This is such a simple idea, it’s been around for a long, long time. If you frequent festivals that feature old fashioned toys or lurk in museum shops, you may have come across these very basic puppets.

Designed to be used by an adult with an infant or a small child by his or herself, these puppets have been around for centuries. The idea is simple. An inverted cone attached to a stick, hides a small puppet, which pops out when the stick is pushed through the cone.

This one from Under the Nile is made from recycled, organic cotton threads and features a cute holiday themed elf. The cony puppet is 11” tall and the entire toy is about 17” tall. Keep one by crib or in the car for a quick game of peek-a-boo. It’s sure to interest even those visitors with little experience with babies…who can resist this interesting looking toy?

If you’re concerned about the environment or your child’s health, Under The Nile is a great company. All of their products are made from organic Egyptian cotton and with metal-free or vegetable dyes. You don’t have to worry about how they are manufactured either. All of their products are Fair Trade.

I’m not usually a big fan of toys with buttons, music and lights, but this waterfall soother I always have thought is a great gift for the new parent. The sound of rushing water featured in this soother is great for both babies and stressed out parents. We had one like this when my son was small and I found it a great way to change the activity level and regroup for nap or bedtime.

This soother from Fisher-Price has lots of different modes of operation. You can adjust the volume to three different levels. There is a choice of waterfall sound, classical music or rainforest background, um…noise. Softly colored lights flicker on and off and two “rainforest friends” play peek-a-boo, a trick sure to mesmerize a curious baby.

This musical soother is easy to attach to a crib and, if you’re interested in style, matches the rest of the Fisher Price rainforest line….which is actually really cute. As baby grows, he or she can turn the music on and off by pressing a cute toucan on the front - a handy feature that lets you know when baby is awake too!

This is another toy that has an “afterlife”…that is, after baby is a bit older. You’re never too old to be soothed now are you?

I love this wooden Push Toy from Melissa And Doug! This is one present that I have given a number of times to parents of 1-2 year-olds. Simple to push and made of wood, its wings flap and its wheels spin. It has a large knob that’s easy for little hands to hold and not easy with which to poke someone’s eye out.

Your typical parent is often intrigued by this toy which is somewhat similar to the ball popper we all remember from our childhood. Because it’s made of wood though, it lasts longer and not filled with scary chemicals. It’s not available in many mainstream toy stores so your chances of giving the exact same present as twelve other people go way down. …unless you tend to hang with the crunchy crowd…then your chances go up.

I’m a big fan of wooden toys, as anyone who reads this or one of my other blogs already realizes. One reason is the feel of a natural product is important for young children. Children who play with wooden toys sooner or later make the connection that trees are a pretty important natural resource. If you’re interested in raising an eco conscious child, there’s no better way to start than to start buying him or her wooden toys.

This week in my best toys for the holidays series I want to focus on gifts to buy for the new parent. Since most often gifts take the form of stuffed animals, dolls and baby accessories, I thought I might focus on a few things that I found particularly attractive or useful when my son was very young.

I admit, I’m still a little freaked out by the revelations that we’ve been plying our children with scary chemicals like BPA and phthalates in the toys on which they chew. I’m sure my son missed at least two words on his spelling test last weekbecause when he was an infant I bought him a plastic teether.

Fortunately, new parents today have some choices. This Camden Rose natural teething ring is manufactured from maple hardwood, sanded and finished with natural beeswax. No chance of unfortunate chemicals in this teether! I like the size and shape since it makes it easy for baby to hold and for mom or dad to slip on a handy hook or arm when it starts spending more time on the floor than in baby’s hand.

At 3 months, when children start putting everything in their mouths this teether becomes a necessity. At 3 years or later, this wooden ring fits right in with blocks, pretend play accessories or other toys. That’s what I like, a toy with multiple uses!

Nuts and bolts and wheels, oh my! Here’s a golden oldie. With all of the electronic toys out there today, simple, old fashioned toys are making a comeback (as are simple old fashioned names, you may have noticed). So maybe, though they are still gold, they are no longer old.

But wait – this one is both. The Erector Set was invented in 1911 and they say, was the first toy to be advertised. Don’t we wish fewer were advertised today!

If you’re not familiar with this popular toy, it’s a collection of gears and nuts and bolts and plates for building structures and vehicles. It comes with a 6 volt motor, ball bearings and clutches for building just about any motorized vehicle including a forklift, excavator, crane, airplane, cherry-picker truck, towers…the list goes on.

Truly a child powered toy, this is terrific for the older (8+) child who enjoys building. It’s a great way to encourage logical thinking and beginning to understand about physics, mechanic and deductive reasoning.

So, if you’re looking for an alternative to video games and electronic gizmos this year, consider this classic toy. But better leave some extra room and have a bin handy for all of the pieces. This one could take over the house!

