I am a big fan of green toys. I like providing my children with non-toxic toys and I try to make purchasing decisions that are good for the environment.Last year I reviewed the Sprig Toys Adventure Series vehicles. I said in the review that I liked the concept of the kid-powered vehicles, but that if you are very sensitive to wood scents, they may not be the right toys for your home. Even though the "wood scent" is natural and from, well, actual wood, in the end I realized that my sinuses thought it was an allergen. I passed the trucks along to someone else who has used them ever since. My son did love pushing the truck around because the handle was the perfect height for him.
Since the company's launch, they have come out with two new lines: Eco-Trucks and Sprig Hollow. My son would probably love the Eco-Trucks, which include an Excavator,
a Loader,
and a Dump Truck.
Sprig Toys asked me if I would like to receive the Sprig Hollow toys for review. I agreed when I saw the picture because I thought they looked cute. And since they are outdoor toys, the scent wouldn't get to me. (They could also be used indoors, if you wish.)
This line includes Bee and Butterfly's Farm,
Dragonfly's Heliscoopter,
, and DuneBug's Sand Truck.
The concept is pretty cool: you can put together the parts to form a truck or a helicopter, or you can use the individual pieces as sieves, scoops, etc.
Unfortunately, there is no way to lock the pieces together to keep them in their "whole" form. I have to say that I have pieces strewn across the back yard. Which isn't a huge deal, because there are lots of outdoor toys strewn about. But I think they would be better if they somehow snapped together.
I love the idea of the farm. But the funnel will not stay put. It falls off every single time I put it back on. And I am not sure what the point of the holes are. I thought it was to place the little bug figures in them, but they don't fit.
The biggest hit is the little figures. They are two pieces, the body and the wings/head which pop in through the back of the body. My daughter plays with these quite a bit and likes to change which face is on which body and if it is up or down. She says they are her garden fairies.
Having been in the heat and sun for a good month or two now, some of the darker pieces are a bit sun-faded. But even being exposed to the elements non-stop, they are no worse for the wear.
So my major criticisms are that the farm doesn't really "do" anything and that I would like to see the parts make a whole that would actually stay whole. That being said, my children play with the scoops, sieves, and the truck body in their normal play. The pieces have been incorporated into our general outdoor toys pile and get played with. A lot.
A child's opinion about the functionality and fun factor of a toy may be completely different than an adult's intellectual analysis. And I love the concept of the Sprig Toys company since they are creating toys from sawdust and recycled milk jugs. That's pretty darn cool.
I can't wait to see what Sprig Toys comes up with next. And I would bet that the Eco-Trucks are great. They look chunky enough for smaller hands to really grab and push around. And they are no more expensive than any non-green trucks like this in the toy aisle.
For a different take on Sprig's line of outdoor toys, read what Z Recommends has to say. They think they are fab.
This was written by Leighann who can be read at Multi-Minding Mom where she dishes about family, food, foraging, frivolity, and more!
