ChildTrek Blog

Thanks to our customers, the ChildTrek Tacoma storefront is expanding and relocating in Westgate Center located in North Tacoma - corner of N 26th and Pearl (on the way to the Point Defiance Zoo). It will feature more play areas and more natural, green toy brands. For directions, click here.

Become a ChildTrek Facebook Fan to see before and after images, as well as get special Fan only promotions!

The new store is scheduled to open on Oct. 6. If you are in the area, please come in and play!

ChildTrek is proud to feature Sprig Toys - a line of eco-friendly toys by award-winning toy designers, dedicated to promoting active play.

Check out the Sprig Toys Eco-Trucks: Dump Truck, Loader, and Excavator. The chunky, cartoon-like style make them irrestible to young children. Let the construction fun begin!

Sprig Toys are made of Sprigwood™ - a composite of reclaimed wood and recyled plastic. They are non-toxic and child-safe. They meet or exceed established US and European safety standards.

ChildTrek is expanding its already generous Loyalty Rewards Program by offering Loyalty Members another way to earn points.

Review & Earn! It’s Easy as 1-2-3!

1) Log into your account.

2) Review items you purchased within the last year.

3) Earn 15 points per approved review!

To launch this new way to earn Loyalty Rewards, the first 50 reviews receive 25 points per approved review. Hurry! Learn more about ChildTrek’s Loyalty Rewards.

New Wood Dollhouse 
ChildTrek continues to expand its line of natural, eco-friendly toys for children. First up is the Educo My Rooftop Garden Home - brand new for 2009. This two-story wood dollhouse includes a poseable family of four. It has three good-sized rooms and rooftop terrace furnished with furniture and bath fixtures. There are also a colorful skylight and accented stairway and rail posts. Reasonably priced, this heirloom piece will be enjoyed for years.

New Imagination Toy Made of Bamboo
Next, ChildTrek adds to its Bamboo Collection with Contina. This highly imaginative, open-ended block set is made of 120 beautiful tiles made of eco-friendly bamboo and water-based paints. Kids from age 4 - 99 can create unique patterns and build bridges, buildings, towers, animals - just about anything their creativity desires. The colors are vibrant and inviting. The possibilities are endless.

New Made in Germany Toys
Check out the HABA Indian Summer Magnetic Art. It is made up of 88 brightly-colored wooden pieces with self-adhesive magnet foils. This playset is ideal for both little and older children who like to create patterns. It is perfect for arranging the colorful shapes over and over agan into new designs. Children can start by putting together the 10 enclosed suggested patterns, then run free with their imagination. Includes a wooden play board. Made in Germany.

Also new this year is the 200 Wood Lacing Beads by Grimm’s Spiel & Holz (20mm). These richly-colored beads are sure to excite much lacing fun! They are just the ones to inspire lacing creativity. Your child will have endless fun making necklaces and bracelets using 12 different vibrant colors to choose from. Each bead is approx. 3/4 inch in diameter. Great for refining motor skills and strenghtening hand-eye coordination. Includes plenty of durable, elastic string to lace. Made in Germany.

Click here to view these and the rest of the new natural toy arrivals at ChildTrek.com

By Miebeth Bustillo-Booth, ChildTrek Founder

ChildTrek’s 2008 Holiday Season
As ChildTrek’s buyer, I bought much of the holiday toys and books in the summer. Then October and the stock market did its best to scare most retailers. As a parent, however, I had faith that Santa was still going to make his stops.

And the jolly old elf came through - in a big way. In fact, his elves worked overtime to make more toys!

As I stare at our empty storage shelves, I can’t help but imagine children who giggled their way through December mornings - rocking their horses, playing their wooden drums, slicing pretend fruits and vegetables, stacking their new wood blocks, building model cars, cradling their dolls and stuffed animals. I can’t help but smile at the thought of babies and toddlers around the country on their parents’ and grandparents’ laps reading books from ChildTrek.

Although, I may never meet most of the families who graced ChildTrek.com this holiday season, it still gives me much happiness and gratitude that we were a part of their joy in some way.

