What makes a perfect toy? Toys can serve different functions in a child's life, and each function probably has its own standard of perfection. For infant toys, things get much simpler. I would propose that the perfect infant toy meet the following criteria:
- It exists to be held, fiddled with, and mouthed.
- It is decorated to be examined at close range but comprehended from a distance.
- It is joyful.
- It is quietly noisy, providing aural stimulation for the user and pleasant background noise for others nearby.
- It is small.
- Its price reflects its value, and it is inexpensive in that it poses a gentle but effective argument for simplicity.
- It is designed for the future; that is, it is made of safe and sustainable materials, and durable enough that, combined with the other above qualities, it insists on being passed on to another child, not discarded, after use.
- It makes adults as well as babies smile.
- There is something inexplicable about it.
We don't see perfect toys very often. Haba's Moby Clutching Toy is one of these.Moby is made of wooden discs and beads on a cord, with hemispherical tail and head segments. It costs about $10. Here, that inexplicable criteria is met in small, subtle design choices: the bright yet slightly washy paints that allow the wood grain to show through, and the balance between color and wood left in its natural state; the neatly carved and painted eyes, and the straight slot mouth that forms an illusory smile when viewed from the proper angle; the balance and tension of parts that allows it to hold any curve but fall out of it with a nudge, and to balance on the flat bottom of its tail.
Haba makes many lovely infant clutching toys out of wood, rope, and fabric. Many of them meet most of the criteria above. This one is perfect.
We're giving away a Moby clutching toy to a ZRecs reader.
Rules:
- No purchase necessary.
- One entry per per person.
- The deadline for this giveaway is 5 p.m. CST April 17, 2008.
- Include your email address if you don't mind it remaining on this post indefinitely. We'll post the winner's name to PRIZEYWinners on Friday, along with the names of three alternates, and contact any of them who chose to leave an email address. All four should email us at the provided address as soon as they see the announcement or receive the email.
- If the winner does send us their mailing address by 5 p.m. CST Monday, April 21, the prize will be awarded to the first alternate that provided this information.
103 comments:
It may not be a perfect toy but my son has a stuffed octopus with a big smile that he talks to all them time. I put him on the floor with the octopus dangling above him and he talks and talks to it. Well as much talking as a 3 month old can do.
Stacy
hetz-junk@hotmail.co,
The Haba Lucy makes me and my daughter smile!
Mine is not a toy...well, not marketed as a toy. One of my favorites is a wooden spoon. It makes for great music!
We have a little, stuffed animal (a bunny rabbit) that plays, "You Are My Sunshine". It really makes us smile.
A toy that makes me smile is my son's bear. J reads to the bear, nurses the bear, has all sorts of conversations with his bear, and his bear can help him get through some touchy situations (like visiting the doctor).
We love our Learn and Laugh house door! It sings and my son loves crawl through the door! Great fun.
The only toy I bought my son was a tub of viking chubbies toy cars and trains and boats. He plays with them individually, of course. But the most fun of all is filling the tub and dumping them on his head, filling them back up and dumping them back on his head. He sits quietly (a rarity here) and dumps them over his head for long periods of time and I watch him and grin, because he'll only be this weird for a short time.
These cars have interested him for a long time, will continue to interest him in the future and I'm sure will be around to get passed down.
I wish we had that haba toy when he was a tiny bug.
My daughter has the Salto, also by Haba. I found it before she was born and purchased it then. It was her first toy and she still, at 10 months, looks lost in wonder every time she finds it. I don't know if it is the bright colors, or the subtle noise it makes when she shakes it. I just know that seeing her smile makes me smile. Thanks for the post!
hune37@yahoo.com
how cute i would love to win this for my little one so she could have a toy to play with thanks
I have to agree. Our favorite toy is one that is new. So the kitchen is a source of most of our toys. ltellev at yahoo dot com
Well my favorite at the moment is a book with photos of babies in it, my 10 month old just talks non-stop when she sees the babies. It's really funny. Thanks for the great give away!
My favorite of my kids' toys ... their huge collection of dinosaurs. They can play with these forever!
Heather
jandh at myfamilylovesit.com
My husbands bear from his Childhood, it is all worn and tattered, it now belongs to our son and that makes me smile that a toy can be loved by two generations.
emily.weaver.brown at gmail.com
Hi, We have a bear made from an old quilt that belonged to my aunt. My mother-in-law made each of my sons a bear from that quilt. It used to be a decoration in their room, now it is a bedtime toy. A wonderful family keepsake for each boy, if it lives thought it all! Thanks,Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
what a great giveaway! my favorite toy now is the kitchen set my daughter got for her birthday because all of my children will actually play together and be entertained by each other for more than a minute! i love when they get along!
twa_dimples at hotmail dot com
When children play w/ a fridge box & it is better than any toy out there. That makes me smaile.
mcginnisfamily5(at)gmail(dot)com
My son loves anything that goes. In fact, right now, he is playing with his cars and making garages out of wooden blocks.
