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2009 ZRecs Gift Guide: Classic Toys
By Jeremiah | November 30, 2009 | 6 comments / Join the conversation!
Source photo by Juria Yoshikawa, shared via Flickr.
Welcome to the fourth in five planned ZRecs Gift Guides for 2009. In this installment, we wanted to share our top recommendations for gifts in a few perennial favorite toy categories for young children: Figures and play environments for them (including "action figures," vehicles, and dollhouse fare), building and construction toys, outdoor toys, and toddler toys. We've included a bunch of honorable mentions to cover a lot of other toys we've loved this past year that didn't make our top 12. This gift guide includes some of the biggest investments in gifts that we ever recommend, but also some of the best values for your holiday dollars, as they'll reward you and your child with years of enjoyment while other toys may fall by the wayside.
Educo Welcome Home Balcony Dollhouse: This bright, cheerful, and well-made dollhouse has open access from all sides, comes with cute furniture for the whole house and a poseable family of four. This is our favorite dollhouse currently on the market in or near this price range. Full review to come. | $105-$130, Amazon.com
Mighty World: Mighty World figures come with an obsessive variety of tools for their trades, offering kids insight into what makes up real occupations as they engage in pretend play. Add to that the fact that Mighty World vehicles can swap suspensions and engines and you have a toy with some serious depth. Mighty World's HazMat unit is a great example of this unique line's potential; the company also makes vehicles and figures for a variety of public service sectors, including construction, police, and EMS, as well as adventure playsets with explorers, archaeologist mummy-hunters, and the like. | $15-$70, Amazon.com
Down on the Farm Barn and Stable: A dollhouse alternative for the horsey set, Safari Ltd's barn and stable is well-made, attractive, and inviting, opening on a hinge like a traditional folding dollhouse. One side of the barn has an open coop for chickens, pigs, and cattle, with a big double sliding door for them to get in and out. The other has stables for horses. Above it all is a full loft. | $130-$150, Amazon.com
Wow Toys: Wow's chunky, PVC-free vehicles are powered by battery-free friction motors and feature an unusual level of detail and charm for toys for three-year-olds. Flip 'n Tip Fred is a great example of how thoughtfully-designed these early pre-K play sets can be. | $12-$55, Amazon.com
Honorable Mentions: Anamalz, GeoTrax, Plan Toys Eco Town, Sprig Dolphin Adventure Play Set
Plan Toys Construction Set: Our favorite "construction set and tool kit," after surveying and using nearly all major brands' offerings in this area. All of the pieces are well-machined and fit together smoothly, which is saying something when you're making nuts, bolts, and matching counter-threads in rubber wood. The screwdriver is a nice bit of functional design in itself; the shaft's diameter is the proper width for a small hand, so it's just a straight stick with a flat head for screwing. | $30-$60, Amazon.com | ZRecs review
Tree Branch Blocks: We cannot overstate how much play value Z has received from these deceptively simple blocks. Beautiful, well-sanded, and including a variety of sizes, Tree Branch Blocks are the kind of toy a child picks up and can instantly make use of. | $30-$80 CAD, NaturalPod | ZRecs review
Honorable mentions: Wedgits, ZoobMover, Bonz
Plan Toys Woodpecker Walker: A simple but whimsical wooden walker that rewards steps with the pecking of wooden birds against a platform. Made with sustainably harvested rubber wood and non-toxic vegetable dyes, it offers a gentle, joyful alternative to noisy electronics as you celebrate your toddler’s early upright expeditions around your home. | $65-$85, Amazon.com
Click Clack Ball Track: Haba’s classically modern Click Clack Ball Track is perfect for standing or seated play. Wooden balls with bright, water-based paints and details roll at fluctuating speeds down a curved track past obstacles and through holes to the levels below. The track features a cute cityscape and a switch to send balls along one of two short sections of the path. | $120, Amazon.com
Plan Toys Percussion Set: Made of organic rubber wood with non-toxic, zero-emission glues and nontoxic dyes, Plan Toys' Percussion Set offers a variety of sound-generating devices in a bright, cheerful play set. Durable, colorful, and fun. | $26-$40, Amazon.com
Sprig Hollow: Outdoor play figures get an overhaul with Sprig's durable, attractive, and imagination-fueling Sprig Hollow play sets made of recycled plastic and reclaimed wood. DuneBug's Sand Truck is one of the best sandboxa vehicles we've seen, and other play sets create a full pretend play environment for use inside and out. | $9-$20, Amazon.com | ZRecs review
Green Toys Jump Rope: The perfect first jump rope. | $10, Amazon.com
Kettler Balance Bike: Balance bikes offer a way of teaching kids how to balance on a bike that is the direct opposite of the American preference for training wheels, and it works better. Kids learn to balance before they learn to go fast, and their abilities increase as their balance does. Kettler's lightweight aluminum and plastic balance bikes, now available in cute themes, helped teach our daughter Z to ride her "big girl bike," which she used without training wheels for the first time this weekend. | $93-$120, Amazon.com | ZRecs review
Honorable Mentions: Green Toys Dump Truck, Hyper Dash
Don't miss our other 2009 Holiday Gift Guides for our favorite soft toys, kitchen play, and educational toys.
