Who’s ready for playtime with peace of mind, courtesy of organic baby toys? Every new parent ever, obviously. As a new,(and most probably hyper-concerned) parent, you want to do all you can to keep your baby safe and healthy.

But, as the New York Times expose showed, common baby products might be standing (or crawling) in the way of that goal. Flame retardants, and a slew of toxic chemicals, which are not always regulated, are often found in baby products (toys included).

It’s hard—some might say impossible—to minimize all the risks to your baby, but a good place to start is what ends up in their mouths, que: toys. Fortunately, playtime need not be a risky business thanks to natural baby toys.

With our 22-point Brand Rating System that we’re rolling out soon, we’ll get a much more extensive look at some of these brands and their eco-performance, like their chemical use, climate impact, and transparency. To crawl through all of the upcoming criteria, see here.

We independently research all featured brands and we ask them to confirm their claims. In many cases we personally review recommended products. This post contains affiliate links which means we may earn a commission if you buy something. Learn more here.

Natural Baby Toys, Stuffed Animals & More

Founded by a mom, Lovevery’s baby toys for every level of development are produced by a team of mostly-women scientists and doctors prioritizing non-toxic materials.

Meri Meri knows that down to the dolls they dress, our kids like to see reflections of themselves in their toys, so inclusivity across their plush toys makes this brand a shoe-in for our top picks.

Index: Non-Toxic Baby Toys

  1. Lovevery Jump to brand
  2. Meri Meri Jump to brand
  3. Finn+Emma Jump to brand
  4. Smiling Tree Toys Jump to brand
  5. Legacy Learning Jump to brand
  6. Under The Nile Jump to brand
  7. leOrganix Jump to brand

Lovevery

Lovevery has not been rated.

About Lovevery

Price Range: $120 per subscription / $120–$400 individually

With baby toys specifically designed by experts to help facilitate stage-based play, playtime is much more than “play” with Lovevery. Baby brains have about 100 billion nerve cells, with essential links between them developed during the first three years of life, highlighting the need for safe infant toys.

It also means we should be intentional about the kinds of toys we give to our baby at different ages, which in turn will stimulate the right kinds of brain development.

What makes theirs some of the best for learning? The targeted design of each toy for a particular stage of your baby’s development. This care and consideration have earned them several accolades, including having been voted by Time Magazine as one of the Best Inventions just a few years ago.

Choose between play kits (based on a subscription service), play gyms, block sets, and other types of playthings. Since our kids are a little past the infant stage, we narrowed our own search to their organic toddler toys and ended up testing the Storyteller Play Kit. Complete with a puppet theater, animal puzzle book, and more, it was a hit (for kids of multiple ages!).

Lovevery’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices

Materials:

Lovevery’s toys are crafted using FSC-certified wood (with a non-toxic and eco friendly finish), OEKO-TEX certified cotton, medical-grade silicone, and baby-safe BPA-free plastics.

Take the Play Gym, for instance. It’s a Parent’s Choice award-winning gym that includes an ball, sustainably sourced batting ring, organic cotton teether, a mirror card set, a black and white card set, a faces card set, a common objects card set, and teething rings made from silicone.

All of it is backed by science and exceeds global safety standards, being free from flame retardants, lead, BPA, and phthalates, and is better for the planet.

Supply chain & labor practices:

All toys are designed in San Francisco, California or Boise, Idaho before being manufactured in Ningbo, China. This manufacturing partner is committed to sustainable and ethical production and safe working conditions.

Carbon commitments & green practices:

You’ll receive your wooden natural baby toys courtesy of carbon-neutral shipping. They support Green-e® certified renewable energy to offset all scope 2 emissions.

This eco-friendly toy brand also recently launched a new climate commitment program which includes goals like launching a second-hand marketplace, have 90% of materials in both products and packaging be renewable, biobased, or recycled by 2025, and achieve full carbon neutrality by 2030.

Meri Meri

Meri Meri has not been rated.

About Meri Meri

Price Range: $38–$125

Meri Meri has one goal: “To preserve the wonder of childhood throughout a whole life.” Play is their priority, and they’re cultivating it in a careful and conscious way. Which is not to say boring!

They have all you could need to spell F-U-N for all ages. This woman-owned company sells a range of organic cotton baby toys, like plush animals, dolls, rattles, musical toys, and mobiles for your little one’s non-toxic crib. Among their dolls lives a collection of tulle-toting princesses and mermaids in all manner of skin tones—like the gorgeous Florence Sequin Tulle Angel Doll.

Meri Meri’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices

Materials:

Knitted organically grown cotton is the apple of Meri Meri’s eye, and the primary material in their soft toys. The only other materials you find in some are an elastic band or a wooden grip ring.

All toys meet relevant Canadian, EU, and US standards for safety.

Supply chain & labor practices:

Meri Meri works with a range of illustrators, designers, and crafters who are inspired by classic and on-trend designs from around the globe. We’re not sure where the toys are manufactured, and Meri Meri hasn’t responded to our direct inquiries on the matter.

Finn+Emma

Finn+Emma has not been rated.

About Finn + Emma

Price Range: $15 – $139

Finn + Emma believes in the power of organic. Favorited by Vogue magazine, this baby toy brand has been turning heads (even if their main clientele can’t lift them yet).

Whether knit or wooden, they’ll surely have what you need to keep fussing at bay and protect our planet at the same time. Fill your own nursery or give the perfect baby shower gift with any one of their non-toxic play mats, wooden toys, organic cotton macrame baby swings, or organic baby stroller toys—like the two-piece Henry & Theo hanging set.

Don’t forget the macrame toy basket to keep the baby’s room looking tidy during nap time!

