Whether you're 5, 15, or 85, you'll enjoy owning made in USA wooden toys for all kinds of reasons. Namely, they last forever. My mother-in-law is in her mid-90s and has a traditional wooden pull toy her 70-something-year-old son played with when he was a baby. That toy has survived three more children and numerous grandchildren, and now it's making its rounds through the 15 (and counting!) great-grandchildren.
Reasons To Buy Wooden Toys
In a day and age when toys are slick looking and technology-driven, you may never have considered buying traditional wooden toys for your kids. Plastic toys line the shelves of local big box stores where you can just grab and go. Some of those so-called “interactive” toys create the illusion of developing the imagination when they're only providing entertainment without cultivating the mind. After all, there's a reason why kids pick up and play with tree sticks: they crave creative play can make those sticks into anything their little minds can conjure up.
There are dozen of reasons to consider buying wooden toys as opposed to the easier-to-grab toys off the shelf:
- Wood toys are very tactile, so they engage the senses.
- They foster the imagination and creative play
- They are heirloom toys and last forever
- Many wooden toys are endorsed by educational associations like Montessori, Waldorf, or Reggio Emilia. Nearly all of our preschool-age and elementary-age wood toy selections fall into one of these categories of learning-by-playing that support a child's development.
- They make great gifts!
- They're affordable.
- Wooden toys eco-friendly are safer to play with. And last but not least…
- You won't run out of battery power!
Why Buy Made in the USA Wooden Toys?
Not all wood toys are made in the USA. We recommend choosing American made wood toys for several reasons, and maybe the most important reason is safety.
Most of the family-based wooden toy manufacturers on our list started making toys out of their personal desire to find safe toys for their own children. They use wood from sources that are free from formaldehyde or other dangerous chemicals. You get simply the natural ingredient: wood. If any oils are used, they, too, are natural and safe, such as flaxseed or jojoba oil, linseed oil, or natural beeswax. Water-based paints are are used, not paints laden with led and chemicals. Contrast these high quality wooden toys to toys made from breakable plastic or plastic made with harsh, unsafe chemicals. Do you know where your baby toys are made and do you know what is used to make that teething ring?
Many of the wooden toys we recommend are toys the makers' own little humans play with. If these American made toys are safe enough for the craftspeople's children, they're probably safe for our children, too.
Another reason for buying made in USA wooden toys is because you're supporting American companies, American workers and our local economies. Many of our workers are moms and dads, Amish and Mennonite folks who aspire to live simply, grandpas, and even curious kids with a penchant for making things. I remember my father-in-law who loved working with wood and made a massive barn for my kids to crawl in and out of. That memory holds a very special place in my heart.
Wood Toys Are Eco-Friendly
Honestly, I hadn't stopped to consider how wood toys made in the USA are eco-friendly toys until I started researching for this article. Selecting wood toys is one way to care for our planet because many businesses prioritize the planting and re-planting of trees, using sustainably-harvested wood. Makers use local wood sources, so less fuel is used to transport the material. Also, wood is a natural, biodegradable resource. Just as importantly, because wood toys are of heirloom quality and last forever, you're not throwing them into the landfill.
About Our List
This list covers wooden toys for kids of all ages. Many of the selections focus on babies, preschoolers, and elementary-age kids because those early developmental years are oh-so-important. Many of these same wooden toy manufacturers also make games with wooden boards or pieces your tweens and teens will enjoy, so be sure to check out the websites for other selections these business owners create.
Did we miss your favorite American-made wooden toy company? Let us know in the comments below! We update this list frequently, so please check back!
American Made Wooden Toys for Kids of All Ages
AmishToyBox.com
AmishToyBox.com is an online retailer of wooden toys (and more) made by the Amish and Mennonite communities primarily situated in Ohio, Indiana, and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. We appreciate the wide range of toys AmaishToyBox.com offers, including outdoor games and toys and games for all ages.
Shop the AmishToyBox.com website and:
Baby Eco Trends
Baby Eco Trends sources eco-friendly riding toys made within the Amish communities in the USA. This airplane rocker will keep your little one happy for a very long time! It is made from solid wood (no particle board or plywood is used) and will last forever.
Bannor Toys
Bannor Toys makes modern wooden toys in Iowa. Bannor Toys offers a nice selection of teethers, rattles, wooden cars, gift sets, and pretend play toys that can be personalized with your child's name. What started out as a husband-wife team in 2012 has become a family-related business where all the kids walk together from their school to the workshop.
Beka
Beka makes its toys in Minnesota and offers more unusual wooden toys and creative furniture such as puppet theaters, train play tables, weaving looms, and art easels. These larger toys are made to fold and store easily. Beka is also popular for their wooden block sets.
