Wood Toys & HazelNut Kids Bamboo Game Giveaway

Today we move away from BPA and on to PVC or Polyvinyl chloride. PVC is the third most widely produced plastic because it is cheap, durable, and easy to assemble. It can be made softer and more flexible with the addition of phthalates. Lucky for us phthalates were recently banned by the Consumer Product Saftey Commission, but PVC also contains other heavy metals like lead, which is highly toxic.

PVC is very common in baby bibs, teethers, nap mats, and of course toys! Recent studies show that 40% of toys are made out of this plastic. Think of that rubber ducky. That's not rubber. It's PVC. And where does that ducky usually end up? In a child's mouth, like most toys.

Also like BPA, PVC are endocrine disruptors, and can upset normal hormonal balance in our bodies, stimulate the growth and development of cancers (breast, uterine, prostate), impair fertility, and disrupt pregnancy. Lead causes damage to the nervous system, leading to decreased learning ability and behavioral deficits. Children are especially susceptible because they absorb and retain lead more easily than adults and also because their brains are still developing.

How can we avoid items containing PVC?

- Get rid of all your older plastic toys which are likely to contain the highest level of toxic chemicals

- Buy from major brands and well known stores. Avoid cheap plastic toys from bargain retailers because they are probably imported from China where there is no control over chemicals used.

- Best of all ~ buy wooden toys!

Wooden toys last longer than plastic toys do and you can feel good about buying natural products that are not potentially full of lead and other toxins.

What could be better than a toy designed to promote ecological responsibility and providing learning and fun for your child? Wooden toys fit the bill in all these areas. And it's gotten easier to find toys made this way, thanks for great companies like HazelNuts Kids!

I was super excited when I got sent a wooden bamboo game called Kombino that is made by the great company Hape. It's a game for the whole family - ages four on up - so we all sat down to play. Right away we realized that it is very familiar to Sudoku! And we love Sukoku! My impatient six year old got frustrated pretty fast but my eight year old would not stop playing. It was wonderful watching his brain work trying to fit all the pieces together.

"Learning colors and shapes is fun with this game of strategy! Multiple versions can be played with Kombino. One option is for each player to take one mat and four tiles of each color / shape. They must place the tiles so that each color / shape appears only once horizontally and vertically - the fastest player wins! Another option is a single-player version similar to Sudoku. Mats are made of natural bamboo, and the bamboo tiles are vividly painted with water colors."

I want to show you some of the other fun toys Hazelnut Kids carry! They have TONS of stuff!!

What little boy would not love these? I have to grab a bobble head car for P'Diddy's stocking!

These are perfect for O'Bear. He loves to play kitchen and tic-tac-toe!

And remember our stainless steel water bottles? They have lots of great ones!

This is the one Crunchy Beach Mama got :)

Would you like to WIN the game Kombino?

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Follow CBM on Twitter and Tweet 'Plastics Weeks @crunchybchmama Learn & WIN the Bamboo Game Kombino from Hazelnut Kids http://tiny.cc/ab7pa #giveaway #green'

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Enter another giveaway from Plastics Week

Hazelnut Kids sent me Kombino for this review but I was not compensated in any way for the post and all opinions are my own. This giveaway will end on Nov. 30, 2010 at 11:00pm ET. Winner will be drawn via random.org. Once a winner is drawn I will contact them and they will have 48 hours to reply before I draw a new winner. Giveaway is open to anyone in the US & Canada and you must be 18 years of age or older.