When my daughter is playing with her pet pails and puts them on her head that makes me smile and laugh, which in turn makes her laugh. katebeth45ATgmailDOTcom
My daughter's giraffe makes her smile. And also cardboard boxes that she uses as row boats. (That makes me smile, too.)
howlerandsqueaker at gmail dot com
My daughter loves to have tea parties with her Haba wooden tea bags and wooden sugar cubes.
Thanks!
jewelsworld at hotmail dot com
My baby boy's stuffed doggie makes me smile because he is always putting his head on it and saying, "aaahhhh".
Stephanie V.
My 1 year old's drum makes me smile. Its actually not too noisy and he LOVES to beat the heck out of that thing.
jennismith21@gmail.com
My daughter has these beautiful cardboard blocks that are decorated with unique animals in bright watercolor...she is finally able to stack all 10 by herself and knock/kick down the tower. Her smile says it all....
kdegrand(at)hotmail(dot)com
My 5 month old loves his triangles from Haba and his stretchy wood caterpillar by Selecta. The triangles make such a nice, gentle sound. :) Everyone in our house loves his two wood baby toys!
I've loved bugs ever since I was little, so I was delighted when I found a great Lamaze plush insect toy at a consignment sale around the time my daughter was born. It quickly became my daughter's favorite toy--and I always enjoyed watching her develop her motor skills while playing with this funny creature. She has since outgrown the toy, but I'm now pregnant with #2, so it will soon come out of hiding in the closet to delight once again.
disarray at onebox dot com
My babe has a light up Pooh bear, (Like a GloWorm, but its Pooh!!!) and he is so fascinated by it! He loves to make him light up, then suck on his nose! Its too cute!
dansan826 at yahoo.com
We have a felt, wacky stuffed owl that makes me smile. We love haba though. Would put this toy to good use!
My son got a wooden toy drum for his first birthday and he loves it. It makes such a pleasant sound-- not too loud like a real drum, more like an aboriginal drum or a rain stick.
We love wooden toys-- this would make a great gift for friends!
My daughter loves her kitty cat keyboard. Makes me smile when she plays it. Great giveaway, thanks!
My son loves his ABC puppy that sings to him.It also makes me smile to see him hugging it. Thanks!
I've just starting getting toys since our first is due soon. I really like the crinkle sound in the petals of the HABA flowery ring rattle.
lacyloosbrock@gmail.com
One of my sons favorite toys at the moment is the Haba boat/car with the three men in it. Not sure of the real name but he loves to chew and suck on all the parts. I know he would love this because he loves to check things out.
I just got my Mom to make a small blanket with ribbons sewn around the edges like tags. My little guy LOVES it!
When I asked my son what is his favorite toy, he held up the thing that was in his hand and said, "This!" It was the pink plastic ring that goes on our ice cream maker. That made me smile.
My daughter loves a little orange monkey that has a big smile on its face. It makes me laugh and her laugh too.
Thanks for a great contest!
superfizz(at)bust(dot)com
I love the hungry catapiller toy that my kids have. It is adorable.
tuesdayef (at) aol (dot)com
my nephew plays with my father's wooden blocks. he stacks them and loves them and we love to watch him play. a toy that's lasted 3 generations thus far!
My daughters have a wooden snake from Melissa and Doug in lots of greens with moveable parts that snap into different shapes on a strong piece of elastic. It's the best!
My daughter's lovey is a doll I bought for myself from a Yoshitomo Nara exhibit and she promptly stole. It has wings and fangs...
A perfect toy--hmm... I really like haba's wooden food. And my girls do too--they play with it at least once every day!
A straw hat. My son LOVES dressing up in it and checking himself in the mirror :) It's the simplest toys that make the best ones :)
My daughter has a white kitten stuffed animal that is just so simple and soft and cuddly that it makes me smile, especially when she snuggles it!
We love simplicity! I would say my son's favorite toys are his Dad and Grandpa. As for objects, anything that shows him using his imagination makes me smile. He has a yellow stick he uses in so many ways. It's great.
Legos- because I use to love them and now my kids love them.
My 8 month old loves to crinkle paper.
Ooo, a toy that makes me smile is my very hippyish rag doll named, "Salvador Dolly" that I've had since birth. My son now plays with her often and I just have to laugh at their interactions. ;)
bright colors, rattles and no batteries...those make me a happy momma. :)
clkiwis72305(at)yahoo(dot)com
I love fabric fake food. Well, any fake food. I'm looking excessively forward to playing with it with my niece.
hello[dot]scarlett[at]gmail[dot]com
It makes me smile to think of the Fraggle on my desk at work...I know if may not be a safe toy that I'd really be keen on a kid chewing on...but the Fraggle looks so cheery and reminds me of my childhood...I loved Fraggle Rock :)
heatherlbrandt@verizon.net
www.russianblessings.wordpress.com
We've loved Haba toys since receiving one of their wrist rattles at a baby shower for my daughter and I.
