We can’t tell you how to parent, but we can help you with your eco-guilt that comes with buying plastic toys—especially considering they often contain harmful chemicals and can take 1,000+ years to degrade in landfills.
Instead, spoil your child with sustainable toys.
Like organic baby toys, eco-friendly toys are designed to have a minimal impact—on both the planet and your child’s health thanks to a lack of toxic paints and plastics (you can read more about that at the bottom of this page)—while still supporting maximum fun.
To help you start filling your child’s eco-friendly toy box, we’ve curated a list of our favorite brands using responsible and safe materials, ethical labor practices, and low-waste packaging.
Soon we’ll be rolling out our new Brand Rating System to this article. It will assess toy brands (and all other brands) against a range of eco-related criteria, like chemical use and climate impact. You can learn more about here.
We independently research all featured brands and we ask them to confirm their claims. In many cases we personally review recommended products. This post contains affiliate links which means we may earn a commission if you buy something. Learn more here.
Sustainable Toy Brands To Jumpstart Your Play Date
Our kids love playing with Lovevery’s Montessori-inspired toys that encourage stage based play, all the while being made with low-impact materials like organic cotton and BPA-free or bio-based plastics.
PlanToys focus on sustainable wooden toys like building blocks that use only non-toxic adhesives and water-based dyes.
Meeting all international child safety standards, UK brand Tender Leaf Toys crafts beautiful and creative toys from reclaimed rubber wood and FSC-certified plywood.
Index: Eco-Friendly Toys
- Lovevery Jump to brand
- Tender Leaf Toys Jump to brand
- PlanToys Jump to brand
- Once-Kids Jump to brand
- Legacy Learning Jump to brand
- Wishbone Design Studio Jump to brand
- Kinderfeets Jump to brand
- EZplay Jump to brand
- Toy Library Subscription Jump to brand
Lovevery
About Lovevery
Price Range: $120 per subscription / $120–$400 individually
Your child will love every sensory toy that comes from this brand. And parents will, too.
Each of Lovevery’s eco-friendly toddler toys is designed to support stage-based play and activate developing baby brains and their 100 billion nerve cells! The expertly-designed, Montessori-inspired toys, include play mats, integrated play gyms, play kits (via a subscription service), block sets, and other fun essentials for ages 0-4.
We tested out the Storyteller Play Kit, which includes a fort / puppet theater, animal puzzle, inspiring book, and more. Not only did it keep our several kids of multiple ages occupied and entertained for hours, but we could see how it inspired and encouraged their imagination.
Lovevery’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
The toys are made with FSC-certified, sustainably harvested wood, medical-grade silicone, OEKO-TEX certified organic cotton (in the case of their non-toxic play mats), and in some cases, BPA-free or bio-based plastics. They also exceed global safety standards and are free of lead, phthalates, and flame retardants.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Designs come out of Boise, Idaho and are then manufactured in Ningbo, China by a manufacturing partner that provides ethical, sustainable, and safe working conditions.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
Their lost parts promise provides replacement parts for all playthings, but they’re working on other measures to ensure all of their toys can be repaired, resold, or broken down into recyclable materials.
By 2025, 90% of their products and packaging materials will come from renewable, biobased, or recycled sources, and by 2030, their supply chain will be carbon-neutral. Currently orders ship as such.
Tender Leaf Toys
About Tender Leaf Toys
Price Range: $13–$120
Started by craftsmen and designers, the UK’s Tender Leaf Toys is one of the best wooden toy brands designing toys to support your child’s cognitive and physical skills.
Between play tables, extravagant dollhouses and dolls, games, culinary-themed toys, and this stunning Cosmic Rocket Set, YOU’LL want to sit down to have a tea party—which of course, they have a set for.
Tender Leaf Toys’ Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
The toys are made from reclaimed rubberwood (a byproduct of the latex industry) and FSC-certified plywood. Only toxin-free paints and glue are used. All toys meet international safety standards (EN71, ASTM F963, and AS/NZS ISO).
