Once you become a parent, it doesn’t take long to feel like you’re drowning in plastic toys and gear. You’ve got strollers, baby jumpers, and playhouses that make your life easier, but they can also make you feel guilty about your carbon footprint. Even if you never cared much about being eco-friendly before, after changing hundreds of diapers, you might start looking for little ways to be greener.
Another thing that can make you rethink your purchases is watching your little one chew on everything you give them. You’ll find yourself checking if their sippy cup is made from BPA-free plastic and wanting more eco-friendly toys for them to play with.
For this list, we picked some of our favorite toys based on how sustainable they are. We looked for things like wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and toys made from recycled or upcycled plastic. We also made sure they have non-toxic finishes and come in cardboard packaging that’s 100% recyclable. Plus, we wanted them to be just as fun as the other top toys out there. Luckily, many of the toys on our list have been tested by the Good Housekeeping Institute with real kids, so we know they’re a hit!
Best Overall
Lovevery The Block Set
Solid wood building blocks are a classic toy, and we’re loving this 70-piece set right now—it’s also a great sustainable choice! The wood is FSC-certified, meaning it’s sustainably harvested, and the blocks are finished with water-based paints. The unique shapes let kids create tall towers, castles with arches, and even pull cars using the round pieces as wheels. Both two-year-olds and four-year-olds have a blast with these blocks, making them perfect for ages 18 months and up!
Best Value
Green Toys Car Carrier
This toy is like having four vehicles in one! It comes with a car-carrying truck and removable cars in red, green, and yellow. Kids love pretending to play with it, whether indoors or outdoors, and it’s a fun foot-long rolling truck that can swivel. Plus, Green Toys is one of our favorite eco-friendly brands. This truck is made in the USA from recycled plastic and doesn’t have any BPA or phthalates. And the best part? You can clean it in the dishwasher! Perfect for kids ages 3 and up!
Best for Toddlers
PlanToys Dinosaur Car
Plan Toys really stands out when it comes to making eco-friendly toys. Many of their products are made from rubberwood trees that can no longer be used for latex.
They even use their own sawdust to create more toys from what they call PlanWood, which is basically leftover sawdust turned into fun, green toys. This cute dino car is one of those PlanWood toys, and it’s painted with non-toxic colors. It’s a perfect size—about 4 by 4 inches—so it fits easily in your diaper bag and is great for your toddler to hold or roll around. Ideal for kids ages 12 months and up!
Good Housekeeping Best Toy Award Winner
Gund Baby Sustainable Plush
This cute 13-inch stuffed animal just won our latest Best Toy Award! It’s perfect for babies and toddlers and is made from 100% recycled materials, including the soft exterior, the stuffing, and the packaging. This one is a ducky, but there are also other adorable options like a lavender lamb, a pink bunny, and a blue puppy. The embroidered eyes make it safe for infants, and the best part is that it’s machine-washable! Great for kids ages 0 and up!
Best STEM
Tender Leaf Toys Citrus Fractions
Fractions become much easier to understand with this beautiful wooden educational puzzle! It’s a fun STEM toy that shows kids how a whole orange is twice the size of a lemon half and three times bigger than a third of an apple. Plus, the toy knife lets kids practice their fine motor skills as they pretend to slice the yummy fruits. Like PlanToys, Tender Leaf Toys are made from reclaimed rubberwood, which is a by-product of latex manufacturing. They’re painted with water-based paints and packaged in cardboard, making them eco-friendly too. Suitable for kids ages 18 months and up!
Best for Infants
Manhattan Toy Artful Skwish
When you’re on the hunt for infant toys, there aren’t many wooden options out there, but this one is a fantastic eco-friendly choice! The Skwish rattle was created in the ’90s and has become a classic! Babies can easily grab the dowels and wave it around, passing it from hand to hand—what a great milestone! They can also press it in and watch it squish thanks to the elastic bands. It’s about the size of a 6-inch cube, which feels big and exciting for little ones. Perfect for ages 0 and up!
