Green, Eco-Toys

I’ve just discovered a toy company I adore: HaPe Toys. This company features eco-friendly safe toys that “support children throughout every stage of development, starting at a very young age to help nurture and develop their natural abilities.” HaPe carries brands such as Quadrilla, Anamalz, and Woody Click, as well as Bamboo Collection. My family recently acquired Bamboo Collection’s Contina.

Bamboo Blocks

Contina blocks are similar to Kapla blocks, in that they are more like planks than standard unit blocks; however, Contina blocks are made from sustainable bamboo. These planks come in eight different natural colored finishes and can be combined to build many structures, given that you get 100 blocks in a set. You can stack them or line them up, and I am not sure if Eco Dad or my children had more fun when we first opened our Contina blocks.

Bamboo Collection uses Latin names for their toys, as they are designed for the world’s children. When I did a search on Intertran for the meaning of contina, I got the following results: “to touch, border on, to keep together, reach, befall, grasp, affect, infect, to keep in, surround, contain, confine, include, to hold back, restrain”. This definition opens up even more possibilities for these great blocks.

Bamboo Collection is the world’s first collection of bamboo toys. Although I advocate for wooden toys over plastic ones, I sometimes question whether the wood is sustainably harvested or if the toys were made from scraps of wood from construction projects. With bamboo, I don’t have to worry about sustainability, since a bamboo tree (it is really a grass) can grow back completely in three years after being cut down.

Related posts on block play:

• Every Child Deserves a Set of Blocks

• European Toys: Old Fashioned Block Play Develops Intellect

• “Green” Toys From the Discovery Channel Store