Best Wooden Toys for Toddlers

Classic wooden toys have been underappreciated in recent decades, but these products are making a strong comeback thanks to heightened environmental and health awareness. Unlike plastic toys, which are made using petrochemicals and toxic chemicals like bisophenol-A (BPA) wooden toys are nontoxic, renewable and sustainable. When my daughter was born, I vowed to avoid plastic toys entirely. That vow didn't last long, but, thankfully, my toddler's wooden playthings are still her favorites.

Not every toddler is going to share my toddler's preferences. However, according to my two-year-old, the following five wooden toys for toddlers belong any home with young children.

1. Set of Wooden Blocks

Who knew that a bag full of wooden cubes could be so much fun? Wooden blocks help to encourage imagination, fine motor skills, creativity and a heightened understanding of balance and physics. Your toddler will enjoy stacking, sorting and learning with a collection of blocks. If your toddler is interested in letters, the classic "ABC" block sets can help to facilitate early letter identification. Blocks can also help your toddler understand concepts like shape, color and size.

2. Wooden Noah's Ark Toy

My family is not religious, but my daughter's Noah's Ark toy has become a favorite in my home. At eighteen months old, she delighted in sorting each of the animals-- "two zeebas, two ti-bers, two effants"-- before placing them inside the wooden boat. A wooden Noah's ark toy can help your child learn to identify animals, count and play make-believe. Some arks can even be taken apart and rebuilt, providing a new level of creative play and critical thinking. For religious families, these toys provide the additional bonus of facilitating faith-based learning.

3. Wooden Farm Set

Your toddler will love learning about farm life using a set of wooden farm animals. These sets, which are widely available from a variety of companies, sometimes include features like a barn, silo, tractor and farm house. More than any other wooden toy, a farm set can help your child learn new concepts and vocabulary words. You'll grin ear-to-ear when your toddler learns the difference between a rooster and a hen and helps his two-inch-tall farmer harvest corn.

4. Wooden Puzzles

Cardboard jigsaw puzzles fall apart easily and require a degree of fine motor precision that most children do not gain until their preschool years. However, toddlers of all ages will enjoy playing with wooden puzzles that feature easy-to-grab pegs. These inexpensive toys can teach your toddler new vocabulary words while also expanding his ability to think critically, sort shapes and hone his fine motor control. The stack of fourteen well-loved puzzles in my house will attest to my daughter's love of these satisfyingly educational products-- and, as a mother and environmentalist-- I feel content knowing that the toys are safe and sustainable.