Tell me about waldorf toys.

[JessK87]

I have a very little one. But I'm already interested in getting her good quality toys. I would rather have quality in my house than quantity. I'm not anti plastic but I do love the look of all the waldorf toys I have seen. Especially the open ended play they seem to inspire children to have. They also look beautiful in person and I myself want to own a waldorf doll. Do you have beautifully crafted toys? Have you made any? Are they worth the price?

[Seitvonzu]

my child LOVES playsilks. we've had them since her first birthday and she still loves them at 5. they are great for all sorts of things--but they are mostly used for dressup (and i love to use them as world's fastest wrapping paper....this works great as my child is a christmastime baby and i'm so tired of wrapping ANYTHING by the time her birthday comes around!)

we also have wooden animals, wooden blocks, puzzles...a waldorf paint holder/painting board, etc.

and a bamboletta doll. she was expensive (not as expensive as they are now...but ...yeah. expensive), and my child NEVER plays with her. i have a few adorable pictures where i forced the issue...but no. no self initiated play with that thing whatsoever. i will say the doll is big and pretty heavy. i waited for my kid to get older --but, nope. maybe her children will like it? (my child pretty much doesn't like any doll...the closest we got to doll love was the 12" corolle baby, and mostly she liked to dress it...she went through a serious dressing phase)

we have all sorts of toys. the most successful 'waldorf' sort of thing were the silks. we also have our share of plastic, cloth, felt, rubber, etc toys. blocks are really popular with my kid too, but that has seriously taken off in the last 6 months--so for a little, not as necessary. (and while my child will use plain old unit blocks, she has Intense love for lego friends.... *shrug*)

[brittone2]

My kids were receptive to wooden and waldory toys; lots of people find their kids are not. We have a few nice Spiel und Holz items like a large nesting rainbow. Elves and Angels wooden kitchen and fridge (tons of play and probably decent resale). DH built playstands, which were not a huge hit at first but the kids have grown more creative with them as they have gotten older. Right now, in our finished basement, the kitchen lives between the playstands, so it is kind of like a little house. They use the shelves on the playstand to play store, etc.

Wooden unit blocks have been great for us, as have playsilks. My kids still use the silks at age 9, 6, and almost 3yo, and we've had them for years and years. Some were purchased, some I dyed on my own with koolaid or curry/coffee, etc.

I made a very small, simple waldorf bunting doll for DS1 when he was a bit under 2, and he really cherished it. We still have it. Coincidentally, not long after that we found out we found out we were expecting baby #2, so I have fond memories of his reaction to his doll, which he named "baby sister." (I went on to have a girl, and it was just really cute that it worked out that way).

We have enjoyed some of the wooden toys from Haba (teethers especially), Plan, Brio, etc. as well. Holztiger farm animals and a wooden barn have been big with DS2, but they were somewhat neglected by the older two kids. So it is definitely a YMMV situation.

We've made some things for the kids; I love the tradition of handiwork and we encourage the kids to make things for one another. DS1 helps DH build things for DD's dolls, like a simple bunk bed from the Ana White site. DH made playstands and a small toy iron for the kids to "iron" their silks. I've needlefelted playfood items, and a playscape for the farm animals (needle felted tree, pond, rocks, stream, etc. on a large piece of wool felt). My kids have always appreciated those items. At one time we lived about 15 mins from a Waldorf school, so I could hit up their toy store and they carried needle felting and dollmaking supplies. That made it easy to find roving, etc. to use for simple needlefelting projects. I also had more time then ;)

Our toys definitely became less Waldorfy as the kids got older. Even though more plastic came into the house, we still focus on open ended whenever possible: Playmobil, Magnatiles, Lego, etc.

Best of luck! Less is more for as long as you can get away with it, IME. It became tougher with each child...more stuff creeped in. When DS1 was a baby and young toddler, we were great at keeping things pared down to a few higher quality toys, and he seemed to enjoy them.

There are people who find their kids just don't really like the wooden or Waldorfy stuff, so that's something to keep in mind. Some of the wooden stuff has decent resale value depending on where you live. We loved the Haba pushcart for all 3 kids as infants and toddlers, and then resold it for close to what we paid (we scored a good price on it originally though).

We use a Spiel und Holz birthday ring for the kids' bdays.

[JessK87]

Thank you for your very helpful responses! I love the idea of play silks and was thinking of getting them for my daughter. She is still very little so I have time, I'm just excited to make her play room bright and happy with some Waldorf creative play items. I'm already planning on having playstands, a wooden kitchen, unit blocks with cart, and beautiful waldorf doll when she is older.

[Seitvonzu]

how could i forget our elves and angels kitchen?

it's a cornerstone in our kitchen. my daughter calls it her "little kitchen"-- i can see my grandchildren playing with it-- i really love it :) we have the fridge and the sylvie's kitchen (might be slightly different from the current incarnation)

my "rule" for choosing our play kitchen was "would it be worth moving?" this one is. i'm keeping it forever :)

(i probably forget to mention it as "waldorf" b/c i don't think of it that way)

[MontrealMum]

We have many of the things that pp have listed. When my DS was little I concentrated more on non-plastic, non-lead-containing toys because he was mouthing everything as young children do. We had a lot of Haba and Plan, some Holztiger animals, Spiel und Holz puzzles and tons and tons of stuffies. We have some play silks...they've gone over better now that he's older. He had no interest in them until he was at least 4. We also have sandpaper letters and a few other Montessori materials.

When he was 3ish we bought a play kitchen at Ikea, and we continue to add to the play food, dishware etc. We now have a M&D shopping cart, Green Toys and Ikea dishware, a cash register, and a coffee maker. DS is on his 2nd apron set (he outgrew the first), and he uses it to cook in his own kitchen, as well as to cook with me in the real one. There are lot of patterns out there for making play food. I'm not that crafty, but if you are, you could try that. A Waldorf-like doll that I special ordered did get some love for a bit, along with 3 Corolle dolls, but that was a brief period. I also ordered a handmade bear from Etsy and that continues to receive lots of love.

We don't have a ton of disposable income so I like to buy toys at Ikea since they're reasonably priced and very open-ended. We have the tent and the tunnel, the kitchen (mentioned above), and various smaller things. Their stuffies are super soft and not too spendy either.

Now that he's older (my DS is 5.5) the items that get the most play are magnatiles, lego, and Playmobil and they're threatening to overtake our home :)

Just a word of warning about wooden toys...it depends on the child, but they can become an unintended weapon. It does not feel good to be bashed with a Haba block or a Thomas train. So, watch out!