7 Made-in-America Toys
California
Green Toys
For ten years this West Coast company has transformed recycled milk jugs into toys like this Farm Playset. Everything gets packaged in recyclable cardboard printed with soy ink. 2 years+, $50.
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California
Bears for Humanity
Employees in a welfare-to-work program sew and stuff these organic-cotton friends. For each bear you buy, one is donated to a child. Birth+, $25 Baby Sherpas and $45 Sherpa Bears.
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Michigan
Uncle Goose Blocks
A 12-person, family-owned operation in Grand Rapids handcrafts these Classic Lowercase Blocks. Request a custom set for $2 a block if you just want to spell out your child’s name. 2 years+, $38.
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Pennsylvania
Tinkertoy Sets
These were created in 1913, modeled after sticks and spools. A wooden “classic” version is made in China, but production of plastic sets began in the States five years ago. 3 years+, $50 for a 150-piece set.
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Rhode Island
No-Spill Big Bubble Bucket
A parent who appreciated a no-spill cup applied the idea to a container of bubble solution. Twenty-five years later, Little Kids is still helping us save our soap. 3 years+, $15.
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Maine
Lincoln Logs
Architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s son John invented these a hundred years ago, inspired by one of his dad’s designs and honoring the fact that Honest Abe was born in a cabin. Horseshoe Hill Station, 3 years+, $30.
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Iowa
John Deere Ride-Ons
In 1837 John Deere crafted the first steel plow, which helped Midwestern farmers plant the prairie. Now the company that bears his name licenses kids’ toys like this Plastic Pedal Tractor. 3 years+, $110.