Sustainable toys: Good for the environment, great for kids

This toy is brand new to the market and it ticks so many of our eco-friendly boxes. We cannot get enough of this toy as it encourages children to plant and nurture their own plants whilst teaching them about endangered species habitats. Not only are the WWF Wild Scenes are made with 100 per cent recycled plastics but both the packaging and the product are recyclable.

Not suitable for children under 36 months due to small parts that may represent a choking hazard.

Review: "This is a really cute kit. It’s ages four and up, my daughters eight and we thought this would be a fun project to do together."

PLAYMOBIL Family Tree House is our favourite sustainable toy as it is not only made with sustainable materials but also teaches children about the importance of sustainability, self-sufficiency and looking after the environment and its inhabitants.

Review: "Incredible for the little ones in the house. It helps their creativity and teaches them about the planet and the animals."

Not suitable for children under the age of four.

If you are looking for an eco-friendly bath toy, look no further. This robust colourful toy is constructed entirely from recycled plastic. And although it is made of plastic it contains no BPA, lead, or phthalates.

Review: "The boat is much larger than I expected and was greeted with much enthusiasm by our three year old grandson. It is colourful and very robust and will certainly stand up to quite rough play. All in all a great toy with the added huge advantage of it being ethically sourced and made. So it's not cheap but worth the money on all these counts."

Recommended for children aged 3 years and up.

You may think it is a bit strange to give your child a metal toy. However, steel is one of the world's most sustainable materials and this is a fantastic sensory toy. Toddlers love looking at themselves in the shiny reflections. We love this toy because it is suitable from birth but can be enjoyed by all ages.

This toy won Gold for the Best Baby Toy at the Mother&Baby awards 2023.

**Review: "**These multi sensory discs are brilliant. Babies love the shiny look of these discs, the rattle noise when shook and can view their own reflection on them. They are smooth and are perfectly sized for little hands.
Perfect quality and look great. A perfect addition to our sensory toy collection."

Toys are a fantastic way for children to express how they are feeling and process situations have that happened. We love these wooden emotion tiles as they convey different emotions and a diverse range of children.

Mother&Baby Review: " These tiles are great as they evoke conversation and allow a child to express how they see emotions. We think this wooden tools are a fantastic talking aid and could help improve children's wellbeing."

These stacking and balancing wooden animal toys can great for helping to develop fine motor skills. This toy has been made from sustainably sourced wood as well as non-toxic water stain paints.

Review: "Amazing quality from tender leaf toys. Love the range of products cottage toys source. My little one loves her animals and they are perfect size to take out with us"

This dump truck has been made from recycled plastic milk containers. We love that this toy truck has no metal axles. Kids will love lifting the workable dumper that encourages motor skill development.

Review : "A proper truck! Brightly coloured and sturdy with the added benefit of being sustainably made (recycled plastic milk bottles). Apparently you can even stick it in the dishwasher."

Older children can enjoy bonding with their parents whilst creating these unique animal figure. ThIS model is made from biodegradable card and printed with natural ink. They can be fixed together with non-toxic glue.

Review: "Our little one has made a few different Eugy Models, but I think this one is her favourite, she likes learning the facts on the cards."

Suitable for 6 years +

This stacking Koala has been created by Janod and WWF. Babies can learn to stack the different sections onto this cute roly-poly koala stacker also helps develop hand-eye coordination.

Review: "It looks great. I love that each layer is a different colour."

Best from 12 months+

We cannot get enough of this toy because there is no waste. The box is part of the toy, so nothing gets thrown away. This toy has 15 wooden pieces which can be stored in the box and carried with the handle..

Mother&Baby review: " One of our biggest bug bears is throwing away empty boxes once you have opened the toy and then having no where to store all of the parts, which then inevitably means they become lost. This space play box looks fantastic and is of premium quality"

Kids love scooting around the streets and we love that it's made using discarded fishing nets. The fantastic thing about Micro Scooters is all of the parts are replaceable. So they never need to end up being chucked away. 

Review: "We got this for our two-year-olds birthday. It is pricey for a two-year-old but we know that if he is anything like his big brother, he will certainly get the money's worth out of it! He is loving it, he hasnt quite mastered the tilt steer yet but that will come. It feels like it would be a smooth ride, I wish I could have a go! "

We cannot get enough of this super sweet dog teddy which has been made from recycled bottles. Your little one will love snuggling up to this soft plush.

Review: "This gorgeous Golden Retriever is soft and a very good representation of the real dog! I bought two of these, one for each my grandchildren, they have a real Golden Retriever dog which is 15years old! They are going to love this very lifelike plush dog!!!"

Lovevery Play Kits are made with sustainably harvested wood, organic cotton, nontoxic paint, and baby-safe plastics. Designed by child development experts, The Play Kits help parents make the most of playtime.

The Play Kits by Lovevery are available from ages 0-48 months and deliver at 2-3 month intervals with subscriptions starting at £80.

Mother&Baby writer, Hannah James said: " My children cannot get enough of the Lovevery play kits and I really enjoy playing with them. I love that the toys have been hand selected by experts. Each play kit is of amazing quality and is very well thought out."

The Green Toys Pink Dumper Truck Toy is the perfect toy for your little one. Here to save the Earth! Enjoy teaching your little one that trucks are used to haul pebbles, sand, toys and more. And, when little bubba is ready to offload, they will be able to tip the dumper to release, and help boost their imaginative skills,.

This amazing Green Toys Seaplane is ready to take your child on a fun adventure in the sky or out at sea, where they’ll be able to fall in love with nature. A sustainable and yellow water toy, which comes with a spinning paddle and strong oversized pontoons great for cruising into any seaport.  You can even take this into the bath or pool, as it easily floats, making it entertaining for young captains! 

Review: "The seaplane is very well designed with no small or loose parts, but the attention to detail is fantastic. It is strong and sturdy, it survives been thrown around by a toddler! Made from recycled materials with minimal packaging it is clear that the manufacturer has a great ethos! My son is two and a half and hasn't put this down since it arrived, perfect from age 1 yr on-wards and great value for money. We love it!"

Get ready to have some fun and bake something magical in the kitchen! With this sustainable FSC® certified wood and coloured with non-toxic paints, your little one will be (pretend) cooking a batch of cookies, with their own miniature kids baking set. It features a wooden baking tray, kitchen scales, pastry cutters, a rolling pin, mixing bowl, sliceable butter, an egg, flour, sugar and milk!

This clever 10-piece Woodland Counting Puzzle and shape matching game. Comes with four woodland creatures, a fox, bear, rabbit, and badger, separated into creative puzzle pieces for your child to match and find the correct spaces on the board.Learning to spot and identify matching the animals to its right shape, will help boost their hand and communication skills.