My daughter didn’t get her first doll until she was about two-years-old, as I intended to raise her as gender neutral as possible and wanted to avoid the plastic baby/Barbie doll phenomena. My intentions were thrown out the window when I realized she was naturally a “girly” girl, and I discovered Waldorf dolls. I hunted for a doll that would match my green values and still please her. I wish I would have found the organic Bamboletta Doll available from Natural Pod.
Bamboletta dolls are handmade by a stay at home mama in Cobble hill, BC, Canada. Bamboletta means “little doll” in Italian, which is what the dolls’ creator Christina Platt’s father nicknamed her as a child. She creates her handmade dolls from organic cotton, carded locally sourced lamb’s wool, and natural fabrics. Some dolls take up to 18 hours to complete.
Safely secured inside the tummy of each one of our dolls are three crystals – quartz, fluorite and carnelian – placed there to help produce a calming and grounding effect upon children. They are fashioned with serenely neutral facial expressions that encourage children to engage in open play, reflecting back to the child whatever emotion is timely and appropriate, whether happy, sad, or somewhere between.
The velour Organic Bamboletta Blanket Doll is perfect for young babies and toddlers, no matter what the gender. The soft velour is comforting, and the organic materials mean you don’t have to worry about your child teething on the toy. You can even wet and freeze the doll’s hands to ease teething pain or tie a teething ring in the doll’s hands. The doll is also machine washable when using the gentle cycle.
If I had a new baby and could select one comfort object for my child, it would be this one! Not only do I find these Waldorf style dolls aesthetically pleasing, but the organic materials ensure my child will be safe when playing with this toy. I also am pleased to support toymakers who share my values. As Bamboletta dollmaker Platt explains, “I am delighted to be working with Natural Pod to distribute my dolls, as we truly share the same vision and enthusiasm for providing children with open-ended, natural toys that inspire children’s play.”
Unless you are rolling in money, though, these dolls will be too expensive to buy your children. Consider how dirty and disheveled a doll gets and then think about if you’d like your child to treat a doll this expensive like that.
They are very, very cute though.
I wouldn’t expect a doll like that to cost more than $50-75 at most. Anyone can make one of these themselves and the instructions are found all over the internet. You’ve got to be filthy rich and obscenely lazy to shell out $280 for one of these…I’d rather take the time and make one and give the money I save to charity to help some kid who has no food to eat, never mind a doll to play with.
here is an example of someone who isn’t greedy selling these on etsy: ($65 each)
http://www.etsy.com/listing/85792925/16-inch-blank-waldorf-doll-with-fafce
here’s a ton more, in case anyone wants variety 😉 prices vary…
http://www.etsy.com/search/handmade?q=waldorf%20doll&view_type=gallery&ship_to=US&ref=auto3&explicit_scope=1
These dolls are beautiful! Great find.
Oooh, more Waldorf dolls <3
I first found them at an etsy site:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5389691
This is great! I love the accessories, thanks for the post!
I have to agree with Gina’s thoughts.
I agree that less is more. Children don’t need a lot of toys. I look to this blog for some ideas on fairly-made, quality toys that inspire the child. I don’t mind spending $130 or $160 for 2-3 things instead of the same amount on many toys that are junky or fadish (read: Walmart toys). And, while I could afford the doll, I could never comfortably justify paying that much for ONE doll (and I have two daughters meaning I’d have to buy one for each. $300??? My husband would flip his lid. I can hear him now, “Honey, they have nice, well-made dolls – but no college funds). When my daughters are older and they want to save their money for a doll like that, by all means, I’ll let them. If they were able to save the money, they’d probably understand the doll’s value and, therefore, would be able to care for it a much more respective manner than my 17-month-old and 3-year-old could at this point in time.
While I respect the amount of time, passion and detail put into these dolls, the average American family cannot realistically afford these dolls. And, in line with Gina, I really don’t know very many small children who would understand that the doll was too expensive to bring to the beach to help build sand and mud castles!
Yes, they are expensive, but I think the blanket doll is affordable. I ended up making a waldorf doll with my six-year-old. It was a great experience, but we made a mistake and chose mohair for the hair. She now has dread locks!
http://eyr.lil.mybluehost.me/2007/07/10/magic-cabin-dollmaking-kits-make-your-own-waldorf-doll/
I just bought a Bamboletta for my daughter and she is just stuning, worth every penny. Christina made her as a special order for Lily. This Lily’s birthday gift, and I do not mind if the doll hair matts or she gets a little dirty. My eldest has very expensive Fagus trucks that he plays with very gently, I believe that children can learn how to treat toys with care and gentleness. My mother is a very crafty lady and she decided she would also like to make a doll for Lily, the cost of purchasing everything, wool stuffing, organic interlock, dress/clothes fabric, wool for hair, felt for the shoes, she bought a premade head, and a waldorf doll making book totaled well over 100.00, and it took her about 20 hours to make. If I have another little girl she will definatly have a Bamboletta (and a doll made by gramma) : )
how can they say eco child’s play — when they are not 100% certified organic.
cotton is spread to death with pesticides
natural pod…
I was actually inspired by Bamboletta, aka Cristina, to make these dolls myself…because I just could not bring myself to spend $160 dollars on a doll when there are starving children and so many people in desperate poverty. Funny thing is most of us take good care of things either we make ourselves or we spend a lot of money into…so now I am making these dolls for sale for much cheaper than the ones I’ve seen everywhere…I appreciate Cristina’s work like everybody else, but I believe in fair pricing and common sense.
These dolls take a LONG time to make and they’re not just products, you would understand if you had one in your hands. I guess the amount of handwork that goes into them, knowing that little people are going to hopefully treasure them, is what makes them so special.
And the weird thing with “eco” or “green” or “organic”…they are labels…just like the others. For a product to be called organic only 10% of its contents needs to be organic…it is the “trend”, and like any other trends it will die. I think that it is better if we use what we have, and try to use as much “natural” as possible…and not buy into any more propaganda. Just remember, everything we do in this life is tainted.
I told my grandohmter how you helped. She said, “bake them a cake!”