Fresh, Modern Baby Toys

August 26th, 2009

It doesn’t make much to make me happy. A happy, healthy family, rewarding personal relationships, continued learning are all de regieur. What I also crave, almost as much as pure caffeine in the morning, is visual calm. A messy playroom, dirty dishes, stains on a pair of pants I just bought Harrison - those things can drive me batty.

I look for balanced and calm design in products as well. Granted, Oompa does stock a few eye sores. I.e., “Who’s On The Farm” from Jellycat. But Jellycat is a fantastic British company. The absence of a few kooky designs would make me wonder if this company was actually British! (And you should see what the owner DOESN’T let us sell in the US!)

On the flip side, there are companies such Kid O that makes my job so much easier. Kid O offers learning toys for young children that are basic - to the point of being plain. But therein is their beauty. Kid O doesn’t bother to plaster needless designs or a schizophrenic color palette all over their baby toys . The result is a collection of learning and educational toys whose design is modern and clean - designs that belong in a museum - or at Oompa!

A few of my favorite Kid O educational toys…


Floating Ducks Bath Toy
from Kid O

Stack/Nest Cups
from Kid O

Colored Cubes
from Kid O

Thanks Kid O!
- Milanie

Organic Cleaners for Hands, Toys & Nursery

August 24th, 2009

During the past few years people have asked for organic cleaning solutions for babies.  I never seriously considered adding cleaners to Oompa - we’re a baby toy, gear and furniture store after all.  I narrowly concluded that most people could simply order organic cleaning supplies online, drop by their local Whole Foods or Trader Joe.

My thinking was set straight after seeing the steadily increasing number of requests from our online and retail customers.  We did some research, tested several products and found wonderful, natural cleaning solutions we’re happy to stand behind.  We welcome Fields Organics to Oompa and hope you enjoy these natural cleaners as much as we do.


Kid’s Hand Soap, Citrus Tea Tree from Fields Organics, $7.99


Nursery Cleaner, Unscented from Fields Organics, $11.99


Toy Cleaner, Tea Tree from Fields Organics, $11.99

Enjoy!
- Milanie

The Cutest Toddler Backpacks EVER

August 21st, 2009

Back To School

I was in Japan a few weeks ago, chuckling at their charmingly rampant use of cute icons for everything.  Ramen packing?  Check!  Subway informational poster?  Check!  Taxi Cab literature?  Check!  All had Sanrio-esque icons to make even the most boring, staid message cute and 2D huggable.

While Skip Hop is not based in Japan, and I’m pretty sure they don’t have any designers who hail from Tokyo, they have managed to unleash The.Cutest.Backpacks.EVER.  Thank you Skip Hop for channeling every Sanrio-loving girls inner designer into backpack form.

Zoo Pack, Dog from Skip Hop, $19.99


Skip Hop Backpack

Zoo Pack, Penguin from Skip Hop, $19.99


Toddler Backpack

Arigato, Skip Hop!
- Milanie

French Kitchen: Photo & Review Of The Week

August 20th, 2009

Thank you Sarah from Madison, WI for sharing this great photo with us in your review of the Educo French Kitchen!

Play Kitchen Play Food AUTHOR
Sarah

FROM
Madison, WI

REVIEW DATE
08/18/2009

CHILD’S AGE
1 1/2 Years+

RATING
Infant Toys

EDUCO WOODEN PLAY KITCHEN
Teach your little one the joy of cooking in this gourmet kitchen. Complete with a stove-top, oven, cupboard, and sink making it easy for your chef to clean and put away the dishes after each feast. We love the soft rattle of the salt and pepper shakers. Also great is the smooth feel of the wood.

This play kitchen includes the following:

2 plates
2 forks
2 knives
1 spatula
1 serving spoon
1 saucepan with lid
1 skillet
1 salt shaker
1 pepper shaker
1 fried egg
1 pizza
1 carrot (splits into halves)
1 cheese slice
2 mushrooms
1 loaf of bread (splits into 4 slices)

Made of wood with completely non-toxic, child-friendly paints and finishes. Ships flat. Some adult assembly required. Not intended for children under the age of 3.

