Organic Echo Wooden "Tool Box" Toy Review & Giveaway {CLOSED}

Congratulations to comment number 250! Organic Echo provided Avin with a Wooden "Tool Box" Toy set to review. You may not know this but wooden toys are my secret passion for Avin. We haved several different kinds now that I think are wonderful. Wooden toys promote a level of creativity that electronic, plastic, and light up toys do not. After watching Avin interact with a wide variety of toys I've even began to think that "learning" toys that light up, talk, or play music may be a contributing factor to kids having ADD. That sounds a little crazy I know, but the short bursts of noise and light keep kids hopping and they never learn to settle in and just play. It is very important to me that Avin develop a strong and active imagination. I believe that wooden toys can help do just that.

The cost of wooden toys has been hard for me to accept. Generally they are much more costly than plastic toys but after having purchased several different items now I've came to realize that the value behind the toy is well worth it. Plastic toys often get broken or destroyed before one child is finished with them, where wooden toys are tough enough to make it through several children (and probably still have life left). The price you pay to replace plastic toys or constantly replace batteries in electronic toys will add up to what you would have invested in wooden toys in the beginning.

When our "tool box" set came in the mail my husband was at work. I eagerly unpacked it and placed all the tools in the little tool box and waited for him to get home. He was in the process of assembling a wooden toy box (check back next week for a review!) and I thought it would be so cute if I met him at the door holding Avin and his "tool box". I let my husband come in and get changed out of his dress clothes and then I met him in the doorway holding Avin and the tool box and said "Have tool box, will travel!". My husband reached out for the tool box and tried to set it in the spare bedroom so it would be out of Avin's reach---he thought at first glance it was real tools and he was afraid Avin would get hurt! I cracked up!!! Once my husband actually took a second glance he realized what it was and immediately headed into the living room to play with Avin. The tool box set includes a hand drill, flat blade screwdriver, a hammer, a ruler, a square, a saw, and of course the tool box. This set is extra heavy duty. All of the pieces are made from real wood and have been hand assembled. The pieces have been put together securely and the seams are so flush and tight that it is hard to tell it is not all one piece. The hand drill does have a little knob mounted on the wheel that seems to be fastened on with wood glue. I was worried about Avin accidently breaking it off and it posing a choking hazard so I tried to break it myself. I tugged and yanked and banged it on the table and that knob didn't budge. I figure if I couldn't break it trying then Avin was probably safe. The hand drill is definately his favorite because of the wheel he can turn. The saw is too big and heavy for him to hold and play with right now but he'll grow into that soon. This tool box set was a huge hit with all the men in my life- my son, my husband, and my dad. When I told him that we were going to get it for review he asked if he play too! We went to visit my parents and sure enough Avin and Grandpa spent some serious guy time build pretend things in the living room floor with Avin's toys. After this play session we did decide to put the tool box up for a couple of months because Avin is learning to walk and he lost his balance and hit the tool box and bruised his cheek. Once he isn't falling so much we'll be getting this back out and he'll play with it for years to come (well, if Grandpa and Dad don't wear it out first!)

Organic Echo has a great selection of wooden toys suitable for home or daycare use. They also carry a variety of other toys, activity tables, wall panels, and educational toys. One lucky reader is going to WIN a FREE City Life Transportation Vehicle Set. The City Life Transportation Vehicle Set is constructed with wood and painted with bright primary colors. This set features 10 individual vehicles, 6 traffic signs, and 6 city buildings for additional pretend play. A wonderful stand-alone set or as an accessory to wooden railway set or car collection.
Features: 10 Individual cars 6 Traffic Signs 6 City Buildings
Ages 3+
Wood displays not included

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Please make sure you leave a separate comment for each entry. If you are tweeting please leave the permalink to your tweet in your comment. Please make sure you include your email address in each comment so I can contact you if you win. This giveaway is open to US Residents, 18 and older, void where prohibited. The giveaway will end Thursday, April 16, 2010 at 11:00 PM CST. One winner will be selected via random.org.