I love my sons Chubbies cars, planes, and trains. The simplicity and the colors are wonderful. And knowing they are safe is important.
stellabl47710 at yahoo.com
Our current toy that makes us grin is my old film camera. My daughter carries the "cheese" around and tells us all to smile.
One of these days we'll end up getting her a kid digital, but until then, she loves acting just like mom and dad.
jennifer.smithson (@) gmail (.) com
Our son loves the Jemima Puddleduck (from the Beatrix Potter story) rattle my mom gave him. It's a small stuffed duck head attached to a ring with beads inside. He can (at 4 months) grip the rattle ring and shake it, and he also loves to put the duck bill in his mouth and chew. So far it seems to be his favorite, and most versatile, toy.
One of the first toys given to our daughter (before she was born) was a frog rattle/mirror that croaks if you push on its back. I cannot count the number of times my partner and I made the frog croak to entertain OURSELVES. Our daughter loved it too. Sadly, the battery or circuit has been dying on and off for a year and it often has a very anemic and sad croak lately. And it's no longer made.
On the other hand it's plastic so we'd love to win a safe wooden toy for the next baby!
additionproblems [at] gmail [dot] com
I love the doll that my dad brought us back from germany. Thanks so much!
myshadow28(at)aol(dot)com
I love the lion my son got from Quiet Hours Toys... it is just so darn cute and he loves it so much!
taradawnrobertson at hotmail dot com
There are so many that make me smile! Probably a wagon...so many possibilities!
amelhu@hotmail.com
Our favorite toy is a stuffed pig named Piggy. It's been my 6 year old's fave for all his life and now his little sister is eying it.
we have a little stuff rabbit that has gone through all of my siblings and will take turns going to our kids!
We have that haba toy. Good choice.
I think the "happiest" toy around is the "Happy Apple." I had one as a child, but somehow it was lost. I found one for my kids at an antique store, and they love it! The happy, chimey sounds can't be beat by the electronic annoyances today. :0) ( meg.wilson@gmail.com )
my son's favorite toy is a hotwheel that revs up with magnets on the bottom. he will play for hours with it. my 9mo daughter loves her sophie the giraffe, or anything of her big brothers.
beanosmom@gmail.com
my daughter is only 12 weeks so she doesn't have a fav toy (she has none yet) but I love the tupperware shape sorter :)
My daughter's favorite toy is our remotes! Thanks!
Van's favorite toy is a wood push cart from ikea, it was $29 and he uses it all day long, and you can store your snaks and sippy cup in the cart... for safe keeping.
our favorite toy is my daughters art desk, she loves to color all day.
Huggy Sluggy. It's an organic stuffed toy that looks like a slug and is just so cute you can't help but smile-even my adult sisters both wanted one when they saw it.
Tinker-toys make me smile.
andreadwalker[at]yahoo.com
My 5 month old daughters favorite toy is a musical animal, it looks like a hybrid of a cow, zebra, and ladybug. smcera@hotmail.com
My baby loves his "Baby Faces" fold out book.
I still smile every time I see my old stuffed bear that accidentally was left out in the rain and became almost perfectly flat. He's sitting as a decoration in my son's room now.
momabr@yahoo.com
Molly b.
We actually just received a HABA mouse rattle thingy that our baby loves. It is too cute. I love watching the kids play with any sort of telephone and have "conversations." That always makes me chuckle.
My stuffed "Farmer Mickey" makes me smile when I catch a glimpse of him at the top of my closet. I slept with him every night until college. I can still picture him hanging by his ears from the clothesline in my childhood backyard, swinging in the wind as he dried from his "bath" after I had a stomach bug and threw up on him... :)
My husband made a rocking horse for my son this year- it is not only beautiful, but my son loves riding on it (whew!). I'm sure it will be passed down to generations to come!
My daughter's favorite toy is her rag doll.
innabelov at hotmail dot com
Sophie the Giraffe.
durianpear(at)hotmail(dot)com
We have an old, VERY old rattle that our five month old just adores. All four of our children have played with it and it was passed down from another family.
My daughter's teddy bear and the way she hugs him when she goes to sleep makes me smile.
I have to second the wooden spoon "toy". My 10 month old loves to bang the spoon and carry it around in his hand when he crawls. I even take it to church with us!
My son loves the mobile above his swing. He was sitting in it the first time we saw a social smile, so I feel like it's good luck somehow.
"It is quietly noisy, providing aural stimulation for the user and pleasant background noise for others nearby."
