China-Free Christmas: A Resource List
It won't be easy - but we're going China-Free this Christmas. I've started to collect resources and I'm happy to share my finds - please let me know if you know of any other online shops or websites that have ideas on how to avoid China-made toys.
Angry Chicken's 'not made in china' post is pretty much perfect.
Sign the petition.
Playmobil - Made in Germany. I used to love Playmobil when I was little. Thankfully, they're still around.
Etsy Toys - There's plenty of unique, one-of-a-kind handmade toys - and you buy directly from the artist. Awesome!
Step2 - It looks like most of their products are made in the US, but check the box - they do have a factory in Korea.
Oompa - Has a "Made in Europe" shop
Kettler - Awesome toys made in Germany, including their famous trykes.
Green Toys - Toys are made from corn plastic (wait...corn?)
American Plastic Toys - If you're getting tired of wood and felt...
Maple Landmark Woodcraft - Made in Vermont
Maukilo has a great Haba store (HABA makes all its toys in Germany)
Rody - We love our Rody Pony! Gymnic Rody and bouncy balls are made in Italy and can be found all over the internet.
Craftsburykids.com isn't perfect - but most (not all) of the descriptions of the toys on their site reference where the toy was produced. Thanks for such a great list.
Posted by: Erin | Friday, August 17, 2007 at 01:23 PM
Thanks for the list. I'm all for goin' China free, as well.
Posted by: rimarama | Friday, August 17, 2007 at 02:03 PM
Hi!
I came across your blog article and I posted it on the NoMoreMadeinChina.com - There is a discussion there about Christmas lights and ornaments. Someone is also tossing the ideas about writing articles about "A Christmas without Made In China - a consumer's guide."
Thanks
Posted by: Ben C | Friday, August 17, 2007 at 09:40 PM
Thanks for mentioning Step2 as a source for toys not made in China. Indeed, the vast majority of our products are US-made. Some are imported, and we are updating our web site so it will be easy for customers to identify which Step2 products are domestic versus imported. One other thing: our factory in Korea does not produce toys for the US market. That factory produces the same toys that we make here, but they supply those toys to various Asian markets, including China.
Posted by: Rob | Saturday, August 18, 2007 at 05:07 PM
That's an awesome idea! Totally stealing your list to shop from :)
Posted by: Izzy | Tuesday, August 21, 2007 at 02:31 AM
What a great idea. Except, well, I just moved to China. Beijing, to be precise. So I no longer have to worry about Chinese-made toys. Now I have to worry about Chinese-made milk, Chinese-made cereal, Chinese-made air. Seriously, the sky over Beijing is permanently brownish grey. My eyeballs are practically bleeding. And I brought my kids here! Oh, well, it's only three years. We'll probably all live to tell about it.
Good luck with your China-free Christmas. I'll have to see if any of those companies will ship to me here...
Posted by: Donna | Thursday, August 23, 2007 at 02:36 AM
Ooooh! Thank you for this. I have been hoping for this kind of list!
Posted by: Tricia | Friday, August 24, 2007 at 10:58 PM
You can also check IKEA's website. I just bought a wooden ring stacker there that was not made in China.
Posted by: julia | Sunday, August 26, 2007 at 12:07 AM
Great list. Just what I needed. Thanks!!
Posted by: Mommy off the Record | Thursday, September 06, 2007 at 06:15 PM
Re: step2 --- korea is not the same as china. whatever is manufactured completely there is safe.
Posted by: HCG | Thursday, September 20, 2007 at 12:46 PM