There probably isn't a person in the world that didn't get some sort of wooden toy for Christmas when they were kids.
In the old days, children didn't have those noisy, plastic toy robots that lit up and moved or cars that zipped and zoomed on battery-induced speeds - what they had were handcrafted and hand-painted wooden toys that didn't light up or move or zipped and zoomed.
What they had back then was imagination and a lot of creativity.
In addition to being inexpensive or at least, less expensive than plastic toys, wooden toys offer a lot of other benefits, especially ones that concern your child's development and health.
For one, unlike plastic toys that are designed merely to amuse and distract children with the noises they make, wooden toys inspire children to be creative and imaginative.
Who doesn't remember playing pretend cook with wooden kitchen play sets or playing with wooden building blocks or putting together big-piece wooden puzzles? Learning through playing with wooden toys is not a new concept.
In fact, there have been early studies done about prehistoric men developed their physical, mental and emotional abilities from fashioning tiny versions of hunting tools from wood to teach their sons how to hunt.
The girls were likewise given dolls made from sticks and small clay pots to learn how to cook and care for their families.
Egyptian children long ago played with dolls that had wigs and moveable limbs made from stone, pottery and wood.
In the 1700s, Germans carved wooden flutes for their children to play and amuse themselves with and a particular favorite among rich families at that time were wooden rocking horses which they had specially commissioned from carpenters.
Over the years, toymakers began getting more creative, showing more intricate details with their wooden creations.
The 1900s saw the emergence of dollhouses and puppet theatres, as well as wooden toy soldiers, wooden trains and the classic Jack-in-the-box.
However, at the end of World War II, the manufacture of wooden toys declined and gave way to the manufacture of plastic toys that were easier to manufacture and more affordable at that time to most families.
Toymakers back then also favored three types of wood and these were hickory, black cherry and white pine.
Hickory is a slow-growing wood that is valued for its ability to absorb heavy blows and it's durability.
If one required axels and dowels for their toys, hickory was best used especially if strength was paramount.
Black cherry on the other hand, had a pleasant scent and was easy to work with.
It was also extremely smooth and was the best kind to make wooden toys with.
And then there's the white pine, which is also known for its natural beauty, grain and durability that enables the toys to be passed on from generation to generation.
These days, wooden toys are made from a lot of different types of wood, most if not all of them sustainable which makes them a safer alternative to plastic toys.
According to recent studies, most plastic toys in the market have alarming levels of Bisphenol A as well as phthalates that are said to cause liver and kidney damage, as well as lung and respiratory disorders to children.
They are also made of small parts that can easily become choking hazards for children who are in the put-everything-in-their-mouth stage.
So why do we love wooden toys? They allow children to develop naturally for one, able to form opinions of everything and anything around them without the undue influence that plastic toys bring.
Adults consider them heirlooms that they can pass on to their children and their children's children.
They don't require batteries to operate, just a wild imagination and a huge penchant for creativity.