Partner Feature Series: Tender Leaf Toys

So much of what we do at Simply Inspired is guided by the fact that we want to sell products that are not only beautiful but good for the planet and soul. With this in mind, we cultivate our collections to incorporate products from companies that share these values. To share those stories with you, we’re launching our partner feature series, starting with Tender Leaf Toys! With this series we’ll periodically share the stories of our intentional partners, uncovering what they’re doing to make this world a more wonderful place for us all.

The Inception of Tender Leaf Toys

Thinking back to your childhood, how many of your fondest, most vivid memories are centered around your wooden toys. Rattles, dollhouses, rocking horses, and more. Well, Tender Leaf Toys is bringing the nostalgia of wooden toys to the future, with sustainably crafted toys for ages 18+ months to 3+ years. While most of their products carried by Simply Inspired are hand-carved wooden toys, they also have plush toys and accessories!

Each toy is started with a sketch by their in-house designer. The sketches intentionally combine style and function to produce some of the most educational and beautiful toys little ones can get their hands on.

They’ve only been around for a few years now, but we know that their future is oh so bright!

Sustainability & Safety First for Better Futures

Tender Leaf Toy’s mission to put sustainability and safety first drew us to them in searching for partners focused on pretend play. Here are just a few things they are doing to ensure that their products are good for both the soul and the environment:

💫 Ethical Manufacturing Process Providing Economic Opportunity

Just as we work with a group of talented women artisans in Nepal to design and manufacture our felted wool products, Tender Leaf Toy has a special partnership in Indonesia. They work with Mentari International, a family-owned factory that operates with the highest possible standards for wellbeing, training, respect, and dependable employment. They employ hundreds of locals from the surrounding villages, providing economic opportunity that allows families near and far to manifest a better life!

🌱 Dedication to Employing Toxic-Free Materials

In addition to caring for their people, Tender Leaf Toys and their manufacturing partner are highly conscious of the materials that are used to produce the toys in the factory. The wooden toys are made with government-certified reclaimed trees to protect Indonesia’s natural resources. In addition, for every reclaimed tree used to produce toys, they plant a new one to spark future growth!

After the toys are carved from the reclaimed wood and assembled with formaldehyde-free glue, they’re hand-painted with non-toxic paint free from heavy metals and lead. Then, after testing, they’re wrapped in paper and packaged in recycled cardboard to be shared across the globe. All with no single-use plastic in sight! In fact, they’re quite close to removing single-use plastic from their operations entirely.

🌏 Tested to Meet Global Safety Standards

All of the above initiatives come together and culminate with one final test. Every toy produced by the factory goes through rigorous testing to adhere to the EN71, ASTM F963, and AS/NZS ISO international safety standards. These standards ensure that there is no presence of toxic elements, that they are not highly flammable, that they are durable, and that stuffing is clean and safe, among other factors.

As Tender Leaf Toys says, “The toys of tomorrow leave no trace.”

These toys are helping to create a brighter future for today’s youth and our world! So much so that the company has been awarded the ICTI Ethical Toy Program seal for its admirable ethical and sustainable supply chain. Talk about inspiring!

Enabling Children to Learn Through Play

Now, not only are their toys sustainable and safe, but they’re also teaching the next generation through pretend play. By dreaming up and acting out pretend scenarios sparked by the dolls or wooden garden scenes, little ones are developing their creative thinking, linguistic abilities, empathy, and fine motor skills, all at the same time! The best part? They’re having fun doing it.

Browse the Tender Leaf Toys in Simply Inspired’s Collection

Want to uncover the intricately designed wooden toys produced by this purpose-driven company? Browse the collection of Tender Leaf Toys on our Simply Inspired site. Scenes from land to sea are played out right in front of your child’s eyes, with help from Tender Leaf’s unique wooden toy sets. A child’s imagination knows no bounds, so the stories they will create with these non-toxic toys are limitless!

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Written by Darlene Hancox