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Oompa Toys was born from one parent's wish to surround her child with toys that were well-designed, imaginative, and not covered in logos portraying copyrighted characters. After months of wading through stores stocked with toys made of synthetic materials, a trip to Europe completely changed Milanie Cleere's life. There, the future founder of Oompa Toys found a plethora of toys that were completely handcrafted, made of materials that were natural and beautiful, and fostered imaginative play rather than passive idleness.Early one morning I crept into my infant daughter's room and tripped on a plastic, battery-operated walker. Loud animal noises instantly blared from the seemingly innocuous toy. I had a bleeding toe and stifled some not too pleasant words. A cacophony of clucking chickens, moo-ing cows and quacking ducks would not be silenced despite my best efforts. I gladly (and somewhat vindictively), threw the walker in the trash. An electronic bovine moo'ed as I walked away.
I felt there was something unnatural about surrounding my daughter with so many disposable toys. I wondered if she dreamt of copyrighted characters or if her first words would be "Dora" or "Mickey". I wondered if she would ever learn to use her imagination. She did, after all, play with toys that with the push of a single button did and said everything for her. I donated most of the contents of her room to a local charity the next morning.
Today, Oompa Toys offers an ever-expanding collection of wooden European toys, soft-bodied (and non-character branded) dolls, and modern, eco-friendly children's furniture, in addition to other high-quality, long-lasting items. Oompa Toys maintains the belief that baby toys should be natural, safe, non-violent, and distributed by manufacturers who provide nurturing environments for their employees. The fact that Oompa representatives conduct on-site tours of the facilities that supply their products to check for humane work conditions speaks volumes about the company's integrity and trustworthiness.
I came into contact with Oompa Toys recently and was offered the chance to review a wooden toy created by Bajo, a company that designs an imaginative collection of simple but solidly-made children's products. Bajo toys are made exclusively from hardwoods, including apple wood, cherry wood, alder, maple, beech, birch, and walnut. All woods are harvested from local forests in the region of Cracow, Poland (where the toys are also manufactured and produced), with non-toxic paints and oils used to decorate each hand-finished toy.Bajo offers a wonderful selection of baby and toddler items including push and pull toys, stacking toys, and wooden puzzles. For review, our family received Bajo's Triple Goblin Pull Toy.
The Triple Goblin is a delightful wooden pull toy that features three wheeled cars attached by durable pieces of colorful woven fabric. Atop the cars sit three goblin heads, complete with yellow, red, and orange hats and unique facial expressions painted onto each piece. The goblin heads are easily removable and can be swapped to any one of the three car pegs, in addition to turning in different directions when the toy's pull cord is tugged.
Bajo's Triple Goblin Pull Toy encourages creative expression, early motor skills, and independent play while engaging young children with its bright, colorful textures. The recommended age for this toy is 1 year+, but I found that both my 8-month-old and my 2-year-old were equally captivated by the Triple Goblin, albeit for different reasons - the little one preferred to mouth the wooden pieces while his brother enjoyed removing the goblin heads and changing their positions on the car pegs.Personally, I was impressed by the craftsmanship of this product - finished wooden toys tend to have an overall different look from their plastic counterparts, and I love how the Triple Goblin Pull Toy just feels more durable and imaginative. Already this toy has seen a bit of roughness courtesy of my children - one who likes to nibble and mouth everything in his path, the other prone to dropping things repeatedly onto our hardwood floor - yet it hasn't shown signs of damage (no chipped corners, damaged paint, etc.). It's wonderfully durable, and simply one of the cutest toys my little ones currently own.
GIFT IT!
Oompa Toys is your one-stop shop for unique, engaging wooden toys that are all-natural, eco-friendly, and wonderfully imaginative. Bajo's Triple Goblin Pull Toy, featured in this review, retails at $21.99 and would make a fun, thoughtful gift for the young child in your life. Oompa Toys also offers children's furniture and decor items, stylish bags, jewelry, and accessories, a variety of care products, and baby gear ranging from diaper bags to double strollers.
WIN IT!!!One (1) lucky reader will receive a Triple Goblin Pull Toy just like the one featured in this review, courtesy of the amazing folks at Oompa Toys!
MANDATORY ENTRY:
Head on over to Oompa Toys, take a look around, and let me know one other item that appeals to you. This is required and must be left as a comment at the end of this post before additional entries are submitted!
EXTRA ENTRIES:
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Open to US residents only. Contest ends at 11:59 PM (EST) on December 16th, with a winner drawn via Random Number Generator the next day. If your email address is not visible in your Blogger profile, please be sure to leave it in your comment so that I can contact you if you are the winner! You will then have 48 hours to confirm or a new winner will be drawn.
Good luck!