Shop the Beka website and:
Bunny Hopkins
Bunny Hopkins, located in Georgia, makes the award-winning wobble board, among other wooden toys including balance beams, outdoor play kitchens, and more. Purposefully minimal and open-ended in design, their wooden toys encourage children to engage in creative and active play. The craftsmen make each toy by hand bringing out the inner beauty of American maple wood.
Shop the Bunny Hopkins website and:
Camden Rose
Camden Rose makes natural toys and home goods for environmentally conscious families. The Michigan-based company has an online store, Palumba, where you can purchase wooden toys such as wooden kitchens, wooden doll houses, and other standing play sets as well as toy trucks, carpenter play toys, and more. You'll also find handmade wooden chess pieces for chess lovers. Camden Rose supplies toy stores around the USA with its wooden toys.
Eli + Mattie
Lehman's online store carries several wooden toys from Eli + Mattie that are made in Ohio by Amish crafters. The Eli + Mattie collection included wooden vehicles, wooden doll accessories, wooden pull toys, and more.
The wooden doll cradle pictured above is the perfect addition to a child's room or play area.
Elves and Angels
Elves and Angels is located in Maine and has been making heirloom quality wooden toys for over 30 years. You'll find playhouses, dollhouses, play stands, train sets, and more!
Greenleaf Dollhouse Kits
Made in upstate New York, Greenleaf Dollhouse Kits make fabulous family projects where you build amazing miniature houses. Numerous styles and designs are available. You'll also find accessories to go with the dollhouses.
Shop the Greenleaf Dollhouse website and:
Guillow's
Guillow's has been making balsa wood airplane kits and flying toys since 1926. Located in Massachusetts, the company makes models of both vintage and new planes and jets. Beginner kits are recommended for kids beginning at age 10. More challenging kits are available for older kids through adult ages.
Shop the Guillow's website and:
KEVA Planks
KEVA Planks maple constructions sets consist of plank stacking blocks that are all the same size. No connectors or glue is used; designs are made by simply stacking the blocks. KEVA Planks construction sets can be found in museum gift shops around the country. KEVA Planks makes its maple planks in Virginia and wood storage bins in Virginia, where the company is located. Recommended age is 5 years and older. Note: Only the KEVA Planks are made in the USA. Other KEVA block sets are not.
Labyrinth Balance Board
Labyrinth Balance Board is made in New England by Challenge & Fun Inc. from durable plywood with a non-slip surface. This game develops balance, focus, coordination, and strength. The board is offered in two sizes: "junior" size for kids ages 3-5, and a larger version for older kids.
Shop the Challenge & Fun Inc website and:
Lapp's Toys
Since the late 1970s, Lapp’s Toys and the Clip Clop brand have delighted families looking for quality children’s toys and furniture. Their wooden toys are made in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and built to be enjoyed from sibling to sibling and generation to generation. Lapp's Toys toy selection includes wood play kitchens, wood vehicles, wood play sets (like the farm play set pictured above), wood games, wood doll houses and doll furniture, and more.
Shop the Lapp's Toys website and:
Lincoln Logs 100th Anniversary Tin
Lincoln Logs has been a toy favorite for over 100 years. Lincoln Logs are made in Maine by PrideManufacturing, a company known for being the world's number one manufacturer of wooden golf tees. Fun Fact: Did you know that Lincoln Logs were invented by architect Frank Lloyd Wright's son? John Lloyd Wright developed the now iconic toy in around 1916. NOTE: The only Lincoln Logs set that are made in the USA is the 100 Anniversary Tin.
Shop the Basic Fun! website and:
Lily & River
Lily & River is a family-operated wooden toy manufacturer located in Arizona. David Stuebe, the creator of Lily and River, is a father, designer, and creator of the Little Climber Experience and a student of the Montessori approach to learning. The Lily & River wood play sets and climbers will help your children develop fine and gross motor skills, hand-eye coordination, balance, and imagination. The company offers many wonderful products for your child's indoor play area!
Shop the LIly & River website and:
Louisville Slugger
Louisville Slugger offers baseball bats from various materials in its Kentucky namesake city, but the company started out making wooden bats and continues to do so today. Whether maple, ash, or birch, their wood bats are versatile sticks that stand out for their balance and classic look of natural wood with black branding. You'll also receive guidance on how to choose your perfect bat with the Louisville Slugger Bat Size Guide, helping you find the best sticks for baseball, fastpitch, or slowpitch. Note: Not everything Louisville Slugger offers is USA-made. Be sure to check the product description to support American companies.
Maple Landmark
Maple Landmark is located in Vermont and makes educational wooden toys, wood puzzles, and games for all ages. Brand names include Montgomery Schoolhouse, Schoolhouse Naturals, and NameTrains.
