Finding Children's Gifts NOT Made in China

There have been so many toy recalls in the news lately, that it makes it difficult to buy toys without being scared. With the holidays fast approaching, many parents are wondering what they can give to their children and loved ones this year. Since the toys that have been recalled for lead paint are coming from China, the first thought is to not buy any toys made there. The problem with this is that it makes it hard to shop at most retail stores. 80% of the toys that we sell here in the US come from China. There's an even higher percentage that come from China when you are only talking about toys for infants.

One solution to this problem is to simply not shop at retail locations for your children's toys. Though many people buy all their toys from Wal-Mart, Target, or a big name toy store, there are plenty of other places you can buy toys. And if you are careful about where the toys are made, it will give you so much more piece of mind than giving your child another toy that might be contaminated with lead paint.

One great way you can get your child new toys is to make them yourself. You can sew them stuffed toys, or make some wooden ones. If you aren't good at that kind of stuff, or don't have to time to do it, you can always ask someone you know if they could make the toys for you. Many children would find it very special if they actually knew the person that had made their toys for them. If you have a family member that is good at sewing or working with wood, ask them if they can make the presents this year instead of buying them. You can offer to pay for them as well.

Another way to get good homemade toys is to look around and see if you can find a place that sells good quality home made toys. You can try looking to see if there is anywhere that you can pick them up locally. If you can't find somewhere locally, you can always look around online. On etsy.com, there are lots of cute handmade toys. Many of the people that make these toys are stay at home parents or retired people. So when you buy from them, you are helping support an individual family instead of a big corporation as well. Ebay is another place to look for handmade toys.

Another good source for toys, is at a garage sale or consignment shop. Since most of the lead paint problems have been recent, buying used toys from a few years ago will help ensure that the toys are safer. Since these toys will be used, you definitely need to clean them up well and look them over closely for things that could prove problematic for your child. Things to check for are pealing paint, small cracks, and pieces that your child could choke on.

If you don't like the idea of used toys or handmade ones, you can just skip the toys this year. If your children are like mine, they already have plenty of toys. There are several other things you can give your children for Christmas that are also fun. You can give some of the other classic gifts, like clothes, movies, CD's, and computer games, or even some less common gifts like horse riding lessons or gymnastic classes. Allowing your child to pick an activity that she can do on her own, or one that you can do with her, might be a more special gift than a toy would be anyway.