Dimensions of the French Kitchen & Accessories:

Assembled: W 21.25 x H 32.0 in.
Counter height: 20 in.
Kitchen stands 9 in. off the ground
Oven door is 9.25 in. across
Sink depth: 0.5 in.
Burners diameter: 4.5 in.
Backsplash: W 11 in. x H 12 in.
Backsplash front ledge comes over approx. 4.5 in. into stovetop
Smallest item (mushroom): 1.5 x 1.5 in.
Depth: 13.5 in.

I hope you enjoy this great educational wooden toy as much as so many of our customers do!

- Milanie

New Haba Baby Toys!

August 19th, 2009

New baby toys from Haba arrived recently! True to Haba form, they are gorgeous, well-made and make perfect gifts for baby showers and newborns. I’ve already sent Haba’s new Paul Pingu and Hennie Hen collections friends who recently became new parents.

I have friends who dress their boys in pink, others who don’t let their daughters were dresses - and I respect their choices. However, when it comes to my own gift giving, I err with stodgy old tradition and assume new parents prefer traditional colors for boys and girls. And I’ll include a gift receipt so they can exchange the items if they want.

Here are some new Haba items that I think are a safe bet for boys…

Haba Baby Toys
Paul Pingu Rattle
Haba Infant Toys
Paul Pingu Clutching Toy
Haba Toddler Toys
Paul’s Musical Ship Mobile

And new Haba I’ve given these to baby girls…

Haba Baby Toys
Hennie Hen Musical Mobile
Haba Infant Toys
Hennie Hen Clutching Toy
Haba Toddler Toys
Hennie’s House Clutching Toy

Whatever your gift giving style, Haba has made it easy to give the little new person in your life something special! Thank you Haba. While I’m slightly grumpy with your ever increasing prices, I still love the quality and design of your products.

Enjoy!
- Milanie

Back To School with Crocodile Creek

August 17th, 2009

Back To SchoolI loved back to school season. Getting new shoes, clothes and school supplies was one of the highlights of my very tame childhood. The most important purchases of all, though, were my new lunchbox and backpack. Strawberry Shortcake or Masters of the Universe? Care Bears or Transformers? My back to school shopping memories are punctuated by Mattel after-school cartoons. Thankfully, Oompa shoppers can pack their preschooler or kindergartner’s lunches and swag in more interesting, artistic options. Crocodile Creek never fails to send us great new designs. Here are some of my favorites for this year’s back to school season:

stainless steel water bottle Stainless Steel Drinking Bottle, Vehicles from Crocodile Creek Give your child their very own eco-friendly water bottle, designed and sized just for them! The bottle is made from tough, 100% recyclable food-grade stainless steel, with a vehicle themed design that is sure to appeal to children. Bottle holds 14 fl oz of liquid. Comes with easy open cap and cover. Cap is made from recyclable polypropylene. Inner ring made of inert, food-safe silicone rubber. The lid and spout are made of recyclable HDPE #2.
H 6.5 x D 2.5 in.Holds 14 fl oz
Solar System Backpack from Crocodile Creek With a fun backpack like this, your child might actually look forward to the first day of school! This brightly colored backpack boasts plenty of highly useful features, including; 1 large zippered pocket, 1 smaller zippered front pocket w/insert, 1 side mesh pocket for holding a water bottle, 2 lightly padded, adjustable arm straps
fully lined interior backpack: H 14.5 x W 12.5 in.main pocket width when fully expanded: 4 in.
Toddler Backpack
Crocodile Creek Lunch Box Butterfly Pocket Lunch Box from Crocodile Creek With this Butterfly Lunch Box from Crocodile Creek, lunches will be more fun! Each colorful lunch box has an insulated main pocket as well as a smaller zippered-compartment in the front and a mesh pocket on the back for extra storage. Tough and durable. Contains no PVC or phthalates. Interior is lead free. Wipe with a wet cloth to clean.
main pocket: H 7.5 x W 10.5 x D 3.5 in.smaller pocket: L 5.25 x W 6.25 x H 1.0 in.