Finn + Emma’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices

Materials:

The knit and macrame toys are made with GOTS-certified organic cotton and non-toxic dyes. Many of these organic cotton stuffed animals and dolls contain a phthalate-free plastic rattle inside. Be sure to remove this if you ever need to compost the toy. Their wood is Indian harwood that’s untreated, and finished with an vegetable seed wax.

All of Finn + Emma’s natural baby toys are free of petrochemicals, PVC, acrylic, and phthalates.

Supply chain & labor practices:

Not only is Finn+Emma operated by an executive team mostly made up of women, but they also try to partner with female artisans.

Their knit toys are handmade in Peru in an artisanal women’s collaborative. The wooden and macrame toys (and swings that are a combination of both) are ethically made and hand-knotted in India. Through providing empowering and ethical livelihood opportunities, they aim to support social wellbeing in impoverished communities.

Carbon commitments & green practices:

The toys, particularly the wooden ones, are designed to last a lifetime. If another babe isn’t in the plans for you, make sure you pass it on to a family in need.

Smiling Tree Toys

Smiling Tree Toys has not been rated.

About Smiling Tree Toys

Price Range: $7–$67

When Justin and Kathleen combined their love for nature with their desire to create natural wood baby toys, Smiling Tree Toys was born. Crafted in their red barn on the Minnesota prairie, Smiling Tree Toys creates eye-catching pieces for play that turn keepsake when the toddler-ing is through.

These personalized name blocks begin as decor for a nursery shelf and grow into safe infant toys (even for teethers).

Smiling Tree Toys Ethical & Sustainability Practices

Materials:

Organic wooden baby toy brands are harder to find than you might think, with questionable harvesting practices or the use of toxic chemicals to preserve the wood. The wood used is sustainably harvested, and coated with a homegrown blend of organic oil and beeswax.

Carbon commitments & green practices:

All four employees of Smiling Tree work in the red barn (alongside as many kids) creating and shipping therefore their labor practices are monitored and enjoyed in-house.

Legacy Learning

Legacy Learning has not been rated.

About Legacy Learning

Price Range: $7–$212

The creative touch behind Legacy Learning, Ashley discovered the need for non-plastic baby toys with a Montessori style that encourages learning through play.

Searching for a brightly colored Waldorf stacker or miniature bowling set for your toddler? You’ll find the sweetest set, or a pre-school stage curriculum for your older kiddo.

Legacy Learning’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices:

Materials:

Made of natural wood, and dyed with a non-toxic watercolor, Legacy Learning’s plastic-free baby toys are safe and fun. Their Kinder Curriculums are Montessori-style, but we aren’t sure about the material sourcing for most of it.

Supply chain & labor practices:

Each wooden toy is handcrafted by Ashley in Illinois, therefore the materials and supply chain is pretty short (and well maintained).

Carbon commitments & green practices:

With a select number of natural baby toys, Legacy Learning crafts your specific order after you place it, limiting warehouse storage and excess waste.

Under The Nile

Under The Nile has not been rated.

About Under the Nile

Price Range: $16–$42

Under the Nile was started by a mom on a mission: to produce clothing that doesn’t irritate sensitive baby skin or our planet. Which is precisely what they’ve been doing for more than 20 years—and we’re thankful they’ve added safe baby toys to the mix.

Crying babies will fuss no more when they get their hands on a stuffed bunny, doll, fruit, vegetable, star, or even taco.

And you’ll fuss no more when you realize these are all completelyorganic stuffed animals for baby. Their Unisex Giraffe Doll is an adorable toy your baby can snuggle with for years, until it’s relegated to live as a nostalgic heirloom piece (or as sustainable home decor) on their shelf.

Under the Nile’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices

Materials:

Organic Egyptian cotton is what you’ll find in all these organic cotton baby toys. Some are even made with leftover scraps from the production of Under the Nile’s clothing. Each of the GOTS-certified stuffed animals are free of BPA, flame retardants, AZO dyes, formaldehyde, PVC, lead, and fragrance.

Supply chain & labor practices:

Under the Nile partners with a cotton farm north of Cairo. The farm prioritizes the wellbeing of their farming community, and so does Under the Nile. Their 13 Villages Project supports women in rural villages by teaching them how to make the fruit and veggie toys. Through consistent, empowering, and supportive livelihoods, the women artisans are able to use their income to transform themselves, their families, and their communities.

All workers are valued—whether they’re a custodian or a manager— and all factories are certified Fair Trade.

Carbon commitments & green practices:

The Egyptian cotton used by Under the Nile isn’t just GOTS-certified organic; it’s biodynamic. Biodynamic farming doesn’t use fertilizers (even organic-approved fertilizers) and instead builds soil fertility. It’s like organic 2.0, bordering on regenerative agriculture.

Inclusivity:

Under the Nile is a woman-owned business that is committed to supporting women. Their Egyptian factory is made up of 30% women, all of whom are supported with education, advancement opportunities, and support to help them fight for gender equality—even when it runs counter to Egyptian society.

Through their initiatives, the interactions between men and women workers have become more respectful and have allowed women to take on management roles, virtually unheard of in the region.

leOrganix

leOrganix has not been rated.

About leOrganix

Price Range: $9–$36

With a cozy collection of baby rattles, gift boxes and play things, leOrganix boasts a range of handmade baby toys. Based in the warm south, this family-owned Louisianan shop offers American-made baby toys and gift boxes.

It can be tough to decide what to give a new mom and her newborn baby, but a safe bet is a Newborn Gift Box, complete with an adorable Goose lovely blanket, chicken rattle, and crocheted mushroom plushie. Because who said natural stuffed animals have to be animals?!

leOrganix’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices

Materials:

leOrganix uses wood and organic cotton gauze and yarn. The rattles and stuffies are filled with hypoallergenic synthetic filler.