We’re thrilled to announce that Deb­o­rah Beau of Kick­can & Conkers will be join­ing the Hand­made Char­lotte team as a reg­u­lar con­trib­u­tor. Hur­ray! Look for­ward to more of her amaz­ing finds every week on the site. With­out fur­ther adieu…

Hi! It’s so nice to be here! As Christ­mas is fast approach­ing, I thought I’d start off by shar­ing some of my favourite trans­port toys, all avail­able on Etsy. I have three chil­dren myself, so I’m always on the look­out for sim­ple, well-designed toys, often hand­crafted in wood and prefer­ably eco-friendly.

Tra­di­tional or mod­ern, nat­ural or hand­painted, wooden toys def­i­nitely have a time­less qual­ity, and I think lit­tle boys (and girls) will be play­ing with trains, boats and planes for years to come.

Wooden Toy Christ­mas Sled

avail­able for $14 at Mum­sy­bird

I love this sim­ple, Waldorf-inspired Montes­sori Christ­mas sled & peg peo­ple set. Hand­painted with a non-toxic water­color paint and fin­ished with non-toxic beeswax and jojoba, this sim­ple toy could dou­ble as a fes­tive dec­o­ra­tion for your lit­tle one’s room when cou­pled with Mumsybird’s beau­ti­ful rock­ing trees.

Wooden Toy Car & Truck Set

avail­able for $26 at Lit­tle Sapling Toys

Lit­tle Sapling Toys needs no intro­duc­tion. Durable and com­pletely nat­ural, their two-piece car and truck set made from maple and wal­nut comes in a cot­ton draw­string car­ry­ing pouch. I love the dark, chunky wheels and it’s com­fort­ing to know that Lit­tle Sapling plants a new tree for every toy sold!

Wooden Toy Pas­sen­ger Bus

avail­able for $23 at A Sum­mer Afternoon

Generously-sized and originally-shaped, this fun, Montes­sori bus by comes with four pas­sen­ger peg dolls for hours of pre­tend play. It’s crafted from wal­nut, sanded smooth and fin­ished with beeswax. A great mod­ern heir­loom toy for play and display.

Wooden Air­plane Toy

avail­able for $14 at Imag­i­na­tion Kids

Eye-catching, eco-friendly design that’s easy on the pock­et­book! These air­planes come in seven dif­fer­ent colours, all AP/ACMI cer­ti­fied non-toxic. They are hand­crafted from sus­tain­ably har­vested wood and fin­ished with a nat­ural wood pol­ish made from beeswax, jojoba oil, and essen­tial oils, mmm!

Wooden Boat Puz­zle

avail­able for $60 at A Sum­mer Afternoon

Is it a boat? Is it a puz­zle? No, it’s a boat-puzzle and block set, guar­an­teed to keep your lit­tle one occu­pied for hours. I love the fact that this devel­op­men­tal toy has been hand­crafted from dif­fer­ent types of wood (wal­nut, maple, cherry, alder, mahogany, oak, and hick­ory), cre­at­ing a color con­trast to pro­mote shape and color recog­ni­tion (along with other fine and gross motor skills). Another smart toy from A Sum­mer Afternoon.

Wal­nut Toy Trans­port Truck

avail­able for $12 at Ban­nor Toys

I am totally smit­ten with Ban­nor Toys’ wooden vehi­cles. I love their orig­i­nal, mod­ern shapes, per­fect for a baby’s grip, and can see this semi-truck set being kept out on dis­play. You can choose from a vari­ety of woods (I really like this dark one per­son­ally) and can be sure that this hand­crafted toy will be fin­ished with a child-friendly, 100% nat­ural beeswax and flaxseed oil fin­ish. The semi-truck comes with a care card and draw­string carry bag for easy travel or stor­age. I want one, now!

Meet The Contributor

Deb­o­rah Beau is a cura­tor of all things vin­tage and hand­made, shar­ing her finds daily on her blog Kick­can & Conkers.

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