Supply chain & labor practices:
Every step of the process, from manufacturing to shipping, is performed by Mentari International in Indonesia. The TLT team spends two months every year with the family-run factory, ensuring that they operate with high standards of training and employee wellbeing.
They’ve been awarded the ICTI Ethical Toy Program seal of approval.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
Tender Leaf Toys are well on their way to plastic-free packaging and currently uses paper and recycled cardboard.
PlanToys
About PlanToys
Price Range: $12–$60
PlanToys got its start when seven university graduates decided to give back to their home country of Thailand. For more than four decades, they’ve created a range of locally-made toys that include their highly popular dollhouses, doctor kits, and walkers.
There isn’t a type of play they don’t facilitate, from Yellow Submarine bath toys to eco-friendly outdoor toys, like a Mini Golf Set that’s fun for the whole family.
PlanToys’ Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
To PlanToys, sustainable play means using materials like sustainably harvested rubberwood sourced from Thai trees that can no longer produce latex. It’s combined with PlanWood, a low waste material made from grinding surplus rubberwood sawdust.
The toys are finished with E-Zero non-formaldehyde glue and non-toxic water-based dyes and exceed international safety standards (ASTM, EN71).
Supply chain & labor practices:
Materials are both responsibly sourced and produced in Trang, Thailand, keeping it nice and local. Ensuring a fair, safe, and healthy work environment, the company is OHSAS 18002 and SA8000 certified.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
Recognized for excellent environmental management, the company is ISO 14001 and ISO 9001 certified. Their Children Museum is powered by solar energy, and their sustainably-sourced wood is strengthened in a chemical-free kiln-drying process. Any waste wood is used in their biomass power plant to produce electricity for their factory and nearby villages.
Packaging is plastic-free and uses soy inks and recycled paper.
Community & charitable giving:
A portion of all proceeds is donated to a Children’s Museum and reforestation projects in Thailand. They volunteer in their local community and run Toy Library in Thailand, to reduce the cost for a family to buy toys.
The PlanToys PlayCycle project encourages and educates families on the benefits of passing on outgrown toys, which helps those in need and reduces waste.
Once-Kids
About Once-Kids
Price Range: $18–$120
Once-Kids will inspire your kids’ wonder and creativity through their range of heirloom-quality toys. Their toys align with the brand’s mission (which is also an acronym of their name): Organic, Natural, Charitable, and Environmentally-friendly.
The Once-Kids range includes blocks, play sets, and action figures—like the Tulip Hard Play Hero, because girls can be superheroes, too!—some of which give you the option of DIY decoration.
Once-Kids’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
The toys are made primarily with FSC-certified wood. In some cases, felt made from recycled water bottles is also incorporated. They’re third party tested to be CPSIA, ASTM, EN71, and CE safety compliant.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
The packaging is also made from FSC-certified wood, and provides an excellent opportunity for re-gifting, upcycling (zero waste gift wrapping, anyone?), or use as a toy box.
Legacy Learning
About Legacy Learning
Price Range: $13–$51
Legacy Learning blends fun with, well…learning. From quiet time activities to wooden stackers that cultivate fine motor skills (and are sure to make plenty of noise when they fall), there’s a Montessori and Waldorf-inspired toy for every kid’s (and parent’s) mood.
If you’re shopping the tiniest of tots, check out their selection of teething toys, like the adorable Dinosaur Teething Ring, made of wood and non-toxic silicone.
Legacy Learning’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
All environmentally friendly kids’ toys are made with wood and all-natural, non-toxic paints. Some feature medical-grade silicone.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Everything is handcrafted by owner Ashley in her Illinois home.
Wishbone Design Studio
About Wishbone Design Studio
Price Range: $25–$280
With a desire to spread creativity, joy, and independence, Wishbone Design Studio has reimagined the functionality and durability of children’s toys.
