• View ecochildsplay’s profile on Facebook
  • View ecochildsplay’s profile on Twitter
  • View ecochildsplay’s profile on Instagram
  • View ecochildsplay’s profile on Pinterest
  • View Jennifer Lance’s profile on LinkedIn
  • View ecochildsplay’s profile on YouTube
  • View ecochildsplay’s profile on Google+

Eco Child's Play

Live a greener, healthier life!

  • Environment
  • Pregnancy
  • Food & Recipes
  • Health News
  • Parenting
  • Green Toys
  • Beauty & Beauty Products
  • Green Home & Cleaning
  • Contact

Think-ets: Tiny Trinkets for Imaginative Play

think-ets_bannerad.jpg

I believe that the only toys worthy of children’s play are ones that inspires their imagination (and are eco-friendly). Just by their nature, open-ended toys are more sustainable, as children do not rapidly outgrow them or get bored quickly. Think-ets is just such a toy, made up of many miniature trinkets with boundless possibilities for play.

Children are fascinated by miniature objects, but of course, you have to be careful around small children due to choking hazards. Think-ets contains 15 miniature objects, such as wrench, milk bottle, penguin, jack, etc. The sky’s the limit on what children can do with this toy, and they can also collect them, as no two bags of Think-ets are the same. When I introduced Think-ets to my six-year-old daughter and her seven-year-old friend (even though the toy is recommended for ages 8-108+), they shunned the idea of making up a story with the objects. Instead, they were fascinated with taking turns decorating and writing in the pages of the miniature book (about .5″ in size). Later that day, my daughter made up a story with the trinkets that was quite literal, but then again, she is only six!

Low tech toys are the way to go for fostering children’s cognitive development.

Diane Levin, a professor of education at Wheelock College in Boston, says she was motivated to speak out after noticing “problem-solving-deficit disorder,” a term she coined to describe children who don’t know how to play creatively and expect to be entertained. She thinks it’s the result of too much media and a lack of creative low-tech play.

In fact, when kids don’t spend time in geniune play, they lose valuable life skills. As they say, “Play is children’s work”, and as parents, we must provide our children with tools that will foster their creative play. According to child psychologist Paul Donahue, Ph.D., author of Parenting Without Fear,

I see it when 7-, 8-, and 9-year-olds say they don’t have time to play. I see kids who don’t know how to play. Free play promotes independence, creativity, abstract thinking and resilience in children in ways that high-tech toys and structured activities cannot, he says. Downtime – and the sense of having “nothing to do” – forces kids to think for themselves, a skill that Donahue believes many children are lacking these days.

I really like the small size of Think-ets. If your house is like mine, the toy clutter can be overwhelming at times. Think-ets would be great for airplane or car travel, as they would fit easily inside a carry-on bag and provide hours of entertainment. The possibilities are endless for what children’s imaginations can do with Think-ets. The only negative aspect of Think-ets, is that a few of the trinkets are made of plastic, but then again, we live in a plastic world.

  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • More
  • WhatsApp
  • Tumblr
  • Reddit
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Subscribe!

« The Green Series: Why Isn’t Kid’s TV More Eco-Friendly?
Three Websites for Eco-Kids »

Comments

  1. Child Educational Game Toy says

    November 18, 2007 at 10:10 am

    This is an excellent article (Think-Ets: Toy Trinkets for Imaginative Play), I was searching for Child Educational Game Toy on Yahoo and stumbled on this Sunday.

