Enchanted Toys

A while ago I wrote an article for Mommy Poppins about the best toy stores in Manhattan for children with special needs. I have another one to add to the list. A few weeks ago, 3 1/2 year old S. and I stopped into Enchanted Toys on Lexington Avenue/80th St. Even though we live close by, we'd never been inside this store before (which, by the way, is owned by Jeanine Lobell, celebrity makeup mogul and wife of actor Anthony Edwards). It is a small but, yes, "enchanting" store filled with all-natural, handmade toys that inspire creativity and imaginary play (lots of Waldorf stuff here). It's perhaps the most natural of any NYC toy store I've been to (as their website says: "What you won't find: a single plastic action figure or video game.") Instead the shelves are filled to capacity with wooden castles and farms, handmade dolls, gorgeous costumes, and plenty of simple, quality stacking toys, art supplies, and the like.

S. fell in love, and so did I. First, I have to say that the shopkeeper was wonderful with S. He started a (shaky) conversation with her; she was friendly and sweet and patient, and understood every word. Plus, she let him play with the items on the shelves (under my supervision, of course). As for the toys in the store, S, was particularly taken with the wooden animals and farm scenes, and also the play food. I'd never seen this particular brand of wooden play food before- it's called Erzi and it's made in Germany- and it is gorgeous. You can find a great selection of this food online (though it sells out fast) at Tree Hollow Toys or Moolka. They're expensive, but we treated ourselves to one hamburger and one donut.

Wooden Powdered Donut Pair ($5.99 at Tree Hollow Toys)


Hamburger to Cut ($5.99 at Moolka)


Wooden Spaghetti in a Tin ($10.95 at Tree Hollow Toys)


Last, another (German) brand I learned about at the store is Spiel and Holz. They make these divine, handmade solid wood toys with colorful water-based dyes. Gorgeous! (It's not the item shown, here, but I want to buy my kids this Stacking Rainbow Tunnel, X-Large...maybe for their August birthdays).



Browse online or buy in-store at Enchanted Toys in NYC, and tell them that I sent you!