d suggest sewing the magnets inside somehow if you’ve got very tiny tots running around.