You’ll see this vision in their thoughtfully-made range of eco toys for little ones on-the-go: trikes, bikes, rockers, walkers, and wagons. Those like the Wishbone Flip are a higher upfront investment, but their clever convertible design means they’ll provide engaging play for ages one to five.
Wishbone Design Studio’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Wishbone’s wheeled toys are made with sustainably harvested birchwood and post-consumer recycled content (like recycled plastic and carpet). All toys comply with AU, NZ, EU, and US safety standards.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Wishbone toys are designed in New Zealand and ethically made in China.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
Designed for longevity and a responsible end-of-life, most toys use zero additives to make their recycling easier.
Kinderfeets
About Kinderfeets
Price Range: $60–$300
With toys designed to develop gross motor skills, coordination, and balance, toy-maker Kinderfeets supports your child’s imagination and beyond. Think: balance bikes, Waldorf-inspired balance boards, tricycles, play gyms, and prams.
When it comes to sustainability for kids and adults alike, we love multi-function products, like Kinderfeets’ 2-in-1 Tiny Tots bikes that convert from bike to trike to last your kid from teetering toddler to tot.
Kinderfeets’ Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Fast-growing bamboo, birchwood, or FSC-certified German beechwood are the materials of choice. Only non-formaldehyde glue and non-toxic, water-based paints and lacquers are used. Toys adhere to safety standards in Europe, North America, and Australia (CE, ASTM, EN71, AS/NZS 8124).
Supply chain & labor practices:
The toys are made in a factory near Shanghai, China that was established by an Austrian company and has long-standing ethical practices. Minimizing environmental impact and supporting employees has allowed the factory to obtain ISO 9001 and BSCI certifications.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
Kinderfeets uses recycled materials for packaging and sells individual replacement parts for easy repairs.
EZplay
About EZPlay
Price Range: $20–$499
Did someone say jungle gyms?
EZPlay can provide your mini-me with the best climbing experience. Suitable for all ages, they create adventure-ready playthings for kids of all ages, including options that serve as sustainable toys for babies.
Designed by Montessori specialists, their range includes jungle gyms, kid-friendly and foldable climbing walls, slides, ball pits, and the popular Wobble Balance Board, designed to improve kids’ coordination (and can equally challenge your own!).
EZPlay’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Top-quality natural ash wood is treated with water-based paint and solvents.
Supply chain & labor practices:
The wood is sourced in Eastern Europe, which is also where they’re manufactured into playgrounds.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
The ash wood is selected because it yeilds sturdy and durable toys, especially when coupled with quality fittings to provide long-lasting play structures.
Toy Library Subscription
About Toy Libraries
Price Range: Various
Let’s face it, most toys don’t stand the test of time, whether it be through breakages or loss of interest. That’s where toy libraries come in.
Toy libraries let you borrow toys in the same way that you would borrow books. This allows you to choose age appropriate toys for your child that will promote physical and intellectual development, but can then be swapped out before boredom sets in.
On average, it costs around $10-20 per month and that includes the delivery of sanitized toys. With some subscriptions, you can rent around $2,000 worth of toys annually, ranging in everything from blocks to dinosaur toys. The greenest way to play, these borrowed toys reduce waste and limit the amount of packaging required.
While there are dedicated toy library services in many countries throughout the world, they’re also offered by libraries and local councils, so a Google search might be your best bet to find something in your area.
Why Choose Eco-Friendly Kids Toys?
Let’s start with the fact that the toy industry is the most plastic-intensive industry in the world, requiring 40 tons of plastic for every $1 million in revenue.
Aside from the issues associated with the plastics used, toys always seem to end up in mouths, and kids are more sensitive to toxic ingredients like phthalates and Bisphenol A which mimic hormones and disrupt normal growth and development.
For the most part, sustainable toys also help to keep young ones away from other toxins. Sustainable materials, finishes, paints, and glues that are better for our environment, are also better for children, especially during their most important stages of development.
Whether you’re planning on raising a zero waste baby or are taking small steps toward a more conscious household, supporting children’s toy brands like these is a healthy step in the right direction, for your child and the planet.