What: Nimble Nester Stacking Arches

Features: From Little Sapling Toys, a lovely set of stacking arches that are simple in appearance, yet perfect for young, developing minds. Kids can hone their balancing, fine motor and pattern-making skills with this timeless wooden set that can be passed on for generations because hello? NOT made from junky plastic.

Green Factor: Made out of maple, cherry and walnut; the arches are finished with a light beeswax and organic jojoba oil.

Bonus: For every toy sold, Little Sapling Toys plants a tree.

Find It Here: Little Sapling Toys

What: Whoops Bunny Natural Makeup Sticks

Features: Five twist-up tubes of brightly colored makeup for your little bunnies to play with, worry free!

Green Factor: Unlike most kids’ play makeup that’s loaded with nasty and sometimes toxic chemicals, Whoops Bunny is made from all natural, biodegradable ingredients such as raspberry extract—and the plastic tubes are recyclable, as well.

Bonus: Whoops Bunny makeup sticks are made right in the USA and manufactured with wind power.

Find It Here: Whoops Bunny

What: Wooden trike

Features: I’ve always been a sucker for a red and white trike, but I’m head over heels for the fresh, modern look of this wooden one from Plan Toys! Constructed and designed with the toddler set in mind, this trike is fun, functional and built to last.

Green Factor: Made from all-natural, organic recycled rubber wood; decorated with non-toxic paints and finishes.

Bonus: Plan Toys was won over thirty awards for their innovative, eco-friendly, imagination-stimulating toys.

Find It Here: Amazon

Happy Earth Day!

What: The Green Hour

Features: Research shows that spending time in nature actually makes kids happier, healthier and even smarter. Todd Christopher, the creator of the GreenHour.org, has filled this book with activities designed to encourage discovery, creative play, and a wonder of nature, as well as practical advice for parents to make getting outdoors easy and worry-free.

Green Factor: The premise behind The Green Hour is to encourage parents to carve one ‘green hour’ in to their kids’ days. This year, celebrate Earth Day every day for an hour (or more!) outdoors.

Bonus: We love that The Green Hour mixes family time with outdoor education. Brilliant! Watch this video trailer to learn more.

Find It Here: Amazon.com

Win It: We’ve partnered with Shambhala Publications to give away TWO copies of The Green Hour to two lucky readers! Click here to fill out our simple entry form. Just enter GH04 as the giveaway name and tell us what federation recommends that parents give their kids one ‘green hour’ a day. Giveaway ends 04/30/10; $18 value. Open to residents worldwide! Official Rules. Giveaway has ended.

On our Blog: Kid’s Health: Pesticides in Food

What: Manny & Simon wooden wheelie toy

Features: These brightly colored, battery-free, wooden wheelie toys are sure to provide hours of imaginative play. A welcome addition to any toy box!

Green Factor: Made of 100% post-recycled wood residuals; painted with non-toxic, ultra low odor paint

Bonus: $6 flat-rate shipping on all ground orders!

Find It Here: Kelly Green Way

Win It: We’ve partnered with Kelly Green Way to give away a Manny & Simon wheelie toy of your choice! Click here to fill out our simple entry form. Just enter MS04 as the giveaway name and name four of the eight Manny & Simon wheelie toys up for grabs on their web site. Enter by 04/14/10. $32 value. Open to US residents only. Winner to be notified by email. Giveaway has ended.

What: Green Wax

Features: Skiers, snowboarders and surfers alike have been known to wax their equipment, which not only enhances their ability and execution, but protects expensive gear against the elements as well. Green Wax, an all-natural performance wax, is made in small batches and then poured in to recyclable tubes, bypassing the need for extrusion machinery and further reducing energy consumption and waste

Green Factor: Unlike most of its competition, Green Wax doesn’t come equipped with harmful toxins. It’s non-toxic, biodegradable, and contains neither PFC’s nor petroleum

Bonus: Endorsed by a third-party environmental research firm based at Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada, and made here in the United States

Find It Here: Green Wax

What: Ol’ Macs Story Building Barnyard

Features: Imagination rules with this 95-piece barnyard building set from Sprig Toys! Kids will have a blast building their own farm, and creating a fun storyline to go with it

Green Factor: Made out of recycled Sprigwood, a bio-composite material comprised of reclaimed wood bits and recycled plastic. Sprigwood is free of paint, soluble heavy metals, phthalates and endocrine disruptors

Bonus: This toy is 100% battery-free!

Find It Here: Sprig Toys

What: Bamboo E-Plane

Features: Up, up and away! This wooden toy airplane from Hape is stylish, modern and built to last.

Green Factor: The environmentally-friendly E-Plane is made out of sustainable bamboo and is decorated with non-toxic, water-based dyes

Bonus: All of Hape’s products meet international safety and quality standards

Find It Here: Amazon.com

What: Pupa Pupa dolls

Features: Available at Etsy.com, these adorable, handmade companions (there are boy and girl dolls, mermaids, fairies and a collection of various animals) are stuffed with 100% sheep wool and sport outfits that, in most cases, are made of vintage or salvaged fabric

Green Factor: The material used for the dolls’ bodies is 70% bamboo and 30% organic cotton, made in a facility that uses neither harmful toxins nor pollutants

Bonus: Because each doll is handmade, they’re all completely unique. Also, Gwyneth Paltrow is a big fan and recently featured Pupa Pupa dolls in her Goop web site’s newsletter

Find It Here: Pupa Pupa

What: Wheely Bug

Features: The Wheely Bug is unisex, durable, lightweight and small – perfect for indoor play. Available in two sizes for children up to fifty pounds.

Green Factor: Made with non-toxic materials and is PVC-free. Each bug’s plywood base is made from renewable plantation timber

Bonus: Winner of numerous toy awards, encourages gross motor skills. Also, choose from a ladybug, a cow, a bumblebee or a gray mouse (complete with big pink ears and a tail!)

Find It Here: Prince Lionheart

What: Wooden tea set

Features: Everything about this tea set from Plan Toys is adorable! It’s thirteen pieces include two cups and saucers, tea bags and stir sticks; there are even two lumps of sugar to play with!

Green Factor: Items from Plan Toys are made out of unfertilized rubberwood that’s kiln-dried rather than chemically treated. This tea set was made using water-based dyes, soy-based inks and non-toxic E-Zero glue

Bonus: Exceeds all international toy safety standards

Find It Here: Plan Toys

From Green Toys comes this sweet 15-piece toolset, a must-have for any budding carpenter. Kids can get right to work with the functional box and variety of tools, and will learn along the way because the hand-held tools bear their names on the handles. Not only is it made in the USA of recycled milk jugs— it’s also BPA, phthalate and lead free and is packaged in recycled cardboard without those super-annoying, impossible-to-undo twist ties. In other words, this is a toy that won’t take twenty minutes and a pair of pliers to open. Just open the box and PLAY! Fab green fact:  For every pound of recycled milk jugs used to make the products from Green Toys, enough electricity is saved to run a television for three weeks, and a laptop for four. Wow—plastic you can actually feel NOT bad about buying!

Find It Here: Lavish & Lime