I am also deeply grateful to the Puget Sound community — particularly our hometown, Tacoma, WA – for its loyalty and generosity of spirit. Thank you for supporting ChildTrek and for making the ChildTrek storefront a part of your family’s holiday celebration.

Together, you — our online and storefront customers – far exceeded our expectations. Thank you so much for your business. We appreciate it very much.

The ChildTrek team wishes you good health, much happiness, and enduring prosperity. We look forward to serving you again in 2009!

Holiday Season Pictures

Customers enter the ChildTrek Tacoma storefront.

Anna Davis from the Washington Toxics Coalition discusses children’s safety initiatives during ChildTrek’s Green Play: A Toy Safety Fair.

Jennifer and son, Kristof, are tested for lead levels by a certified nurse from the Pierce County/Tacoma Health Department during ChildTrek’s Green Play: A Toy Safety Fair.

Customer Katie Kuijper and son, Grady, enjoy ChildTrek’s Plan Toys selection.

The Green Play winning entry for a free Educo Professional Workbench!

A grandaughter of Gladys (Winner of the Educo Professional Workbench) enjoys the wooden bench before taking it home. Congratulations!

By Miebeth Bustillo-Booth, ChildTrek Founder

ChildTrek carries a large selection of the multi-award winning Plan Toys at competitive prices. They are green, smart, and safe.

As a former teacher, I am impressed by the educational themes and thoughtfulness with which Plan Toys are designed to promote open-ended play, creative role playing, as well as stimulate intellectual and emotional development. These are truly amazing natural toys.

In upcoming blogs, I will review individual Plan Toys like the Solid Wooden Drum, Xylophone, Activity Clock, Shape & Sort it Out, Geometric Sorting Board, and others to explore benefits of specific toys. For now, let me begin by sharing adapted statements made by Plan Toys.

Plan Toys are Green
All Plan Toys are made with clean, natural rubberwood recycled from rubber trees that would otherwise be cut and burned. This process emits carbon emissions, creating carbon gasses that contribute to global warming. Plan Toys breaks this cycle by making high-quality toys with this beautiful hardwood. If that were not enough, Plan Toys takes the time to stabilize the wood using a chemical-free kiln-drying process instead of chemical preservatives.

Plan Toys is also one of the few toy companies that have gained environmental certifications. Here are examples:

1) Environmental Management (ISO 14001), which reflects the Plan Toys’ company’s commitment to environmental awareness and activities.

2) OHSAS 18001, which certifies Plan Toys as a company that provides a safe and healthy working environment.

3) Social Accountability Management (SA 8000), which recognizes the Plan Toys company’s policy to provide full and equal opportunity to all of its workers.

Plan Toys are Safe
Plan Toys assembles toys using a proprietary non-formaldehyde glue instead of traditional toxic wood glue. The glue emits no formaldehyde fumes and is rated E-Zero.

Plan Toys uses water-based dyes to color its toys. The colors are environmentally-friendly and non-toxic to children.

Plan Toys produces all of its toys in its own factory, which ensures complete control of materials and workmanship.

Plan Toys also has achieved the following safety certifications:

1) Quality Management (ISO 9001) for world-class product quality and service standards.

2) Toy Safety Standards (ASTM & EN71, — otherwise known as North American & European Safety Standards, respectively) for EXCEEDING international toy safety standards.

Plan Toys are Smart
Plan Toys makes toys with strong educational themes. From building blocks, to shape sorters, to games, puzzles and pounding toys, Plan Toys offers age-appropriate challenges for intellectual and physical development. Plan Toys offers open-ended play, creating a setting for hours of role-playing, creative play and emotional development. Plan Toys promotes the importance of play in a child’s development by combining design, age-appropriate challenges, and open-ended play to empower children, encourage social interaction, and reward discovery.

Check out our selection of Plan Toys.

By Miebeth Bustillo-Booth, ChildTrek Founder

Old is New Again
There’s great satisfaction in giving old things new life. A bit of sanding here, a fresh coat of paint or stain there, (a lot of patience), and voila! Great pieces!