What more does a toy need. Rad dude!
I put this brand of toys down on our baby regisrty. Thanks for sharing.
Right now my boys are excited about their puppets and putting on puppet shows for my husband and me. I made them a theater out of a giant cardboard box and they put on quite a musical show with their puppets tonight.
The Haba toy would be perfect for our baby girl!
Sara
scweinberg@hotmail.com
We have a cricket pull toy that makes the neatest clickety-clack sound when you pull it. It makes me smile.
Most wouldn't call "them" toys, but my littlest one, 5 months old, finds her 2 older siblings very entertaining. She loves watching them jump and dance for her, and it makes her smile and laugh lots......along with making me smile and laugh lots too!
I LOVE Haba toys! My 5 month old son also loves playing with his "Skwish" toy made by Manhattan Toys. It has a pleasant sound, is made from wood, and makes me smile because it looks like a molecule (and I am a scientist!)
Mika
It's not a very good toy, but we have a flashlight that looks like an alligator. When you turn it on it says "Mmmm! Nom nom nom" It just cracks me up.
jenniferhuff[at]gmail[dot]com
My son loves cars and trucks...well, anything with wheels really. He has this one particular dump truck that he wheels all over the house. I love watching him play with it.
my daughter loves paper to draw on. she screams "pipah pipah" everytime she comes into my office, and screams with delight when she gets it. I sit down with her on the floor and she starts doodling on it with her crayons or my colored pencils :-) it's a daily ritual that I cherish!
Patricia
patriciaortega.manila@gmail.com
I love the old little Fisher-Price people! Thinking of my old a-frame house with the little metal cowbell for a doorbell thingy definitely makes me smile. A close second is my old Weeble-wobble Treehouse! I wish I could get those for my daughters :)
I wish I had known about HABA, and other non-toxic wooden toys, when I was pregnant. My daughter is 15 mths old now, and most of the toys she has recieved from loved ones are plastic. They'll soon look worn out and I might not be able to pass them on. But, of all the plastic toys, Legos are our favorite. They are PVC free. We have the quatro size, which is the perfect size for little hands to grab. She can't yet build things with them, but she loves to take apart what I build. This encourages us to play together. So, in the end, I am her favorite toy, and she, mine.
I do love Haba toys, especially their wood food, but mine and my son's favorite toys are building toys - train sets, wooden blocks and legos. My infant daughter's favorites are anything she can knock over.
I have a Disney toy that has 6 brightly colored balls inside a clear container and if you pull back on this lever, the balls spin around and around and my kids are just absolutely mesmerized by it. It's awesome!
When taking her bath, our daughter loves her turtle from Ocean Squirt bath toy set. She drops whatever is in her little hands, screams with delight and tries to grab it. And then the head of that turtle ends up being sucked on for a while. :)
We don't have a lot of toys to play with so far because the baby's still in my belly, but I think Carter's Activity Elephant is very very cute!
It has bright colors, black and white patterns, a mirror, and making noises when squeezing. It can be hung at many places including a car seat.
The baby's due pretty soon. We'll know what he likes in one or two weeks, and hope the toy will bring him smile too! :)
gykoguard-shopping@yahoo.com
Of all my kids' toys, the one that makes me smile the most is my daughter's stuffed lemur. Originally a present for her dad, it quickly became the only toy she paid any attention to. Nearly 4 years later, the poor thing is grubby, worn, barely recognizable... and looong after all of her other baby toys have been discarded, that lemur is still her "baby." Every time I look at it, I smile!
I recently trashed 9 teethers and rattles made of "Bad plastic" or (BPA or PVC). I would love to win this cutie for my poor toyless baby. :)
My 3-year-old has a cute Anamalz zebra that makes me smile. It is handmade in Australia from sustainable, plantation wood, and painted with water-based paints. Sweet and safe!
onlycancan at hotmail dot com
I would love to win this wonderful toy for my sister who is expecting her second! My favorite new toy is this amazing wooden school bus from 10,000 villages: it's filled with individually painted colorful little people who ALSO fit into my daughter's old vintage Fisher Price Little People toys from the 70s!
katydowney [at] gmail.com. :)
The hairband all my kids and the cat play with makes me smile.
We love our laugh and learn house. anything that makes my kids smile makes me smile!
I'm now very worried about the mountain of teething toys my mum just got for her first grandson - PLASTIC!!! :-( Luckily, so far his favorite toy is his big sister ;-) We went to the zoo yesterday and the only wild animal he had eyes for was his Big Sis. Sure hope that lasts for generations!
The dog's water bowl. Though I don't actually let him play in it, we both get plenty of excersize and laughter (my son loves to dump it and I keep him from it). The dog is not amused in the least!
My son loves his stuffed Grover, he gets a big smile whenever he sees it.
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