Enjoy!
- Milanie

Icons! Icons! Icons!

August 14th, 2009

Oompa’s Creative Group has been hard at work honing product descriptions, adding photos and videos and, most recently, adding icons to help you quickly see what educational, developmental and other qualities are relevant for our ever growing collection of quality baby and children’s toys, gear and furniture. Here are the new icons you’ll see along with their meanings:

baby toys Cognitive
This product helps to encourage problem solving and abstract symbolic reasoning. This may also include spatial reasoning, counting, matching and sorting. (ex. Puzzles)

educational toys Creative Expression
This product is especially good for encouraging imaginative and creative play in your child. This can help children learn about making decisions and developing a sense of self. (ex. Colored Pencils)

blocks Early Learning
This product helps to encourage physical motion in the early stages of a baby’s development, such as tracking, grasping, pointing and mouthing. (ex. Rattles & Teething Toys)

rattles Eco-Friendly
This product is produced in such a way as to create minimal or no harm to the environment. This may include the use of biodegradable packaging, recycled materials, FSC certified wood products, nontoxic dyes and low-impact manufacturing and distribution. In addition, many of the companies with this designation will be classified as Green Businesses through their every day practices, from reducing office paper waste to contributing to environmental programs. (ex. Plan Toys)

graco Fair Trade
This product is produced in a country that is not part of the European Union or the United States, but which has made a commitment to fair labor practices. This includes a fair living wage for artists and employees as well as controlled, safe work environments. Products with this designation are usually either produced by small groups of artisans, often attached to charitable programs that foster empowerment of marginalized groups, or produced in factories that meet ISO health and safety standards. ISO standards regulate working conditions, pay rates and quality management of industrial manufacturers and are generally only applied companies that produce on a very large scale. (ex. Blabla)

britax Fine Motor
This product helps to develop detail-oriented hand coordination. This includes writing, cutting, tracing and many crafts. This also encompasses many self-care skills, such as buttoning, lacing and zipping. (ex. Threading and Lacing Toys)

infant Gross Motor
This product encourages the use and development of large muscles in the body, as well as greater coordination. This includes walking, cycling, jumping and throwing. (ex. Tricycles & Ride-On Toys)

cribs Independent Play
This product encourages a child to play and problem solve by themselves. This helps to develop a sense of autonomy and self-confidence in one’s own abilities. (ex. Playmats)

newborn toys Language
This product encourages the development, use and comprehension of language. This can include the development of verbal speech and vocabulary, symbols and conventions of written language and storytelling. (ex. Books)

wooden toys Made in Europe
This product is manufactured in a country that belongs to the European Union, and as such, is produced under the laws and regulations of the EU. To see full list of EU countries: here Our EU-made products can be found here!

european toys Made in the USA
This product is manufactured in the United States, and as such is produced under the laws and regulations of the USA. Our collection of USA-made products can be found here!

educational toys Organic
This product is created from materials that are grown according to the practices of sustainable organic farming and cultivation with no added harmful pesticides or chemicals. This usually includes products made from wool or plant fibers, such as cotton. After cultivation, the material is also processed using organic materials, such as natural dyes and oils. To be termed organic, the majority of the product must be grown and manufactured in this way, although a small amount of inorganic material is allowable where an alternative is not available, or is deemed safer/more hygienic. Our collection of organic and eco-friendly toys can be found here!

toddler toys Sensory
This product is especially good for stimulating a child’s sensory life, whether it be through vision, smell, hearing or tactile experience. This can encourage a child to further explore the world around them as well as provide a sense of comfort at times. (ex. Musical Instruments)

stuffed animals Social/Emotional
This product encourages social play in one or more children, as well as emotional development. This helps children to interact and work with others cooperatively, as well as to develop certain important social emotions such as empathy and understanding. (ex. Board & Family Games)

Thanks Creative Team! Nice work!

