When considering whether or not a toy is educational, ask yourself if the toy allows your child to pose important questions and explore a multitude of answers.

Many toys contain a lot of bells and whistles but leave little room for the child to move beyond simply pushing buttons. Educational toys open new worlds for children and position them to explore, create, and extend their thinking. Here’s a collection of sources for toys and games that are safe, stimulating, and easy on the environment.

Windpower Renewable Energy Science Kit
This kit provides the components and a well-illustrated guide to teach a child how to build a functioning wind turbine. Use the generated electricity to lift heavy objects or light a LED light, among many applications. Clean energy is the future, and young learners may be.

Hydropower Renewable Energy Science Kit
Children can explore the power of water by building models and conducting experiments with them. Learn about how different devices are used to extract useful energy from moving water — from a waterwheel in a small stream to a giant turbine in a tidal power station.

Air & Water Power
Air and Water Power Kit allows you to build two different air-and-water powered systems: water-jet propelled cars and hydro-pneumo powered engines. Each kit contains 165 building pieces to construct 15 models including a truck, excavator, radar car, tank, antique car, helicopter, motorbike, backhoe, rocket car, forklift, roadster, propeller plane, grinder, and cutting machine.

Physics Solar Workshop
The Physics Solar Workshop explores the topic of solar energy by focusing on photovoltaic cells. By building models and conducting experiments, you will learn how solar cells transform light into electrical energy, and how mechanical devices can optimize the work done by this energy. Build 12 working models, including a solar-powered tractor, truck, treaded vehicle, car, elevator, drawbridge, fan, airplane, mobile crane and construction crane.

Power House Kit
Explore eco-friendly living in the 21st century! Power House Kit features 100 household experiments with renewable energy sources, focusing on energy from the sun and wind. It explains the many forms of renewable energy, and makes the environment and energy conservation easier to understand with hands-on learning.

Experimental Greenhouse Kit
The Experimental Greenhouse Kit provides young children an opportunity to learn about the growing cycle of plants from seed to bloom through conducting up to 30 interesting and fun learning experiments. Assemble the domed greenhouses complete with thermometers, ventilation and automatic watering. Grow beans, cress, and zinnia flowers, and learn how each plant has different needs.

Dinosaur Fossils Kit
The Dinosaur Fossils set lets your favorite young person learn about how fossils form, how paleontologists excavate them and how dinosaur bones are put together to form skeletons. Kids will model the process of fossilization by burying dinosaur bones in layers of plaster “rock” and carefully excavating using the tools and techniques of the professionals.

Global Water Quality Kit
Learn how science can be used to give people around the world access to clean water! Each kit offers you the necessary tools to participate. Test water quality with pH analysis, build a water filter tower to clean dirty water, and experiment with water purification by evaporation.

Family Pastimes
This is a small family run business, which has been creating cooperative games for all ages since the 70’s. They are a Canadian company based in Ontario.

Kids Stuff
Safe, educational, environmentally aware toys, games, baby toys and accessories, musical instruments, science and nature items and more.

Hearth Song
Catalog of toys, games, puzzles, dolls, arts and crafts, books and more for parents looking for healthy, educational gifts for children.

Bella Luna Toys
A home-based business offering a wide range of natural, Waldorf-inspired playthings. Arts & crafts supplies, wooden toys, imaginative play and more.

Copernicus Toys
Manufactures and distributes activity kits and science and nature related toys, games, gifts and puzzles both wholesale and retail.

Hazelnut Kids
Natural, earth-friendly, wooden and organic cotton toys for babies and children.

Three Sisters Toys
Specializing in natural, wooden, and organic cotton toys. Also offers information for parents on the importance of natural creative play for children.