Saturday, November 28, 2009

KidBean.com Product Review and Giveaway


This month I've been posting about Toxins In Toys and talking about some of the choices our family is making regarding toys. With our switch to natural safe toys, we've found some wonderful toy companies that have great high quality products. One of the stores that I've been impressed with is KidBean. They thoroughly research every company and product they sell, and will even tell you why they don't carry certain products. Here is a quote from their about us page:

"You can find natural, organic, earth-friendly children's products, like wooden toys and organic cotton baby clothes at hundreds of online retailers and an increasing number of local stores. However, you may notice that most of these products are made overseas from foreign components (such as organic cotton clothing made in India from Indian-grown organic cotton or wooden toys made in China or Germany). Were the workers who made them treated fairly? Which organic certification do they have (GOTS, CU, or..?)? What is the impact of their packaging? Are all the ingredients really safe?"

I love the questions they are asking! KidBean is a vegan company and very concerned about being green in every way they can. Just looking at the list of green things that they do at their office is inspiring. Also inspiring is the story of how the company started - a passionate mom wanting to stay home with her new baby girl, determined to start a business that sold earth-friendly, labor-friendly, vegan products. Today they are a thriving business with well over 750 products in numerous categories.

KidBean's toy selection consists of all wooden toys made here in the US. They focus on simple, open-ended toys that feed your child's imagination. The toys are all guaranteed to be lead free. Lucy and Julia had the chance to review the Uncle Goose Antics Ant Blocks recently.


Uncle Goose blocks are handcrafted in Michigan from basswood. They use child safe non-toxic ink on the blocks. The Antics Ant Blocks set has 16 blocks with ant trails, a queen ant and her eggs, little ant hill entrances, and even a spider. We are going to be studying ants as part of our My Father's World homeschool curriculum in a few weeks, so I thought this would be a fun set to have. I like the open-endedness of being able to create unique ant trails each time. It was actually not as challenging as I thought it would be since all of the pieces fit together in any way. Ross did point out that the ants were headed in certain directions and Lucy and I had them crashing into each other because we hadn't noticed that detail.


The girls both enjoyed playing with the blocks. Julia pointed to a couple of ants and said "maybe these are the friends and these are the mommy and daddy." In the photo she's yelling something about her king falling off the steps. Lucy had fun making a trail of ants running away from the spider and into one of the ant hill openings. The blocks are a nice big size - 1 3/4". We also received a sturdy canvas drawstring bag perfect for storing the blocks in. I'm not sure why, but they actually liked putting the blocks away in the bag - they normally don't do well cleaning up. Lucy and Julia give this toy two thumbs up for sure. The next morning after we had been playing with the blocks, Julia went straight to the closet and pulled them out again.

KidBean is giving away one set of Uncle Goose Blocks, your choice! (excluding the wagon) Uncle Goose makes a great selection of blocks including many other languages, bugs, and more. Visit KidBean and tell me what set you would choose. While you're there, check out their other great categories - bedding, clothing, diapers, and more. Leave a comment on this post being sure to include your email address. I'll close the giveaway on Dec 11 at midnight and use random.org to select a winner.

**The giveaway is now closed and a winner has been contacted. Thanks for your interest!**

19 comments:

  1. Those blocks are so cute. Liam loves bugs. I could see him loving making a trail with these (the big boys, too)! I'd love to get the ant blocks.

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  2. What a great site, thank you for sharing! I too have noticed how many of the readily available, inexpensive wood toys are made in China. I'm always concerned about the kinds of paint they use on them.

    Those blocks are really cute! I would choose the standard ABC blocks. I've been looking at buying my 9mo old a set for Christmas, but winning them would be even better! :)

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  3. I like the groovy blocks, but would have to choose the Aunt Antics ones. I love the idea of making all different connecting patterns out of the blocks. Thanks for hosting such an awesome giveaway!!

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  4. Wow, this is a fantastic giveaway. I'd choose the Uncle Goose Wooden Bug Blocks. My kids all love bugs.

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  5. I think my little one would love the Uncle Goose Wooden Bug Blocks. Fun to identify the pictured bugs!

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  6. My favorite are the Uncle Goose Antics Ant Blocks. Just brilliant!!

    marypres@gmail.com

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  7. What a great giveaway!

    I think I would choose the ants like you have or the blocks with the animals on them!

    hj4him@gmail.com

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  8. I really like the braille one and the Uncle Goose Wooden Bug Blocks...super nice looking blocks

    ykatrina at hotmail dot com

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  9. Wow, what a great store. Thanks for mentioning them

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  10. I like the Uncle Goose German Alphabet Wooden Blocks.

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  11. Great shop, my fave is the D and Me Shaker-Style Wooden Doll Cradle. It would be a great gift for my daughter who loves dolls.
    Thanks
    meangreenmom[at]gmail[dot]com

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  12. I love the French alphabet blocks!

    urchiken at gmail dot com

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  13. All their blocks are fantastic! The ants blocks are very clever (and adorable).

    I would choose the Chinese Alphabet Blocks for two reasons. 1) My eldest son was named after Hudson Taylor, who was a missionary to China. 2) We are planning on homeschooling our children and teaching them all Chinese as a second language. These would be helpful to this end.

    I found your blog lined on keeper of the home. I will be adding you to my weekly reads. =)

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  14. What a generous giveaway and a great site to check out. We would choose the Wooden Groovie Blocks. Thanks.
    adriannclare@gmail.com

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  15. i would chose the wooden ABC blocks. my daughter loves the letters of the alphabet and she loves stacking! heatheranya at hotmail dot com

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  16. i would choose the wooden abc blocks

    my daughter would absolutely love them!!

    familytiesandgrowingpains@gmail.com

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  17. I like the Uncle Goose Wooden ABC blocks-neat idea

    aunteegem@yahoo.com

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  18. So fun! I would choose the wooden bug blocks. Thanks for sharing.

    sbippley@adoptionassociates.net

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  19. I would get the wooden bug block set my son jack would love it thanks for the chance to win eaglesforjack@gmail.com

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