- Milanie

The Oompa Minute v51

August 12th, 2009

Oompa Visits Plan Toys: Meet the Plan Toys Designers

My name is Pichade Ravipong. My title is Product Development. In our department we have about 15 designers and also about seven or eight technicians in our team who work together as a team. You have to understand the child’s development. We focus from birth till around 5 years old and the designer should know each development stage of the child. We believe if we make a good toy, that when the children play and they feel positive we think that when they grow up they will be a good person. That they will help the world. The world will be better. That is our belief.

The Oompa Minute v50

August 10th, 2009

Oompa Visits Plan Toys: 7 Steps to Making a Toy

Hi my name is Milanie Cleere, I’m the CEO of Oompa. I am in Trang, Thailand which is where Plan Toys is located. The very wonderful and generous people at Plan Toys have invited me here as a part of their Green Ambassador Program, and I am actually at the international headquarters for Plan Toys. In this video we are going to show you some employees and where the toys are made. We’re going to take you on a tour of this facility and show you how they demonstrate their commitment to being an eco-friendly company.

When we arrived at the Plan Toys factory, we were delighted to find that we could join all of the employees for lunch. Their cafeteria is a wonderful open air pavilion which is just a short walk from their factory. In keeping with the philosophy be to social and employee friendly, Plan Toys heavily subsidizes employee lunches. They offer free rice and they also have a small employee owned and operated convenience store on site.

Once their lunch break is over, it is back to work. Inside the factory, we were able to see the 7 step process Plan Toys follows to create each toy. Step 1 involves cutting and shaping each piece of raw material to more closely match the size and shape of the toy. During step 2, the wood is further sanded and refined. Step 3 is where the soy based dyes, inks and paints are applied to bring color and life to each toy. During step 4, technicians inspect each piece, remove excess glue and further smooth rough edges if needed. Step 5 is when the toys are assembled. Some toys are assembled in an assembly line environment, and others at tables by individuals, some with special needs. Plan Toys is proud to be one of the few employers in Thailand to offer jobs to handicapped and special needs adults.

Final testing for safety and heavy metals occurs during step 6. Plan toys has a team of professionals who’s sole job is to test toys and ensure that they are safe. Finally in step 7, the newly assembled Plan Toys are ready to be shipped to children all around the world.

The Oompa Minute v49

July 30th, 2009

Oompa Visits Plan Toys

Hi! My name is Milanie Cleere and I’m the CEO of Oompa.

I am in Trang, Thailand, which is where Plan Toys is located. I was invited here by Plan Toys as a part of their Green Ambassador program where people demonstrate and show us exactly how eco-friendly they are as a company. And I am actually in a rubberwood forest a plantation of intentionally planted trees. This plantation is enormous and is filled with thousands of trees and the process of getting latex from them is actually pretty fascinating. So first, people who work in the plantation score the tree and they place a small cup to collect the sap. It takes about 2-3 hours for the cup to fill with sap and the cup was then taken and mixed with acid and placed in a vat, in this case we are showing you a small bucket, and then it hardens and is placed on the ground where it is flattened out into sheets and after that it is rolled through a metal roller and then it is left to hang-dry on rods. And then you have latex sheets. Historically, in Thailand, the trees, if they weren’t producing sap would be burned down and used for charcoal. However, Plan Toys takes a different approach and once these trees stop producing latex, they chop them down and use them to make toys which are then shipped throughout the world. Within three years of when they are harvested, Plan Toys requests that no fertilizers are used. This ensures that the wood harvested has no trace chemicals from fertilizers once the wood is used for toys. Plan Toys owns a variety of plantations. Some are corporate owned and some are family owned such as this one where we have mothers, fathers, daughters and uncles working together as a family on this plantation.

