D1 and SIL don’t use plastic spoons, cups or plates for the kids. They use silicone spoons, cups and plates. Silicone doesn’t use plasticizers and is better choice for children’s table ware.
Most children’s tableware sold today is silicone, not plastic.
And their nanny is RIE trained & certified so she has a strong preference for simpler, child creativity centered toys and D1 and SiL agree with her.
This grandmother proudly buys Fisher Price and Little Tykes toys.Those 2 companies really know what kids like. My GD has gotten hours of fun from her Little People playlets and Little Tykes outdoor toys.
My daughter is one that prefers wooden toys, buy does not forbid plastic. GD’s toy kitchen is wooden, and she had many puzzles, but also has the Little Tikes Cozy Coupe and water table as well as lots of Paw Patrol toys which are definitely plastic. Daughter limits electronic toys, mainly so GD will play and not just push buttons.
We’ve mostly avoided anything made in China for our GDs. The exception is a Hape brand instrument for which we cannot find a non-PRC made substitute, so we clean hands after use. Even well known US companies (Fisher Price, for example) have had problems with toxins in toys made in China, despite their claims to inspect them frequently.
I order a lot online and often find errors in the country of origin information provided. Clothes, shoes, books and toys are returned for a full refund if found to be made in China.
We do buy some plastic toys such as those made by Green Toys and Playmobil 123. US-made blocks, both small wood ones and the larger cardboard ones, are favorites here. I like PlanToys which are made in Thailand. I found some dolls made in Spain, but they don’t have eyes that close which disappointed GD when she realized her baby wasn’t going to sleep. A current obsession are some Ravensburger puzzles for little ones. They’re made in Germany.
Waldorf schools have play things made of natural materials (wood, wool, paper, fabric). They teach the children to knit.
I’ve did buy Waldorf toys for my granddaughter (22 months) and she seemed to like them, at least when I was there. My D and SIL haven’t asked me not to buy plastic toys. I generally don’t buy GD toys because I really like to buy books, stuffed animals, and clothes for her. She’s visiting with her parents now and we’re all at our vacation place. I haven’t seen her since July–it’s amazing how much she’s changed in a few months.
My D does like wooden toys, but won’t forbid plastic. We do avoid any made in China. D is also very into secondhand, for both environmental and monetary reasons. She has procured a Little Tikes playhouse, a LT treehouse/climbing structure, several LT cozy coups, and an array of baby and small kids bikes and other ride-ons, all for free. And many other toys, clothes, and equipment.
Getting free stuff is basically a second job for D, and she is really, really good at it.
Plus one on secondhand, but do make sure to Google the toy etc. and “recall.”
D1’s neighbor gave their daughter’s Ikea kitchen set to GD. She loves it because everything looks so real. She cooks in her kitchen when her parents cook.DUKTIG Play kitchen, birch, 28 3/8x15 3/4x42 7/8" - IKEA
My younger son bought my niece a wooden play kitchen for her first birthday. I think it took my older son 8 hours to put together. Two years later it has gotten a lot of use by both granddaughters. Last Christmas he got them the cutest toy espresso maker. Yesterday I saw this cute Target cart and couldn’t resist. I want to give it to my granddaughters for Christmas but I don’t know if I can wait that long.
Because of Covid, GD has never been to a store, so she wouldn’t even know what a shopping cart looks like. They get their groceries delivered weekly from Freshdirect.
She’s OCD and works in the environmental field. No chance anything dangerous getting through their front door!
One of my GDs loves Target; it was her first store she went to mid Covid at the age of 2. When I saw the cart online, I just had to find it for her! It was out of stock at all stores near me, but my daughter found it at her store. GD loves it, even if it is a bit small. She loves playing check out using her play food from her kitchen.
A toy I had at my house before I even had kids was a toy cash register. Every kid who came over loved playing with it. No bells or whistles, just some buttons and a drawer that opened.
When I had kids (2 the same age) I got another one, this time a Target (red) one and it did have some lights that flashed and even a wand that you could use to scan the ‘big’ items. Again, everyone loved it. We had some play money (and some real money) they used.
My friend’s daughter had a much fancier one and she used it to ‘check out’ the animals who had been to the vet hospital for treatment.
Think about it, who doesn’t love playing store? The two things I remember playing most were “store” and “office”
I kept the shooing cart our kids used forever and an obscene amount of play food. And a Barbie cash register that got SOOO much use!
I don’t think my granddaughter remembers being in a store, and GS hasn’t ever been in one.
Good memories. I made a stove/oven out of an old cardboard, heavy-duty dish crate, and hit the thrift shop for a cart, food, pots & pans, utensils, etc. They played with that stuff forever. This led directly to S2 developing a passion for cooking! He started helping with food prep when he was three (stirring brownie batter, greasing the pan, adding cheese, butter & milk to mac & cheese, etc.) Didn’t think of a cash register, but that’s a great idea, too.
My parents were raised in Switzerland. My grandpa built a little kitchen area with lots of ‘extras’ for my mom (he had lots of self learned creative skills and eventually had a construction company in the US as well as very good self trained artist) – mom’s cousin has it now (along with grandpa’s tools that he left in Switzerland), and her children and grandchildren have play with it.
My DD got a very sturdy kitchen play set which is played with some every day. In addition to their play food, I had stuff from DDs including a pizza pan which had sliced pizza.
The kids also have a cleaning cart, which was the Nana/Santa gift given to GD after she was potty trained. The smile she had, captured with a photo, once she ‘won’ her cleaning cart play set was priceless.
My son and DIL are having a terrible, terrible time finding a part-time nanny. My DIL’s mother takes care of the two kids (GD 3.5, GS 1.0) on M, W, and F, when GD is in pre-school all morning, but finds it difficult and exhausting to take care of both of them all day long. They had a PT granny nanny for three days but she quit, citing some physical issues that prevented her from lifting heavy things and climbing stairs. They are struggling with various work-from-home schemes, work-at-night schemes, and other jerry rigged solutions. I wish I could help them. (No, I don’t live close, and I too would find all day with two littles exhausting, although of course I could do it if it were essential.)
I wonder if they can network via some church organizations, home school parents (who know a lot of other parents with maybe older HS or local community college kids with flexible schedules). My DD has utilized some of her home school family networking/local college students that she knows through her young adult/young family activities. Ask a lot of people they know - maybe even someone that usually cleans houses that would be willing to watch kids for same pay (surely less work IMHO).