    Reply
  2. Julie Lake says

    November 27, 2007 at 9:10 pm

    Dear Friends,
    As a co-creator of Think-ets I want to thank you for the great article about our game. I also have a clarification about the “plastic” pieces. As a former Waldorf educator, and an environmentalist for over 35 years, my intention was to create a game that contains no plastic. As it turns out, most of the animals are made by a green company, Safari, Ltd., and are high quality, phthalate-free polyresin. (The rest of the animals are made of rubber, and are no longer being manufactured.) Animals comprise 1/15th of the game pieces. Some of the little “people” in some of the games are polyresin as well, and were no longer being manufactured when I found them.
    You may already be aware that no two games are identical; they all contain storytelling components such as a person, animal, tool, gold ring, treasure, food, vessel, etc., but there are a lot of different animals, tools, foods, and so forth.
    Anyway, one of the features of the game that we have not touted on our website is that we are not having any of the tiny trinkets manufactured, that is, no new factory had to tool up and use resources just to make our trinkets. They have all been or are being manufactured already, and I am always scouring the globe for items that are non-toxic, closeouts, limited quantities, or are handcrafted and provide a living for artisans in less developed countries. A lot of the items are handcrafted in Mexico, and many of the wooden pieces were handturned decades ago in East Germany!
    If you ever see a plastic piece in the games, it will be because I may find a really nice and interesting piece that was already manufactured some years back, is no longer being made, and has found a good home in our game.
    Again, thank you so much for the lovely article. We hope everyone gets as much pleasure out of playing with Think-ets as we do producing it.
    Best wishes, Julie Lake, Co-CEO, Think-a-lot Toys

    Reply
  3. Toy Game says

    December 23, 2007 at 11:49 am

    Where was this blog a year ago? Great article (ts: Tiny Trinkets for Imaginative Play : Eco Child’s Play)! Can you believe I was searching for Toy game when I fond this post Sunday.

    Reply
  4. sandrar says

    September 10, 2009 at 11:07 am

    Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog. 🙂 Cheers! Sandra. R.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Shopping Blog says:
    November 23, 2007 at 2:38 am

    Shopping Blog…

    Great info, and well deisgned page also, I enjoyed checking this, many thanks…

    Reply
  2. Eco-minded Crafts for Kids: The Imagination Factory : Eco Child’s Play says:
    August 29, 2008 at 8:18 pm

    […] Trinkets for Imaginative Play […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Search Content

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter


About Eco Child’s Play

Our ethos is to provide news, information, and opinions on natural, green parenting to help your family live a greener, healthier life! Additionally, we offer personal consulting services to help you achieve your green living goals.

Jennifer is a vegetarian, yoga teacher, gardener, hiker, teacher, and mother that has been living off-the-grid for over 20 years.

Contact Eco Child’s Play

Plants Over Plastics! Repurpose Compostable Home Products

Convenient Plastic Container Free Dropps Laundry & Dishwashing Pods

More from the archives!

Around the Green Parenting Web: Hyland's Homeopathic Teething Tablet Recall to Lead in Juice

Aussie Town Bans Plastic Water Bottles

Hank D and the Bee: In Hank’s Head

WebMD Health eHome: Find Out How to Make Your Home Safe

NY May Follow SF and Ban Happy Meal Toys

cbd salve joy organics

CBD Products that Actually Deliver: Joy Organics

wama hemp underwear

The Most Comfortable Underwear is Made of Hemp: WAMA Review

Information

  • About & Contact
  • Archive
  • Blog
  • Consulting Services
  • Disclaimer, Disclosure, & Sponsored Posts
  • Privacy Policy

Go Green Mommy and Discourage Gluttony

Kid’s Science Experiment with Potatoes: The Importance of Organic [video]

Naturally Clean: The Seventh Generation Guide to Safe & Healthy, Non-Toxic Cleaning

The Tale of Two Arrows: How to stop arguing with your child

A Cooperative Game for Young Children: Snail's Pace Race

Popular Categories

  • Breastfeeding
  • Health News
  • Natural Childbirth
  • Parenting
  • Education
  • Product Review
  • Green Toys

Get our posts via email

Please stay in touch!

You might also like to read…

Natural Remedies for Morning Sickness

Play Deficit Disorder: Bring Back the Dangerous Playgrounds!

My daughter's water birth

What do you think about the new report stating “Water Births are NOT Safe”?

Mother's Milk: Breastfeeding and Birth Defects-The Breastmilk Challenge

Salma Hayak Breastfeeds African Infant

Copyright © 2023 · Divine theme by Restored 316

Copyright © 2023 · Divine Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.