The Oompa Minute v48

July 22nd, 2009


Customer Service Questions

Hi! My name is Milanie Cleere and I’m the CEO of Oompa.

Emily Nelson from Mountain View, California wrote to us and she said that she lost the red ball from the Plan Toys Hammer Balls set. She would like to know if she can send a replacement red ball. Unfortunately, Emily, we don’t send replacement parts for Plan Toys products. However, if you contact us, we would be happy to get in contact with the manufacturer and see if they can send you a red ball. But again, unfortunately, we don’t send replacement parts for the products we sell. We pass that request along to the manufacturer.

Mark Henley, from Scottsdale, Arizona wrote to us and he would like to know if he can set up a wholesale account. Mark, unfortunately, we don’t offer wholesale accounts anymore. We did a few years ago but this is no longer the case. So, unfortunately if you would like to purchase our products wholesale, you will have to contact the manufacturers directly.

Crocodile Creek, one of our favorite manufacturers, came out with a draw-string bags and stainless steel water bottles, perfect for back to school! Their water bottles are eco-friendly, stainless steel and are great to use with water, juice or milk. The draw-string bags are perfectly sized for trips around town and they also have a water-resistant lining. Crocodile Creek also makes a very popular line of lunch boxes, playground balls, place-mats and melamine dishes. To view our entire line of Crocodile Creek products visit oompa.com/crocodilecreek. Thanks for watching!

The Oompa Minute v47

July 8th, 2009

natural baby toys made in Europe

Hi! My name is Milanie Cleere and I’m the CEO of Oompa.

Vulli is a company that is based in France and they’ve been in business since 1946. And since the time they have started through today they have been world-renowned for the quality of their products for ages 0-6 months. Vulli is located between Lyon and Torino in France. Vulli created the extremely popular Sophie the Giraffe teether which Is soft, flexible and perfectly proportioned for a baby’s little hands. They mostly use natural, rubber materials and non-toxic paint. Vulli products are BPA and Phthalate free.

Crystal Jeager from Albany, OR contacted us and she would like to know how to request a charitable contribution from Oompa. Crystal, we are always happy to contribute to organizations that benefit children if it is in our budget for the fiscal year or quarter. To get this process going, visit Oompa.com, click on the ‘help’ link located in the top right and then in the resulting left hand navigation, there will be a link called ‘charitable contributions’. Just read through those instructions to get the process going.

Haley Walsh from Denver, CO wrote to us and she ordered the Haba Butterflies Mobile. When she received it the box said ‘Made in China’ whereas on the website we said it was made in Germany. Where is this product made? Haley, this product is actually made in Germany but there was a misprint on the box so it said ‘Made in China’. But Germany has very strict recycling and disposable laws regarding packaging so they decided to keep the packaging even with the misprint. However, again this product is still made in Germany. Thanks for watching!

Checkout Problem

July 3rd, 2009

Customers trying to checkout on our site this morning were meet with an error. This was due to a major outage of our payment processor, Authorize.Net. They are one of the largest companies providing this service and there was a fire at their main datacenter in Seattle. The fact that their backup was at the same facility is really unbelievable. In any case we have created a work around for now that should allow you to checkout normally. Google checkout was not affected, nor was paypal checkout only Visa, Mastercard and American Express were affected.

Please note that people checking out durning this outage will see “atomicbaby” on their credit card bill, one of our sister sites.

We applogize for anyone that experienced this problem.

Payment Processor Down

July 3rd, 2009

Just a quick update… The payment processor we use at Oompa.Com, Authorize.net, has been down for several hours.  Our site was unable to accept credit card payments.  Google Checkout and Paypal were the only two payment options that worked.  We moved to a different payment processor and our site is ready to accept orders once again.  My sincerest apologies for the inconvenience.

