Handmade toys, sock monkeys and crafty dads

I like toys that thud in a wooden way.  This is American Craft Week and nice wooden handmade blocks or trains are a great way to shape a childs imagination.   Alternately I’m a big fan of the sock monkey, another handmade toy that makes adults smile and kids happy.

My father is a crafty guy.  When I was growing up he would make all sorts of things.  He made the toy chest that I had when I was a child; it’s still in his garage actually.  When I saw him the other weekend I made certain that he knows not to throw it away when he moves.  It’s nothing fancy, just a box that’s painted like the colors of The Partridge Family, with a large swing down door for all the toys.  Now it’s holding all of the planters and spare dirt that my father says he’ll use for plants one day.

When I was in the second grade I remember my father coming to school to help the class make wooden vehicles of some sort. We were hammering and using wood glue to make something, that should roll, but probably wouldn’t as there was no parental supervision over the final creation.  Suffice it to say, that particular work of art didn’t make it to the vintage toys that I currently have.

Baby Mojo has a couple nice handmade toys.  One is the classic pull-along-duck toy that bobs up and down as the vehicle moves.  In my mind’s eye I was probably trying to make that when I was in the second grade.  My son hasn’t realized the sublime beauty of the bobbing ducks yet.  Once he can walk and he realizes that the ducks follow him while bobbing I’m sure that he’ll giggle and laugh at them.

The sock monkey is mine.  I got it at a second hand store many years ago, before I even met my wife and thought about being a dad.  It’s a simple, classic thing that makes you smile.  Go ahead, look at a sock monkey and try not to smile. 

With fall here loads of artisans and toy makers will be at the festivals going on.  Last year we saw this wooden train with three cars that was purchased for my nephew.  I saw the toy recently and it’s scrawled with drawings and kid graphitti like it passed through a G rated gang neighborhood and got tagged.

That was cool to see because the toy really had personality now.  Granted it could’ve been painted, made to look like a real train as well, but even now it’s a great souvenir of childhood. 

Remember your small business people when you visit these festivals this fall.  They’ve got some great stuff that will really inspire your kids to play beyond the video games.  The Handmade Toy Alliance is working towards getting more folks educated about what they do and the importance of handmade toys.  You can check out more about them, as well as, see some ways that you might be able to help these small businesses.