Sunday, June 7, 2009

*CLOSED* Calafant USA Cardboard Toys Review

If you are like me, you love to find toys for your children that spark their imagination and creativity. I'm not going to lie, we have tons of plastic toys in our house. But I have started to steer away from ones with flashy lights and loud noises. When possible I try to look for toys that are more "green" like those made from wood or recycled materials. It is really not an easy task but that's where Calafant and CreativeToyShop.com come in.

CreativeToyShop.com is owned by Martina, mother of two and carries unique Calafant cardboard toys. A little about Calafant toys:

"All CALAFANT toys are designed by Boris Schimanski, a well-know cartoonist in Germany , who first built a cardboard castle to entertain his own children. The company has a great philosophy and attitude: All items are made from recycled cardboard (plus a layer of non-recycled white paper that makes decorating the items easier and more fun), and, of course, all items are 100% bio-degradable. The design of each Calafant toy is beautiful and functional, and it encourages creativity in children. It’s an open-ended activity to build and decorate your own toy. The toys are very sturdy and last through months and months of playtime."
Calafant cardboard toys come in 3 sizes: small, medium and large. So there is something in every price range. And don't forget the very cool looking Calacastle (shown on left)! This thing is life size and your kids can climb through it and have a blast decorating it! It reminds me of my younger days when my mom had bought me a cardboard playhouse with the same principal. Man I loved that thing!

I was lucky enough to receive the Spaceship small toy to review. I knew this would be a hit because my 4 year old loves Star Wars. He was very excited to open it up. Not only do you get the cardboard toy to decorate and assemble, it also comes with a set of markers.


So William had a lot of fun coloring in his cool new spaceship. He also insisted that I help color. So the sections that are neatly colored in were done by me. :)


Once he decided he was done coloring, I assembled it for him. This literally took 30 seconds thanks to the easy to follow instructions. So within minutes my house was filled with countdowns and blastoffs and all kinds of spaceship noises. William loved it. And let me tell you, this thing has taken quite a beating already and you wouldn't even notice. It is very sturdy!


In addition to being eco-friendly these toys are also price-friendly. The small toys like this Spaceship are only $6.99. These would be great as party favors for your child's next birthday party! Think about how much money you spend on those typical junky favors. It is probably about the same. So why not go for something that is more fun and more useful?

Shop
You can buy Calafant toys at CreativeToyShop.com.

55 comments:

  1. I learned that these cool toys are available at a little toy store in my town. The small camper van is cute!

    stef tms
    cunninghamfamily at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  2. tweeted :0

    http://twitter.com/stefplus3/status/2072201371

    stef tms
    cunninghamfamily at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  3. love the treehouse and its all recyclelable and affordable

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  4. These are so wonderful. I love that they are made from recycled material. My favorite is the Pirate Fortress.
    Thanks so much.

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  5. I'm subscribed.
    Thanks again.

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  6. I like the pirate ship in medium toys. I read the reviews, and wonderful idea about using at a party favor. I agree to the reviewer that I also don't like junky favors.thanks

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  7. I am a follower on tweeter and I tweeted:Id: hminnesota

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  8. Wow! these are cool! I really like the treehouse and the hacinenda (which, FYI is on sale!). I also love that theya re so reasonably priced. I learned that they won the BEST OF PHILLY award in 2008 - my new city!

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  9. I am a member at THE MAMASPHERE!

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  10. I love that these toys are easy to take apart and store and won't be sitting out like all the big bulky plastic toys.

    And I love the small dinosaur!

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  11. The Pirate Ship is VERY Cool! Thanks for the Chance. mogrill@comcast.net

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  12. I learned there are two stores located near me that sell these products. Also, the pirate ship is pretty awesome.

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  13. what great toys! i love the castle!!! can i play in it? i learned that simple is always better with kids :) have a good evening

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  14. I like the Palace best. I learned that you can just recycle the toys when you done...and there's no plastic waste. Yay!

    dangotmail AT yahoo DOT com

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  15. That is so cool! I really love the treehouse and the palace. They'd be great to teach your child a little about architecture too.

    I love that these fold up, can be recycled, and also could be redesigned by painting over them or collaging paper on top of the designs.

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  16. I like the Pirate Ship and I learned that All pieces are already pre-punched on stable, white cardboard and can be
    put together without glue and scissors.

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  17. I learned that the Calafant Cardboard Toys are made from
    recycled cardboard and can be recycled again after the kids are done with it. So they're gentle on the planet and good for the kids (no BPA)!

    I like the Treehouse model. So creative and great design!

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  18. I learned that all the toys are made of recycled cardboard! cool! I also like the pirate fortress!

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  19. I love that there is no plastic waste - just recycle. I love the palace.

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  20. my daughter's would love to build that castle!

    ajcmeyer At GO dot COm

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  21. They are made from recycled cardboard and covered with white paper to make it easy to color. We also like the Pirate Ship.
    lgrieser(at)sbcglobal(dot)net

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  22. I learned that acrylic paints work well on them. My son would love the large castle! So fun! Thanks for the chance, justicecw@hotmail.com

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  23. I am a google reader subscriber. Thanks, justicecw@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  24. I registered at The Mamashphere - my username is justicecw. Thanks, justicecw@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  25. I folllow on twitter and here is my tweet http://twitter.com/justicecw/status/2207909561
    thanks, justicecw@hotmail.com

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  26. made from recycled material! I like the little camper van.

    colleenyamamoto(at)yahoo.com

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  27. All Calafant toys displayed on
    www.creativetoyshop.com are designed in
    Germany by Boris Schimanski, the
    well-known German cartoonist. All toys are
    lead-free, non-toxic and safe for play.

    I like the Treehouse.

    Jennifer, jennem22 at yahoo dot com

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  28. I learned that acrylic paints work well on them. I like the treehouse.
    erma.hurtt@sbcglobal.net

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  29. Pirate Fortress would be something that both my kids would have so much fun putting together and playing with.

    souldolphindream@aol.com

    thanks

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  30. I am now a subscriber!

    souldolphindream@aol.com

    thanks

    ReplyDelete
  31. I found out they were featured on Coolmompicks.com and I love the treehouse lezanac@yahoo.com

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  32. I learned that they also sell paint on the site.

    I also love the Racecar!


    clarkmurdock@yahoo.com

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  33. like that its easy to take apart and store.
    like the npirate ship ty
    vivianbl@olg.com

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  34. As with any toy, there is a point when children lose interest in it, but unlike
    any other toy, you won't have a bulky plastic structure sitting in your home
    that will end up in a landfill somewhere. In the case of our cardboard toys,
    you can either unfold the pieces and keep them or recycle them with the
    rest of your paper or cardboard recycables.

    i also like the Dragonrock Castle

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  35. following your blog as klp1965
    kathy pease

    ReplyDelete
  36. https://twitter.com/klp1965/status/2268806743

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  37. I learned that acrylic paints works really well for any Calafant project! Dragonrock Castle looks pretty cool!

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  38. All toys are lead-free, non-toxic and safe for play! I also like the hacienda!

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  39. I like that they encourage creativity.

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  40. I learned that they are available at Bruce Variety near me. I also like the fire engine.

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  41. I learned that the company is located in Wallingford, Pennsylvania. I love the Palace!

    lilyk@mail2world.com

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  42. I subscribed by email.

    lilyk@mail2world.com

    ReplyDelete
  43. I became a fan of Facebook.

    lilyk@mail2world.com

    ReplyDelete
  44. Calafant is really nice, my kids like it!

    ReplyDelete

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