We love wooden toys here at the Wooden Toy Store.  And here are six reasons why:

1. DURABLE: Wooden toys are far more robust than plastic toys - they will withstand all kinds of rough play and are less likely to crack or break. Given that wooden toys tend to last much longer than plastic toys, their cost over the longer term is much less than you might think.

2. MEMORIES: Wooden toys will last for years and can be handed down from child to child.  This means that, in the long run, wooden toys are a great alternative to endlessly replacing plastic toys that have been broken. Wooden toys gather family stories and build up memories. When your children have outgrown their toys, it will be the wooden toys you will keep to give to your children for their children.  What a lovely feeling when your grandchild pulls out one of your old wooden toys to play with!

3. CRAFTSMANSHIP: Most wooden toys are handmade and therefore depict a high level of craftsmanhip. Plastic toys generally do not depict any creativity by hand.  The level of quality, creativity, and inspiration contained in wooden toys makes plastic toys an inferior choice.

4. NATURAL AND WARM: Wooden toys have a warmth and natural beauty that provides young children with an irreplaceable sensory experience. It has a living energy that a child can respond to.

5. ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY: Plastic toys tend to come apart and break and needlessly become long-term landfill residents, rather than being passed down to following generations. Wooden toys are also generally made from replenishable and sustainable sources of wood.

6. PROMOTES UNSTRUCTURED PLAY: Wooden toys inspire inventive and truly imaginative play in children. This is due to the versatility inherent in most wooden toys, as compared to the lack of unstructured play required by their beeping and whirring plastic counterparts. Educational wooden toys build critical lateral thinking and problem solving skills and help build fine motor skills in young children.

This article was written by the Wooden Toy Store Team. Please feel free to use it in it's entirety with the inclusion of the Wooden Toy Store as the author and a link to www.woodentoystore.co.nz