green-toys-rocket-blueKids put toys in their mouths. It’s one of the laws of the universe. Young children will take their little plastic objects of amusement, and jam those artifacts of wonderment directly into their pie-holes. There’s no stopping it. You might as well seek out the safest toys for your kids to slobber all over.

In PopCult I usually write about toys in the context of how they are nifty nostalgic totems that adults use in some vain attempt to recapture part of their squandered youth. This week’s column is aimed at helping the parents of young kids who will orally molest any play object in which they come in contact.

You see, toys can be dirty, nasty things. You literally don’t really know where they’ve been. They may seem clean right out of the package, but who knows how long they sat in a Chinese factory, marinating in rat urine and feces before they were hermetically sealed and shipped across the ocean to your local retailer?

That’s not all you have to worry about. What about lead paint? Or tiny parts that can rush down the gullet of your little one, turning them unnatural shades of blue and purple? On top of that you have BPA and Pthalates and all sorts of nasty chemicals that have unknown and potentially hazardous effects on the human body.

Faced with the constant peril into which their kids are plunged everyday, what is a parent to do when it’s time to buy them toys?

images (9)Luckily, there is a cool alternative. Green Toys is a company that makes really cool, durable toys out of recycled milk jugs, all of which are free of nasty chemicals like BPA and Pthalates, and all of which are food-safe. Your kids are safe putting these toys in their mouths.

On top of that, it’s good for the environment and…the kicker…all of their toys are MADE IN THE USA! So not only is it patriotic to buy these toys, but it’s also even better for the environment because they don’t pollute the atmosphere by shipping all those toys across the Pacific.

Even more impressive than all of that is the fact that, unlike many toys that are good for the planet and good for kids, these toys don’t suck, and are, in fact, really, really cool.

Seth, playing with his way-cool rocketship

Seth, playing with his way-cool rocketship

A couple of weeks ago I gave my nephew, Seth, a Green Toys Rocket for his third birthday, and it was a hit. The toy itself is really cool, with a retro sci-fi look, a detachable capsule and two astronauts. It’s molded in bright red and blue and can withstand lots of drops and chewing. Seth was fascinated with it and played with it more than any toy I’d given him in the past.

Seth is three, and that’s really the prime age for these toys. They make a range of baby toys and teething rings, but their other designs are cool enough to appeal to kids as old as eight or ten years old. You can be sure that Seth will be getting more cool toys made by this company from his Uncle Rudy.

green-toys-dump-truckThere’s lots to choose from. They have dumptrucks and fire engines, airplanes and helicopters, race cars, boats and submarines, plus they have tea sets, jump ropes, toy animals, play food, stacking toys and more.

green-toys-fire-truck-emergency-vehicle2All of their toys are made of recylced plastic. They’re all free of chemicals and they’re all made in America. They’re brightly-colored with imaginative designs and loads of genuine kid appeal.

my-first-green-toys-shape-sorterAnd in twenty or thirty years, they may have some serious collectible value, as kids who grew up playing with them try to recapture their youth.These have all the makings of being classic toys that will transcend several generations.

green-toys-helicopter-blue-detailYou can find Green Toys at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and they are sold in a broad network of independent toy stores across the country. One tip I can give you is to check the “deal a day” website Zulilly.com, because they occasionally feature Green Toys with the best prices you’ll ever see.

So there you have it: Cool new toys for kids that won’t choke them or make them sick. Go check out Green Toys.