Wait, I'm not just repeating articles, am I?

Everybody is going green these days. It’s rather trendy to say the least, so it’s no surprise that toys are following the trend and selling big when it comes to eco-friendly categories. If you’d very much like to give your kids something fun to play with that they’re guaranteed to enjoy plus is quite possibly better for the environment in the long run, then good news because here’s an article about the top selling eco-friendly toys right this second.

Still Going Green It Seems

Do you remember me talking about the company Green Toys a while ago? I’m not here to judge; it was after all quite some time since that article. The reason I’m bringing them up is because they’re selling one heck of a lot of their toys right now with the number one green toy of them all being the Green Toys Tea Set that I went on about in my article. Someone must have been listening to me when I wrote the positive review or something. Of course they aren’t just a one-trick pony since they also have a cookware and dining set, a dump truck, and a sand playset. You know, things every kid should already have. The best part of all that is that none of those toys are particularly expensive with only the full cookware and dining set being over $30.

Dang it, now I want to go play in the sand.

Green toys may have a lot in the bestseller category, but they aren’t alone. Another company called i Play is doing quite fine for themselves until Apple decides to sue them for using a lowercase I in their company name. Their top item is the Green Sprouts Stacking Cup Set, yet another incredibly simple toy that happens to be a toy every kid should own. Heck, I had a set of these when I was a kid, but I’m sure this set is a lot better for the environment.

My set had much manlier colors though, but otherwise they looked the same.

If you’d prefer something way more advanced, check out Elenco Electronics’ Frightened Grasshopper Solar Powered Bug. I swear to you I didn’t just invent that thing, and even better, this robo-bug is only $7. That’s a deal no matter who you are.

Alright, I'll allow a robo-grasshopper, but as soon as we get robo-hornets I say we've gone too far.

Sprig Toys have a handful of bestsellers when it comes to construction vehicle toys if you’d rather not buy everything from Green Toys. Let the girls have their tea sets, us boys got stuff to dig and construct and whatnot. Then after we’re done with that maybe some more tea.

Once more, all I want to do now is go play in the sand.

Rounding out the bestsellers is Plan Toys with a couple items. What’s their highest selling item right now? A solid wood drum. That’s it. Just a little drum with a little mallet. While I’m all for kids having a toy drum, I’m not everyone. Plan Toys also has a doll house nursery set for the less noisy children, though I’m somewhat surprised to find out that the toy drum is $21 and the doll house set is $18. I must be really out of touch with my green side.

Yup, that's one wooden drum there.

So there you have it folks, a multitude of great eco-friendly toys at affordable prices. Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s once more time for tea.

I grew up in the heart of Cabbage Patch Kid land (that’s in northeast Georgia if you never knew) and we were sure to visit Babyland General, the “hospital” where the babies were “born,” at least once to get a chance to name a baby.

Needless to say, those dolls have always been my standard of measurement when it comes to other baby dolls.

Another  favorite baby doll of mine is by Corolle – this little guy was super-cute and we both loved it when his eyes closed.  He was adorable even in the box & seemed to be just the right size for my three year old.  And I was bound to love the Madame Alexander Huggums that was given years ago as a new baby present. This is really the most classic kind of baby doll on the market today.

But if I had to recommend one doll today for versatility for both parents and children it would be LaBaby by Berenguer.  My daughter calls it “my heavy baby.”

This doll was purchased as a necessity (if you wonder what necessity could be fixed with a doll you must not have kids), and while pricey compared to other “necessity” purchases I’ve made this one has been well worth the price paid.

The baby doll body is soft rather than plastic from head to toe, and it is weighted so that it can be positioned easily (for tea parties and such). They are available in most stores & online, and they smell really nice too.

The fact that it’s weighted has made the baby useful in other ways as well – some I’d never expected.  The doll was recommended for an infant massage class I decided to take.  The teacher said that it was a good tool because the proportions were right and there was room to practice a stroke on the doll limbs.  Other dolls I had grown up with failed the course miserably mostly because they weren’t weighted or were too tiny.

“What I said was, that it is in the interest of MGA employees and I believe it is in the interest of Mattel shareholders and Mattel employees for the two companies to come to a settlement and move on,” Larian said.

The rumor that MGA was prepared to shell out big bucks as a penalty for “stealing” the Bratz franchise from Mattel was passed around quickly on the toy news scene.  Thanks go to ToyNews for following up on the case and setting the record straight.

MGA still denies that Mattel has any right to the popular Bratz dolls.  We also feel that Mattel is probably crying over sour grapes in this case, as Bratz continue to trounce Barbie for sales, seven years in the making.

In the not-so-distant past, dolls and action figures were the bread and butter of kids’ imaginative play. There are no script or rules, only hours of absorptive fun that needs little parental intervention.

In fact, many child psychologists use dolls to help children work through their frustrations and issues. Creating new stories is how children learn to adapt to the world. Through imagination, kids try on new attitudes and roles. Play therapists call this work building a new “personal mythology.”

Dolls that have different sets of clothing can maximize the creative potential. Children will imagine long-winded dramas if they have the ability to envision different sets and settings for the same character. As children, our concepts of time are often built in these playful workshops, too.

Once parents see how these simple toys can entertain their children for hours on end, they may never go near another talking doll again.