All items in this gift guide were either purchased by us, donated by companies for review, or used and evaluated by us at industry trade shows. Any items received prior to our Keep No Stuff policy's implementation and which we chose to keep were declared as income on our taxes; any from this year we choose to keep will be paid for through donations to charitable organizations. Most links above are Amazon.com affiliate links, which support our work at ZRecs through reader purchases.
Best Figures, Accessories, and Play Environments
Educo Welcome Home Balcony Dollhouse: This bright, cheerful, and well-made dollhouse has open access from all sides, comes with cute furniture for the whole house and a poseable family of four. This is our favorite dollhouse currently on the market in or near this price range. Full review to come. | $105-$130, Amazon.com
Mighty World: Mighty World figures come with an obsessive variety of tools for their trades, offering kids insight into what makes up real occupations as they engage in pretend play. Add to that the fact that Mighty World vehicles can swap suspensions and engines and you have a toy with some serious depth. Mighty World's HazMat unit is a great example of this unique line's potential; the company also makes vehicles and figures for a variety of public service sectors, including construction, police, and EMS, as well as adventure playsets with explorers, archaeologist mummy-hunters, and the like. | $15-$70, Amazon.com
Down on the Farm Barn and Stable: A dollhouse alternative for the horsey set, Safari Ltd's barn and stable is well-made, attractive, and inviting, opening on a hinge like a traditional folding dollhouse. One side of the barn has an open coop for chickens, pigs, and cattle, with a big double sliding door for them to get in and out. The other has stables for horses. Above it all is a full loft. | $130-$150, Amazon.com
Wow Toys: Wow's chunky, PVC-free vehicles are powered by battery-free friction motors and feature an unusual level of detail and charm for toys for three-year-olds. Flip 'n Tip Fred is a great example of how thoughtfully-designed these early pre-K play sets can be. | $12-$55, Amazon.com
Honorable Mentions: Anamalz, GeoTrax, Plan Toys Eco Town, Sprig Dolphin Adventure Play Set
Best Building Toys
Plan Toys Construction Set: Our favorite "construction set and tool kit," after surveying and using nearly all major brands' offerings in this area. All of the pieces are well-machined and fit together smoothly, which is saying something when you're making nuts, bolts, and matching counter-threads in rubber wood. The screwdriver is a nice bit of functional design in itself; the shaft's diameter is the proper width for a small hand, so it's just a straight stick with a flat head for screwing. | $30-$60, Amazon.com | ZRecs review
Tree Branch Blocks: We cannot overstate how much play value Z has received from these deceptively simple blocks. Beautiful, well-sanded, and including a variety of sizes, Tree Branch Blocks are the kind of toy a child picks up and can instantly make use of. | $30-$80 CAD, NaturalPod | ZRecs review
Honorable mentions: Wedgits, ZoobMover, Bonz
Best Toddler Toys
Plan Toys Woodpecker Walker: A simple but whimsical wooden walker that rewards steps with the pecking of wooden birds against a platform. Made with sustainably harvested rubber wood and non-toxic vegetable dyes, it offers a gentle, joyful alternative to noisy electronics as you celebrate your toddler’s early upright expeditions around your home. | $65-$85, Amazon.com
Click Clack Ball Track: Haba’s classically modern Click Clack Ball Track is perfect for standing or seated play. Wooden balls with bright, water-based paints and details roll at fluctuating speeds down a curved track past obstacles and through holes to the levels below. The track features a cute cityscape and a switch to send balls along one of two short sections of the path. | $120, Amazon.com