Best for Babies
Geomag 64-Piece Magicube Set
Geomag is a Swiss brand, and we love their Magicubes! These magnetic blocks are 1.5 inches square and made from 100% recycled plastic. They can stick together from any side, which makes building super fun. Our kid testers have enjoyed creating all sorts of things with this 64-piece set, but if you’re looking for something smaller, they also have a 32-piece set that won one of our previous Best Toy Awards. Perfect for ages 1 and up!
Popular on Amazon
Brio Classic Figure 8 Wooden Toy Train Set
Brio is a well-known brand that uses FSC-certified wood to make its train toys sustainable. This starter set is great for toddlers and preschoolers and includes 14 pieces of track, a train engine with two cars, a station, a bridge, and three wooden trees. If your child enjoys it, you can easily add more wooden tracks and accessories over the years. It’s suitable for kids ages 2 and up!
Best Dollhouse
Hape All Seasons Kids Wooden Dollhouse
Wow! This amazing three-story wooden playhouse has six rooms and has won multiple awards for good reasons. You can change the seasons by flipping some parts around—for example, the roof has eco-friendly pretend solar panels that show a sunny summer scene on one side and a snowy winter scene on the other. Made from FSC-certified wood and painted with water-based paints, this playhouse stands almost 30 inches tall and comes with wooden furniture that your child can rearrange however they like. Just remember to buy a separate set of people, as there are several options to choose from. It’s perfect for kids ages 3 and up!
Best Pretend-Play
Lalo The Play Kitchen
Kids can have a blast pretending to cook with this beautiful play kitchen made from sustainably sourced birch plywood and finished with plant- and water-based materials. It’s the perfect size for toddlers and preschoolers, measuring about 27 inches wide and 24 inches high. The cabinets are a foot deep, so they can hold pretend food and mini pots and pans. It features an opening stove, a pretend range with moving knobs, and a little sink for added fun. Plus, it’s surprisingly easy to put together! This play kitchen is great for kids ages 3 and up!
Also Read: 10 Best Plastic Toys for 3-Year-Olds
Best Classic
Pottery Barn Big Jigs x PBK Activity Cube
This collaboration between a British wooden toy maker and Pottery Barn Kids has produced some really beautiful and eco-friendly toys, like this busy cube with activities on all four sides plus the top. It’s a sturdy cube, about 12 inches wide and weighs nearly five pounds, so it’s built to last. It also includes five blocks that fit into a shape-sorter side, though that side isn’t shown in the picture. Plus, you can flip the bead maze over and store it inside the cube when it’s not in use, making it easy to save space. This busy cube is perfect for kids aged 12 months and up!
Best Bathtub Toy
Green Toys Ferry Boat with Mini Cars
Bath toys can be eco-friendly too! Take this floating boat, for example. It comes with two cars that can ride along. Like our previous Green Toys pick, this boat is made in the U.S. from 100% recycled plastic, most of which comes from old milk jugs. Our tester parents loved that there aren’t any small pieces to break off, making it safe for kids. Plus, it’s a blast to roll the cars down the ramp, whether they’re in the water or on dry land. The brand also has a cool submarine, which is just as fun, though it doesn’t come with any extra pieces. This toy is perfect for kids aged 3 and up!
Best Instrument
Hape Kid’s Wooden Toy Ukulele
There are tons of cool wooden and eco-friendly toys for little kids, but what about the bigger ones? Check out this beautiful wooden ukulele from Hape! It’s a fun first instrument made from FSC-certified wood, so it’s great for the environment too. While it’s safe for kids as young as 3, our testing shows that older kids really enjoy tuning it, playing, and singing along. This ukulele is perfect for kids ages 3 and up!
Best Game
PlanToys Balancing Cactus
Challenge your little one to balance the pieces of this wooden cactus without letting it topple over! The set comes with a sturdy base and 18 cactus pieces, including green and yellow branches and cute orange and red flowers. You can even turn it into a game for up to four players, taking turns to add pieces while trying to keep the cactus standing. Plus, it’s made with sustainable rubberwood, formaldehyde-free glue, organic pigments, and water-based dyes. Perfect for kids ages 3 and up!