- Milanie

The Oompa Minute v46

July 1st, 2009

Hi! My name is Milanie Cleere and I’m the CEO of Oompa.

Customer Service Questions

Little Life is rapidly becoming the leading designer and manufacturer of outdoor products for children and parents. They are using their expertise in material performance, component durability and load-bearing design to carry the most precious cargo of all: children. Their challenge was to ensure that the child being carried is comfortable, yet secure and happy. They also want too make sure that their carriers are comfortable to the parents wearing them. To view our collection of Little Life carriers and backpacks, visit Oompa.com/littlelife.

Sherry Gift from Boston wrote to us and keeps having problems adding a new address during the checkout process. What’s going on? Sherry, we understand that you are actually using Internet Explorer and to add a new shipping address we just need you to disable the pop-up blocker on your Internet Explorer. If you try the checkout process through Firefox, this won’t be an issue.

Stacey from Scottsdale, AZ wrote to us and she would like to know how to unsubscribe from the Oompa newsletter. Stacey, this is very simple. Simply visit Oompa.com and click on the ‘help’ link located at the top right of the screen then in the left navigation there will be a link titled ‘newsletter subscribe/unsubscribe’. On the resulting screen, simply type in your email address and click on ‘unsubscribe’. It is important to remember that at least for many of our customers that they end up subscribing to our newsletter with more than one email address. So just keep in mind that if you have used more than one email address that you enter those email address’ to ensure that you are completely unsubscribed from our newsletters. We will be sorry to see you go but we completely understand and we want to make the process as simple for you as possible. Thanks for watching.

The Oompa Minute v45

June 24th, 2009

Hi! My name is Milanie Cleere and I’m the CEO of Oompa.

Customer Service Questions

We have recently added a new line to the store and it is called Loofah-Art. Loofah-Art products are made with loofah which is a gourd-like plant closely related to the cucumber family. It is not a sea sponge as commonly believed. The loofah used in loofah art is grown naturally and in some cases organically. Once the plant naturally dries on the vine it is harvested and its outer skin is peeled off to expose the inner fibers which form the loofah sponge. The loofah is then seeded, washed and then left in the sun to dry naturally after which it is made into the fun and functional Loofah-Art products. Loofah-Arts products are completely eco-friendly, 100% biodegradable and fabricated from a sustainable agricultural crop. Their humanitarian and economic vision is expanding through their support of impoverished farmers and their families in developing cultures around the world. To view their entire collection visit Oompa.com/Loofah.

Teresa Douglas wrote to us recently. She has a retail store and would like to set up a wholesale account with Oompa. Teresa, unfortunately we do not offer wholesale accounts and we don’t plan to offer these anytime in the near future. However, I do wish you the best of luck in your business.

We receive many questions from customers who use Google Checkout and they would like to know why their coupons don’t work when they use Google Checkout on the website. The answer is our site, Oompa.com, doesn’t communicate or codes with Google. So, unfortunately the two just aren’t compatible with each other. If you would like to use and Oompa coupon, checkout through the Oompa.com website and not through Google Checkout and your coupon will work. Thanks for watching!

The Oompa Minute v44

June 12th, 2009

Hello! My name is Milanie Cleere and I’m the CEO of Oompa.

Darlene Withousen from Johnson, Vermont wrote to us and she’d like to know if Haba baby toys that are made in China are just the same as Haba toys made in Germany. Darlene, the answer is an unequivocal ‘yes’. Absolutely. Haba baby toys undergo rigorous testing by a third party independent laboratory regardless of where they are made. So if the toy is made in China or Germany, they still go through the same testing from a third-party laboratory.

We have started to receive more questions about how expedited shipping works. This is just a review. If you want more detailed information please visit Oompa.com and click on our ‘Help’ link located to the top right and in the left navigation you’ll find detailed information about our shipping policy. However, just to review, this is how our expedited shipping works: If you place an order on a business day, which is Monday through Friday by 12 noon Central Standard Time, that order, if it’s in stock, will ship the same day. If your order reaches us after 12 noon CST, your order will ship the next business day and if there is gift wrapping this will add one additional day to the processing time of your order. But, again, for more detailed information visit our website, click on the ‘Help’ link located in the top right and click on ‘Expedited Shipping’ located in the left navigation.

