Traditional Wooden Toys

Traditional wooden toys here cover every stage of childhood, from a beech teething ring for the first months to a tilting marble labyrinth for ages 5+. Each one is simple to understand, pleasant in the hand and made to be passed on to a younger brother or sister.

Children's toys in wood for the first years

Babies start with the beech animal teething ring and the sound shaker egg (from 6 months). Once they are walking, the push-along elephant, the pounding bench with mallet, the jungle and safari stacking pyramids and the deluxe walker and activity carts take over. The 75-piece blocks with their walnut-oil finish, or the 50-piece safari and pastel sets, grow with the child for years.

Wooden toys for older children: maths, pretend play and games

• Numbers and shapes: the counting hands puzzle (2+), the number board with spinning gears, the 3D geometric solids with their feely bag and the teaching clock (5+).
• Weighing and balancing: the blue balance scale with four brass weights, and the wooden balancing stones that look like river rocks.
• Pretend play: the cookware and tableware dinner set, the compact workbench with tools and the fire station playset.
• Games and music: the auditory sound memory game, giant outdoor dominoes, plus a guiro and egg shaker maracas to start a corner of music and rhythm toys.

What makes a good wooden child's toy?

Pick it up: a good one, like the best Montessori educational toys, has a little weight, smooth edges and a finish that does not come off on the fingers. Then ask whether your child can play with it in more than one way; the balancing stones, for instance, can be a tower, a path or a sorting game. A toy that passes both tests rarely ends up forgotten at the bottom of the toy box.