As a new mum, I am constantly being targeted on social media about baby products and toys. Recently an advertisement suggested a benefit of choosing wooden over plastic toys for babies — it outlined that contact with wood could physiologically induce a more relaxed state. Is there any concrete data to support this statement?
––Anonymous
No, there is not. I promise, I scoured. I found this article, from 1937, delightfully titled “Christmastide and Toys,” which did suggest that you would be better off giving a 3-year-old a wooden train than an electric train. But the logic was that a child would smash any train on the ground, and an electric train was more likely to break. I found an article on the economics of the wooden toy industry in Turkey. And one called “Application of Fuzzy Theory to the Investigation of Children’s Preference for Wooden Toy Materials — A Case Study of Rocking Horses.”
My point is: people are studying wooden toys. They are applying theories (“fuzzy theory”) to them. It’s serious! But despite this, there is no research suggesting that wooden toys induce relaxation.
I wondered where this idea came from, and I suspect it is a wild overinterpretation of the finding that “forest bathing” is good for you. Forest bathing is walking around in the woods. Like hiking, but less arduous and without a goal. It does seem to relax you. So maybe when they were coming up with the ad, they thought of that. It’s absurd! Playing with a wooden toy isn’t the same as walking in a forest. But anyway, that’s advertising for you.
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I mostly bought wooden toys but was given plastic toys as gifts or hand-me-downs. I can attest that being hit with wooden toys hurts more and they are more likely to dent the floor/table. Unfortunately (depending on your aesthetic/concerns about chemical leaching from plastics), there is something to be said for plastic.
I really resonate with the 1930’s I guess because I only buy wood for durability purposes. I would be curious about microplastics and any hormonal impact. We do also have a few GreenToys made with recycled plastics, curious if that would still be an issue if there was hormonal impact, or maybe even worse? 😂
I wish this had gotten into the real heart of what people tend to get wooden toys over plastic: out of concern about microplastics, plasticizers, etc, and ang potential hormone disruptor. Is there data on that front?
I think Emily has said before that there’s not really any data yet. There are rat studies where very high doses have negative impacts, but so far it isn’t clear what long term low doses might do in people
Perhaps one benefit of wooden toys over plastic toys would be the same as the benefit of a wooden cutting board over a plastic one—less likely to hold onto bacteria? That’s a relaxing thought.
I buy my baby wooden toys and it is only because I think they are cute. Plus I need to waste my money somehow, why not on wooden toys that the dog will destroy!
When I was 6, at Christmas time I asked my dad what the word the word “virgin” meant. He asked where I heard the word. In “Silent Night” of course (“Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child…”). I was told to go ask my mom. Sigh.
Oops, the whole Q&A (I came from the email) isn’t available here, so this makes no sense in response to this particular article! But it’s not letting me delete it!