Plan Toys Percussion Set: Made of organic rubber wood with non-toxic, zero-emission glues and nontoxic dyes, Plan Toys' Percussion Set offers a variety of sound-generating devices in a bright, cheerful play set. Durable, colorful, and fun. | $26-$40, Amazon.com
Best Outdoor Toys
Sprig Hollow: Outdoor play figures get an overhaul with Sprig's durable, attractive, and imagination-fueling Sprig Hollow play sets made of recycled plastic and reclaimed wood. DuneBug's Sand Truck is one of the best sandboxa vehicles we've seen, and other play sets create a full pretend play environment for use inside and out. | $9-$20, Amazon.com | ZRecs review
Green Toys Jump Rope: The perfect first jump rope. | $10, Amazon.com
Kettler Balance Bike: Balance bikes offer a way of teaching kids how to balance on a bike that is the direct opposite of the American preference for training wheels, and it works better. Kids learn to balance before they learn to go fast, and their abilities increase as their balance does. Kettler's lightweight aluminum and plastic balance bikes, now available in cute themes, helped teach our daughter Z to ride her "big girl bike," which she used without training wheels for the first time this weekend. | $93-$120, Amazon.com | ZRecs review
Honorable Mentions: Green Toys Dump Truck, Hyper Dash
Don't miss our other 2009 Holiday Gift Guides for our favorite soft toys, kitchen play, and educational toys.
All items in this gift guide were either purchased by us, donated by companies for review, or used and evaluated by us at industry trade shows. Any items received prior to our Keep No Stuff policy's implementation and which we chose to keep were declared as income on our taxes; any from this year we choose to keep will be paid for through donations to charitable organizations. Most links above are Amazon.com affiliate links, which support our work at ZRecs through reader purchases.
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We ordered this Educo/Hape dollhouse this week. I can’t wait to get it in - especially now that I know you recommend it! : )
We are huge fans of WOW toys, and so is my 21 month old son. He has half a dozen of them, with another two already purchased as Christmas gifts. The larger vehicles, in particular, have lots of features that keep them interesting for our son, and he also loves the little people that come with each vehicle. I’m so happy to see these toys featured here, and hope that they’ll become more widely known/available as a result.
Ugh. They need to get WOW and other such toys into brick and mortars. I had a lot of stuff on my son’s Christmas list this year that came from online stores/are off brands. and I’ve had two different people tell me they went into Toys R Us and couldn’t find X and so they just Y, this other item that “looks similar”
Well, no. Toys R us doesn’t sell Wedgits. Or P’kolino. or WOW. Or Beleduc puzzles or…
@Jessica: Have fun with it!
@Jen C: Whenever we showcase them we do a double-take over the prices. It is unusual to see chunky plastic toys that cost this much. But they are worth it, and this becomes apparent when you handle them, see a child using them, and know that they are PVC free, which is rare for that toy category. You’re right, having them in brick and mortar stores would be a big help for a toy like this. That said, we do most of our shopping online for that very reason - we have standards, and most stores don’t meet them. We do have a local small toy store that has some nice stuff, but still, when we want something in particular, which is pretty much how we shop these days, they are not likely to have it unless it is made by one of a couple big brands.
Wow toys are brilliant. We have a large collection of wow and its great to see how the same toy is used in diferent ways as children develop. The only issueI would have with them is a magnet has fallen off one of our smaller cars. Wow didn’t seem particularly responsive to the dangers of a magnet and a Mettal cover coming loose from a toddler toy.
Are you going to post the 5th gift guide you mentioned here?