Shop the Maple Landmark website and:
My Unique Wooden Toys
My Unique Wooden Toys is located near Amish country in Indiana and makes many traditional wooden toys, from fishing poles to barns, push toys to wooden games. Some of the toys have been used as theater props as well.
North Star Toys
North Star Toys has been making quality, non-toxic wooden toys in New Mexico since 1970. Recycled materials are used whenever possible and top priority is given to environmental sustainability.
Oliver & Adelaide
Oliver & Adelaide is a Houston, Texas-based online source for several made in the USA wooden toys. Current offerings include a wooden rattle, teething ring, and pull toys. The rattle is made in New Hampshire and the pull toys are made in California.
Our Green House
Our Green House sources numerous eco-friendly products, including these stock rocks made from wood for hours of sensory play. Note: Not all wooden toys on the Our Green House website are made in USA. Those that are are clearly marked.
Papa Don's Wooden Toys
Papa Don's Wooden Toys are made in Oregon where the workshop features traditional wooden toys for babies and toddlers like colorful pull toys, push toys, stacking toys, and more. Papa Don's Toys has been a wooden toys manufacturer since 1973.
Roy Toy
Roy Toy, located in Maine, makes log sets for kids ages 3 and up. Kids won't know they're using their imaginations, cultivating creativity, and developing reasoning skills: they just know they're having fun!
South Bend Woodworks
South Bend Woodworks makes personalized wooden puzzles, building blocks, and educational toys in Indiana. These toys are heirloom quality and safe.
TAG Toys
TAG stands for "Think and Grow," and TAG Toys are made for toddlers and young kids to help them do just that! The Spellmaster helps kids develop memory skills, hand-eye coordination, and writing and spelling abilities. TAG Toys also has a fun ball tracker game that will entertain little ones for hours. Check out all this California company has to offer.
Teaberry Wood Products
Teaberry Wood Products is located in Middlebury, Indiana, in the heart of Northern Indiana's Amish country. The small, family-run business offers many different wooden products, including toys. Examples include animal puzzles and seasonal wooden toys for Easter, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and fall or Thanksgiving.
Uncommon Goods
Type into the search bar, “Wooden Toys Made in the USA,” and Uncommon Goods delivers options! Choose from brain teasers, puzzles, building sets, and more, all made from wood. For example, you can build a wooden bee or butterfly while learning about pollination. This kit is made in New York. Note: Be sure to read each product description, as sometimes other, non-USA selections appear in the "Made in USA" search.
Uncle Goose
Uncle Goose makes classic alphabet blocks, foreign language blocks, sign language blocks, scientific sets, and more. The company has been manufacturing high-quality wooden blocks in the USA for over 30 decades. All Uncle Goose blocks are hand-made by skilled craftspeople. The wood remains natural and uncoated, and the colorful dye used contains no metals and is sourced from an American manufacturer. These blocks are intended for kids age 2 and up as they are safe enough to put in the mouth. They are not intended to be teething toys. The company is located in Michigan.
Walnut Tree Baby
Walnut Tree Baby offers this Montessori Wood teether ring that's endorsed by several physicians. Handcrafted from organic sugar maple trees in Maine and North Carolina, the eco-friendly teether is CPSIA certified and has the highest decreasing rate of bacterial growth compared to plastic materials.
Whittle Shortline Railroad
Whittle Shortline Railroad has been handcrafting wooden toy trains in Missouri since 1996. These toy trains are compatible with all major wooden toy train railways. Choose from train sets or individual train pieces you can connect to trains your child already has. Whittle Shortline Railroad also has a line of national park trains.
Wild Apples
Wild Apples offers over a dozen different styles of wooden toys. Owner and woodworker Gunther Keil makes the toys out of his Central New York workshop where he also farms. Take the time to read his fascinating story. Keil also offers story boxes that include animals and other items featured in their "natural" habitat.
Check out these other great made in the USA articles!
- The Best Baby Gifts Made in the USA
- Love these Earth-Friendly Baby Shower Gifts! 6 Green Gift Ideas, All Made in America
- American Made Outdoor Toys and Games We Love
- Best Made In USA Toys: Our Top Picks for Baby to Teen
- Made in USA Building Toys for Kids of All Ages
Have you visited our Made in USA Shopping District? It is the place to start your shopping when you want to find the best of American-made.
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I had been invested into IKEA since high school when I first moved to live alone in a one bedroom apartment. I mean, it’s relatively cheap, usually quite easy to assemble and most of the furniture was still intact when I moved back. It’s simple, often minimalistic and there is almost always something you’re looking for, though, when my twins grown up enough, me and my wife started thinking about how can we lighten up the playroom but keep them active at the same time – we found the solution in Montessori climbing toys. The one shop we settled one was https://goodevas.com/ , their climbing furniture is of pristine quality and is suitable of kids ages between 1-6 and is still standing after 2 years of heavy usage.