When I got an email from the peeps at Imagine Childhood asking that I take a look at their site, I clicked over and instantly fell in love—like “WHERE have you been all my life”? love. Why? Because their site reminds me of my childhood, of being outdoors, of exploring and learning and playing and life’s simpler pleasures. If you haven’t yet heard about nature deficit disorder, you soon will. It’s a hot topic and one that plagues my mind when I think about my own children’s distinct lack of free time spent outdoors (mostly for reasons beyond my control). Imagine Childhood may not be able to fix nature deficit disorder but damn if it isn’t a great place to start trying because they carry so many things that are geared toward free, imaginative, explorational and outdoor play. And the books they carry? Pure awesomeness. I urge anyone with kids to hop over there and take a gander and also note that Imagine Childhood is not just a storefront. It’s also an inspiring blog totally worth bookmarking.

Find It Here: Imagine Childhood

Win It: We’ve partnered with Imagine Childhood to give away a super cool Nature Study Kit and the amazing book I Love Dirt. Click here to fill out our simple entry form. Just enter IC6 as the giveaway name and provide the answer to this question: What are one of the five questions the folks at Imagine Childhood ask themselves when choosing new products? Enter by 6/22/09. $50 value. Open to residents of US. Winner will be notified by email. Contest closed. Congrats to Steven!

I know…I’m, like, the LAST person on the internet to gush over the coolness of the Color Me Houses and Color Me Rockets but I don’t care because I think these playhouses made from recyclable cardboard are super awesometastic. Why? Well, mainly because you can play INSIDE them and we all know how much kids like stuff they can get inside. And? They can color, paint and marker them them any dang way they want to, as well. The word on the street is that kids TOTALLY DIG these award-winning, imagination-stimulating and creative play-inducing toys. As a parent, I dig that they take no batteries, use no electricity and contain zero plastic. The only thing that would up the DIG factor for me is if they were made of recycled cardboard and who knows, maybe someday they will. Nonetheless, I’m pretty sure a very special soon-to-be 4 year old will be getting the Color Me Rocket for his birthday next month. Don’t tell!

 Find It Here: Color Me House

We’ve mentioned this in the past but it bears repeating…even stuffed animals, which look so cute and harmless, can be toxic. Naturally, I find the idea of my children snuggling up to poison very disturbing but luckily non-toxic and eco-friendly plush toys are out there. and right now I’m quite taken with the Eco Stuffed Naturally Bunnies from Celery Street. Extremely soft and totally huggable, they’re made and filled with an eco-friendly alternative to traditional synthetics that is made from 100% soy fiber and the stuffing is 100% kapok, a golden silky fiber known for its hypoallergenic softness.  Additionally, kapok is a sustainable rainforest crop that comes from the seed pod of the kapok tree. Green and yet affordable, these adorable bunnies would look perfect in the center of an Easter basket but little ones (and their moms) will love them long after the Peeps tummyaches are but a distant memory.

Find it Here: Celery Street

Win It: We’re giving away two Eco Stuffed Naturally Bunnies. Click here to fill out our simple entry form. Just enter CS4 as the giveaway name and provide the answer to this question: What are the names of the three colors of Eco Stuffed Naturally Bunnies? Enter by 4/11/09. $30 value. Contest closed. Congrats to A.

He sleeps with it, he eats with it, he wishes he could take a bath with it. “It” is my son’s new Eco-Rocket—a toy so exciting that he has been playing with it for two days straight! It’s not often that I find a toy that my three-year-old still wants to play with 20 minutes after opening the box. I love it because it lights up and speaks to you — all without batteries. Yeah, this toy may look and sound electronic, but it’s actually eco-tronic! Just crank the little side-lever a couple times and it powers itself. Made of recycled non-PVC plastic, this little Eco-Rocket is now my go-to-gift for all the little astronauts in my life. I guess it’s safe to say we think the Eco-Rocket is out of this world!

Find It Here: Green Party Goods

Deal! Receive 15% off Green Toys and Gifts from Green Party Goods. Use code “save15″ at checkout. Expires 1/18/09.

This is by far the easiest playdough recipe I have ever tried. OK, well, it’s true that this is only the second playdough recipe I’ve ever tried, but still — after I used this one, I knew I had a winner. The pluses of making your own playdough? You will recognize all of the ingredients, which you probably already have in your home. You can make more whenever you run out. And most importantly, you don’t have to drag your kid to the store buy more. It’s a win-win for everyone! Oh, and this recipe takes about 5 minutes to make - that’s about an hour less than it would take for me to go buy some at the store! Even the kids can help with the mixing and kneading. Store it in an airtight container and it stays moist through many, many uses.

