Pure Play Kids: Creativity Inspiring Toys for Kids
:: Battery-free :: Wood, organic options :: Non-toxic :: Huge selection ::
Pure Play Kids is a marketplace and maker of simple, clean and creative toys for kids, that was founded upon a family’s simple quest to find these timeless classics in an ever-growing plastic and battery-operated world. Based on fun, creative, open-ended play, the majority of their products are made in USA and designed for babies, toddlers and big kids too.
Check out their selection of musical instruments, wooden toys, super-hero capes and masks, dollhouses and cloth dolls, organic stuffed animals, travel toys, pretend kitchen fun, art projects, finger puppets, puzzles and blocks, wooden animals and fun book-ends, games, tub toys, wooden vehicles, and the classic must-have wooden alphabet blocks!
With their forms being back to basics, not only will your kids develop creativity and imaginations, but the rooms around your house will actually have less visual noise (ie look better). Pure Play kids as a new manufacturing facility and plans on growing from 6 employees up to 25 by the end of 2013. Woohoo, go USA!
We appreciate that Pure Play Kids’ website clearly labels country of origin on each product. Reasonable prices, so these are great for baby showers:
Lionel: Train Sets, Scenery, Tracks and Accessories
:: Since 1900 :: Unbelievable selection :: Fine detail :: High quality ::
Lionel has been making exquisite train sets and accessories since when trains were in their heyday. Now that trains are making a comeback, this is the perfect time to bring your family together over a fun and creative project. Lionel has tons of accessories to bring life to your scene in amazing detail. It is a lot of fun to go through their catalog and imagine what you can do by building a table with contoured terrain, rivers, mountains and a village.
EDIT: Lionel has been importing, so exercise caution before purchasing
Covering several track styles, Lionel’s train selection ranges from old timey, up to super modern bullet trains (as well as Thomas and Friends!). They have great items such as vehicles, people, signs, bridges, tunnels, buildings, roads, tracks, lamps, stations, and more.
Augment their accessories (and save some dough) by crafting your own landscape and printing out your own props and buildings… with a good color printer, some foam core, and your imagination you can create an awesome train set!
http://www.lionel.com/
Great tileable texture collection of digital images- including signs, terrain, building facades and more:
http://www.texturama.com
Printable model train software that allows you to scale appropriately:
http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/model-builder.html
Shapeways: 3D Printing Factory and Marketplace
:: Many materials :: Growing catalog :: Affordable :: Customization ::
The future really is here! Now 3D printing of real products is competitively priced against traditional mass production techniques! Products are often at the same price, if not less expensive than similar items found in stores. You may upload your own CAD files, or choose from a growing catalog of designs uploaded by 3D designers around the world. For each design, you may choose from a myriad of materials and colors at various price points based on material volume.
The Made in USA aspect could be debated, however we will argue that through growth, their new factory expansion is creating a lot of jobs here, as well as opportunities for budding jewelry and product designers. Originating in the Netherlands, the founders up and moved their headquarters and their lives to NYC – and after great success are currently building a 25,000 square foot “Factory of the Future”, which not only prints objects that may be impossible to cast, but creates a new production technique for the masses. A factory that replaces “mass manufacturing” with “mass customization”, and employs finishing artists to to give your products the final touches.
Shapeways currently offers printing in over 30 materials, including full color printing (think character statues), metals (stainless as well as sterling silver) and food-safe glazed ceramics! To get started, peruse their ever-expanding catalog of designs from their thriving international artist community, or design your own jewelry by using some of their simple online tools. Check out their huge catalog of unique iPhone accessories, jewelry, art, miniatures, gadgets and games.
Currently their printers and materials are sourced from the USA and from Europe, however from a pleasant phone call we discovered Shapeways are always striving to source locally as much as possible.
Stuffington Bear Factory: Stuffed Animals Galore!
:: Great prices :: From small to very large sizes :: Clothing too! ::
Stuffington Bear Factory offers all the classic animal types, as well as many surprises – all Made in USA! Materials range from plush to fleece to organic, and not only can you buy the stuffed animals themselves, you can also buy optional clothing for most of the models. Since prices are very reasonable, these are gifts that can keep giving year after year! Many options for your Teddy Bear, Teddy Frog, or Teddy Pig.
Outfits include sundresses, organic plaid flannel, baby outfits, casual outfits, bathing suits, karate, firefighter, cowboy and cowgirl, a few superhero outfits, Mrs. Santa, basketball, policeman, little German Dirndl and Lederhosen, surgeon scrubs and many more!