We are committed to bringing you, our customers, the most eco-friendly products available for children and babies. So, I wanted to review the eco-friendly lines that we carry and just bring them to your attention once again. These include: Keptin Jr., Playful World, Sigikid, Under the Nile, Foundlings, Lana Organic, Fair Indigo, Kathe Kruse, Plan Toys, Mimi the Sardine, Bambu, Fluerville, Eco-Tots, Nest, Caribou and In Modern. To view our expansive collection of eco-friendly baby products, furniture and gear, visit Oompa. Com. Thanks for watching!

The Oompa Minute v43

May 27th, 2009

Customer Service Questions

Kendra Schreider from Kalamazoo, Michigan would like to know where the Oko line from Italtrike is made. Kendra this small segment of the Italtrike collection is actually made in China. However, it still undergoes the same rigorous third-party testing that the rest of the Italtrike line makes. So you can be rest assured that it is still safe.

Kristin, from Dulles, Virginia wrote to us and said she would like to know more about the coated canvas that Dwell Studio uses on their backpacks. The coated canvas is made of cotton fabric that has been sealed with polyurethane to ensure that it is water resistant and has a general durability. The polyurethane coating meets or exceeds all U.S., European and ISO standards for safety.

Strollers

Our creative group recently launched our new strollers landing page. This will make it easier for you to find the exact stroller that you need and are looking for. To view this page visit Oompa.com/stroller. And on this page you will be able to view strollers by type and these include: single strollers, double strollers, lightweight strollers, all-terrain and stroller accessories. From our stroller landing page, you’ll be able to drill down by brand and these include Maclaren, Bugaboo, Bumbleride and Micralite so again to visit our new stroller line visit Oompa.com/stroller.

The Oompa Minute v42

May 21st, 2009

Hi! My name is Milanie Cleere and I’m the CEO of Oompa.

Natsumi Yamomoto wrote to us and she said that she was having a problem placing an order from Japan and that she has an international billing address. Natsumi we don’t actually accept international orders on our website. However, if you call during our normal business hours, someone in customer service department will be more than happy to take your order over the phone.
Karen Szorsniac from Melbourne, California would like to know what tune the Kaloo Sable Musical Rabbit plays. It plays Romeo and Juliet by Hector Berlioz.

Oompa Highlights Life Factory

Life Factory was founded by Pam Marcus who is a pediatric physical therapist and Daren Edward Joy who is an interactive designer. Their goal is to provide developmentally appropriate, eco-friendly baby products. All of their products have gone through rigorous testing to ensure the quality, health and safety. Their products are tested to contain no harmful chemicals and they have met or exceeded the criteria ASTM and EN71. Pam Marcus also incorporates new research. Her mission is to educate parents and caretakers about the issues regarding infant development and safety concerns. Every product they produce includes and article on their website about the health and safety, developmental and design aspects of a particular item. To view the entire Life Factory collection visit Oompa.com/lifefactory.

New Bajo Toys

May 14th, 2009

We recently picked up a number of new wooden toys that are handmade in Poland. Bajo, one of our favorite toy companies, creates a wonderful line of wooden educational toys, baby toys and room decor items. These items are well made and are well priced for toys made in Europe.

Here is a quick list of some of our new favorites.

Colorful ABC Blocks 

Bajo ABC blocks

Fox Wooden Lacing Toy (comes in different colors)
Fox lacing toy

Learning Stacking Counting Toy

Wooden Stacking Toy

Wooden Logging Truck (comes in different colors)
Logging Truck

Check out the new collection at http://www.oompa.com/baby-toys/category/Bajo_ViewAll Let us know your favorites!


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