Recipe

1 cup flour

1 cup boiling water

2 tbsp. cream of tartar

1/2 cup salt

1 tbsp. oil

Mix and knead together.

Tipped off By: Cooks.com

Image credit: Pinot & Dita

Sandcastle-building is one of my my kids’ top 10 favorite summertime activities. But I am filled with a small twinge of guilt at the thought of buying those made-in-China plastic beach toys. Luckily, a better option is now available — the Sand Play Set by Green Toys. Made of recycled milk containers, Green Toys are made of plastic that you can actually feel good about! Green Toys, Inc. takes environmental consciousness to a whole new level. Not only are their toys made locally in California, but they also obtain the raw materials locally. By eliminating oversees or cross-country transportation costs, they are also reducing pollution. They also use recycled, non-plastic materials for their packaging and (hooray!) no twist-ties! And finally, because I know you want to know, these toys have no traceable amounts of phthalates or BPA and have no external coatings that could contain lead paint. Yep, we think we’ve found a winner here! So skip the dollar store next time you are looking for sand and beach toys and check out Green Toys instead. Your planet thanks you.

Find It Here: Green Toys

Congratulations to Rachael W., winner of a sand play set by Green Toys! 

Unlike with bottled water, there will be no environmental guilt when drinking from this Green Toys tea set. To make their enviro-friendly toys, Green Toys reprocesses plastic milk jugs made of high-density polyethylene, which is known to be one of the safest, cleanest plastics around. In addition to this adorable tea set, other products in this line include an indoor gardening kit, cookware and dining set and a sand play set. Not only are these manufactured in the USA, but they are also packaged in 100% recycled corrugated easy-to-open boxes with absolutely no plastics, cellophane or those horrendous twist-ties that can turn the sanest of parents into raving lunatics. And, as if those packaging virtues weren’t reason enough to love Green Toys, consider that their toys are Bisphenol-A and phthalate-free, as determined by third-party testing conducted in the United States. Kind of makes you wonder why they don’t make all plastic toys this way…

Find It Here: Green Toys Inc.

Twice a month, Thursday mornings are an exciting time at my house. That’s the day that both the garbage truck and the recycling truck come by to make their curbside collections and my kids race to the front window to watch the action. Thanks to Maple Landmark, now all kids can make every day recycling day with this wooden Montgomery Scoots Recycling Truck. Painted with non-toxic paint and made in Vermont from mostly local (USA) materials, this truck is recommended for ages 2 and up. At 4 inches long, the Montgomery Scoots Recycling Truck makes a fun and green educational addition to any play town.

Find It Here: KangarooBoo

It may be yellow. It may be cute. But is that rubber ducky in the tub actually rubber? Or some icky PVC facsimile covered in lead paint? I know it’s distressing to think that even the beloved rubber duck has not escaped being tainted by cheap, greedy manufacturers but there’s good news — actual rubber duckies are not yet extinct! Crafted in Spain of sustainable latex rubber and devoid of any toxic paints or phthalates, the Natural Rubber Duck is soft and safe for babies to chew on and even gives a little squeak when squeezed. I’ve already ordered one to replace the not-rubber duck that my daughter used to love to play with before it accidentally disappeared from our bathroom. Not that I would know anything about that. Ahem.

Find it Here: Parenting by Nature

A big part of going green is reducing what we consume and not buying things we really don’t need. In support of buying less stuff and having more fun, the folks at New American Dream have put together a tidy list of ways to have fun without mountains of toys. I actually printed this out (on the back of previously used printer paper, natch) and have it up on my fridge as a reminder of all the cool things we can do when my kids cry boredom. Go check it out and consider getting all retro with some good old-fashioned fun!

Find it Here: New American Dream

Making your own non-toxic play dough is a super fun rainy day activity you can do with your kids:

2 cups flour
1 cup salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups water with several drops of food coloring added*
4 teaspoons cream of tartar

Mix ingredients together in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and turn dough onto a plate to cool. Store in a covered container or plastic bag. Finished creations can be baked slowly in the oven until hardened, then painted.

*You can also add vegetable juices or mashed up vegetables, such as carrots, beets, or spinach for color instead of food coloring.

Tipped Off By: Mother Earth Living

Putting your hands in paint and squishing it through your fingers has got to be one of the top ten best experiences of toddlerhood. If you’re thinking of getting some fingerpaints for your kids, check out chemical-free, hemp-based Natural Finger Paint for Kids. What you’ll get with each set: 6 glass bottles of paint in white, yellow, red, blue, green and black (paint colors derived from vegetable dyes or all-natural mineral pigments). What you won’t get: heavy metals, VOCs, petro-chemicals or other harmful ingredients. Added at no extra charge: Peace of mind and some awesome refrigerator art.

Find it Here: Kid Bean