Not only can you buy the animals and clothing from their online store, but Stuffington Bear factory also can create custom designs or products for your organization’s promotional or fundraisers. If you are in Phoenix, AZ stop in for a factory tour!
K’NEX: Creative Building Sets and Toys
::Stimulate your creativity ::Many components ::Great community ::Superpowers
Create real structures and working objects with K’NEX “Bricks”, “Rods” and “Connectors”. There are tons of unique and fun examples out there, from tension bridges, to motorized tanks and automatic transmissions, to amusement park rides, to crazy Rube Goldberg contraptions.
Check out some of the epic and amazing K’NEX designs on YouTube
The magic of K’NEX are its flexible rods that are perfect for flexible tracks, loops or DNA helixes. The connectors allow 45 degree connections and can even be connected directly together into platforms or ramps. Bricks are very similar to LEGO, but have very slightly rounded corners.
Not all K’NEX products are Made in USA (Lincoln Logs are imported), but they have a list here that is pretty comprehensive with dozens of American kit.
Read More»Bionic Blox: Creative Building Sets for Kids
::Creative Building for Kids ::Award Winning ::Multiple Kit Sizes ::Good Pricing
In a world where toys often don’t offer creative paths for children, it’s refreshing to see a toy that encourages kids to express themselves with three dimensional forms. Not only does it teach our little ones the laws of physics, but it also develops creativity, geometry and engineering skills.
If Bob the Builder were to design his own toy, this would be it! For ages 3 and up, these toys have been found in discovery museums and schools, and the creations are only limited by the imagination. Build bridges, skyscrapers, spaceships, dams, whatever you (cough) I mean *your kids* want to build… in simple or complex structures.
Bionic Blox is a recent winner of the Toy Man “Award of Excellence”.
American Plastic Toy: Small and Large Scale Toys
Toys vary from smaller beach sand-pail kits and dump trucks all the way to large playhouses with roofs, pretend kitchens and workbenches, and vehicles that the kids can ride in. Research before you buy, because some get great reviews but others seem to have sturdiness issues. The smaller non-structural toys, and the larger toys for girls are the safe bets.
The water and sand play toys have some pretty cool features!
Wide selection of toys on Amazon
Aerobie: Products to Get Your Heart Rate Up
*World’s best coffee?! *Precision air gliding *Great prices *Widely available
Aerobie has two completely different product lines: record-breaking precision sport products, and a coffee press that many claim makes the world’s best coffee.
The Aerobie came out when all we had were Frisbees. My first encounter was amazement as it sliced through the air effortlessly, seemingly unaffected by wind currents! Since then, their product line has increased to accommodate additional variables such as excitable dogs, pools and lakes, the rules and regulations of disc golf, night skies, and solo expeditions. Now all we need is a night version of the Orbiter boomerang and we’re good to go!
For this post I would like to highlight the Aeropress: an amazing coffee press that takes only 20 seconds to infuse your brew, cleans very easily (by simply removing the packed filter disk), and makes a fantastic cup of brew! Since it’s made in the US, it brings a whole new meaning to “Cafe Americano”, but also makes amazingly smooth espresso and anywhere in-between.
I had the pleasure of a private tour and tasting at Aerobie’s headquarters, and got the scoop on its development, and its evolution over dozens of revision cycles. Designed by an engineer lecturer at Stanford, this is a labor of love that took years to perfect. Aerobie decided to manufacture and market this device privately, rather than license the design out to other manufacturers – because they wanted to ensure its quality would be maintained and never compromised. How is it superior?
Read More»Little Tikes: Toys, Furniture and Fantasy Structures
*Easy to Find *Low Prices *Over 200 Products Made Here
All we had when we were kids were cardboard boxes and wooden beds. Check out the great play structures and furniture from Little Tikes! Over 200 made in USA products conveniently shown on corporate site.
List of American toys at Little Tikes
Many products on Amazon: Careful for USA Made
Green Toys
*Great selection *Great reviews *Easy to find *Locally sourced recycled plastic
Green Toys: I’ve been seeing these more and more on the web, but much to my delight, I saw a full end-cap full of toy school buses, fire engines, and dump trucks at our local Whole foods! Made from locally sourced and recycled BPA-free plastic. Currently 30% higher priced than imported toys, but that will come down with more distribution and isn’t the peace of mind worth it?! Now expanding into housewares… good job Green Toys! Cool stylistic quasi-retro design appeal.