In the last few days, ChildTrek’s new storefront in Tacoma’s historic Freighthouse Square got a fresh coat of low VOC paint. (Make that several coats of paint.) New cabinets were made and staged. True to our green mission, we found old wooden bookcases, display units, and an iron baker’s rack. They were in great shape and worked well together. They received face lifts and look terrific! Two counters that look like they came from the ’80s were joined and recrafted by a master carpenter to become ChildTrek’s new checkout counter. Not much of the ’80s is left (that’s a good thing), and it looks absolutely wonderful!

New Baby & Toddler Toys & More
New natural and wooden toys also arrived. Some like Under the Nile organic toys are already on the site. You should see be able to view the rest soon.

By the end of this week, the storefront should have internet and working phones.

There are still about a buzzilion other things to check off the ever growing list before ChildTrek quietly opens its doors on July 1 or 2. At that time, we will do a dry run and work out the kinks that will doubtless come. ChildTrek’s grand opening will be later in the month or early in August.

Below are some shots from the last week:

Come back and see the finished store next week!

By Miebeth Bustillo-Booth, ChildTrek Founder

From Virtual to Reality
ChildTrek will soon open a “real” store in Tacoma, Washington’s historic Freighthouse Square. In the next few weeks, I will chronicle the store’s transformation. For now, here are some before pictures. First thing: Goodbye to all that blue. Hello green!

Grand Opening
ChildTrek opens its doors on July 1 and holds its grand opening sometime after. ChildTrek is located just to the right of the Sound Transit ticket terminals and under what I fondly call “the little engine that could.” Go to ChildTrek.com to view a selection of high-quality, unique, natural toys for babies and toddlers.

In recent months, more and more parents are waking up to find that their child’s favorite toys have been recalled due to serious health risks. Companies and corporations, who our parents and grandparents have trusted through the decades, are producing health and hazard risks they call “toys”. Arguably, the mass production of toys with bottom-dollar pricing contributed to low or seriously compromised safety and quality controls. There are other contributing factors as well, which will be covered in future blog posts.

Below is a list of some of the most recent health risks posed within the latest toy hazard recalls:

• Aspiration and intestinal hazards
• Fire and burn hazards
• Lead paint hazards
• Choking hazards
• Tip-over hazards
• Sharp edges hazards

To date, approximately 738 toys, cribs, strollers, baby furniture, car seats and other child related items have been recalled.

To view the latest list, visit the US Consumer Product Safety Commission website (http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/category/toy.html).

So the question is when do we say “Enough!”? When do we say, “No, I will not let you do this to my child?” The time is now.

Natural, Organic & Eco-Friendly Toys – Bringing Back Wholesome Fun

Take back your child’s safety. Take back your child’s and our planet’s health. Remove the risks of toxins, poisons, and life threatening hazards by providing your children with natural, organic and eco-friendly toys that stimulate their mind, reduce harmful effects on the environment, and bring back the safety you want when your child picks up his favorite toy.

ChildTrek.com offers natural, organic and eco-friendly toys for infants, toddlers, and children made from natural, organic, biodegradable, recyclable and/or recycled materials. Visit our online store to view our full selection of natural educational toys.

Welcome to the Childtrek.com blog. We will be using our blog to help educate parents on eco-friendly (earth friendly) practices, on the benefits of wholesome, natural and educational toys, on timely industry news and information regarding toy safety, and how you can protect your children from the dangers posed.

Did you know?

• 70% of the toys recalled because of unsafe lead levels are returned to the manufacturer.
• The other 30% generally end up in the trash and ultimately our landfills.
• Recalled toys that end up in landfills can contaminate groundwater and pose a serious health risk to our communities.

Natural, Eco-Friendly Educational Toys

Please be sure to visit our online store where we offer educational toys for children of all ages – providing an alternative to toys that negatively impact childhood health and development, contribute to the problems of global warming, and choke up our landfills for untold millennia.

Please bookmark our blog and visit regularly to gain updates and latest tips on how small changes we as parents and family members can make to ensure a green and vibrant planet Earth for our children and grandchildren for lifetimes to come!