Looking for a holiday present for a kindergartener or grade-schooler?

Timber logs are a great choice. You remember playing with these as a kid. Well, they are making a comeback and just in time.

By early grade school, your children are starting to hear stories of log cabins and perhaps pioneers. They’ve heard stories or watched movies that feature log homes.  This is a great way to let them create scenes that feature log homes or frontier themes.

Timber blocks like these from Maxim, are a little tougher to manage than regular unit blocks. They require some skill to build in the crisscross pattern that actually makes them stay together. But while learning the intricacies both your and your child can learn a little bit of engineering. Perhaps not everyone needs this type of help, but I admit, a few of my structures tumbled before I finally figured out the system. My six-year-old however had no such problems.

I like this set from Maxim because it seems pretty comprehensible. Included are roof slates and roof supports, as well as blocks for making chimneys. A total of 300 pieces in the box means your child shouldn’t run out at a crucial moment!

You can’t beat unit blocks for a bargain! Though the upfront cost may be a bit higher than you want to spend, investing in a large set of unit blocks will pay off over the years. The perfect toy for increasing cognitive skills, unit blocks have an added bonus – your child will use them for years and years.

Unlike alphabet blocks or simple building blocks, unit blocks are carefully calibrated to help children learn (without realizing they are doing it) fractions and basic geometry. Fitting the blocks together teaches how triangles relate to circles and parts to a whole.

Rather than invest in an entire set, you may choose to start by buying a small set like this one from Melissa and Doug for your 1-3 year old, then adding to it as he or she gets older. You can expect a child to continue to use blocks in various ways through most of the elementary school years.

This set comes with 60 wooden blocks that are hand sanded. Younger children will enjoy stacking them and watching them topple. Older children will bring them into their pretend play using them as food for the kitchen and incorporating them into the elaborate scenes that they make with dolls and action figures.

Small play figures are great for encouraging pretend play for both girls and boys. Rather than hard plastic, immobile figures with which we often played, why not buy your little one a soft and flexible doll family from Plan Toys?

Made from recycled rubber wood with vegetable dyes and coated with a non-toxic finish these dolls are safe for children ages three and up. We have a number of these dolls at our house and are a favorite present we give to both girls and boys.

One thing I like about them is because they are small they work well with fire trucks, dump trucks and all of the other large vehicles boys tend to have around and also are the perfect size for most dollhouses. Because they bend they can easily slip into a driver’s seat, rest in a chair and pull right up to the doll sized table.

Children can also dress and undress them or re-dress them in scraps of fabric and felt. My son has been known to add a sword crafted from a small stick and attached with a pipe cleaner.

In our increasingly multi-cultural country, it’s great that you can get doll families from a variety of cultures too!

I’ve been writing about dolls all this week. I’ve covered infants and toddlers. Now I’d like to move on to preschoolers. No, it’s not yet time to introduce the fashion dolls. Here’s the theory from child development experts. Children need to imitate that which they know best at each age. This helps them process information and find their place in the world.

Unless your child regularly attends fashion shows and has sprouted, umm… female curves, her world is pretty small and is more focused on watching mom and dad take care of her and any siblings. (By the way, this goes for boys too, who will, if given half a chance feed and cuddle a baby doll -more on this in another post.)

Preschoolers love dolls with a few more features and ones that…look just like them! That’s actually the whole secret to picking out a doll. Pick on that looks the same age or slightly older than your child for maximum pretend play!

This Maki Earth Girl Doll has all the right developmental attributes and is eco –friendly too! It’s made from natural and recycled products and has a built in eco activity. Each doll comes with a backpack and a tree planting kit. Though, since I’m assuming the kit includes a seed that will someday turn into a tree, unless your planning on staying in the same home for the next 20 years or so…it might not end up being a very large tree, at least while you’re around to see it.

Let a little nostalgia into your life with Cabbage Patch Kids! I just gave one of these dolls to my neighbor’s daughter and I don’t know who was more delighted – mom or child. They’re just as you remember them  - the same puckered up face; the same fluffy hair and the same, circa 1980’s fashion choices.

I’m picky about dolls and try to purchase the right doll for the right age. For infants and babies, a doll that’s more of a glorified rag, that is, like the home made rag dolls grandma’s grandma made is just right. But, around three, a child is ready for a little more lifelike doll. I still shy away from the ubiquitous 19 inch fashion doll quite yet, but a little more life-like baby doll is perfect for this age.

The Play Along 25^th Anniversary Cabbage Patch Doll has just enough baby-like features to intrigue a young child used to watching mom and dad diaper, bathe and feed him or herself or a younger sibling. The 2s and 3s are the developmental age when children imitate that which they know best which is…what goes on in the home. This makes them secure.

It makes me feel secure too when I see a child practicing to be a caring parent!