10 Of Our Favourite Janod Toys in 2024
Janod began its journey in 1970. It’s a french company that specializes in cardboard, wooden, and magnetic toys. Their products all feature an emphasis on developmental skills and education so you know your kids won’t be dawdling around with the wrong toys and games. These products are meant to help nourish their curious minds and adventurous spirits. With nearly 50 years in business, you bet Janod knows just what they’re doing.
This is the best product on our list that is currently in stock:
Encourages movement
Encourages pretend play
String is a perfect (and safe) length
Solid construction
Bright colors
10 Best Janod Toys Reviewed
1. Balancing Block Barnyard Playset
Child can learn about balancing
Encourages coordination
Well made
Colorful animals
Affordable price
Smaller than expected
Pieces need to be even on both sides to avoid the barn roof from tipping
Ever wonder how Noah was able to fit a pair each of the animals that have ever roamed the planet inside his ark before the great flood came? Well, if you’re thinking it must have been the size of a modern day aircraft carrier, then you must be grossly mistaken.
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What matters we believe, is how your child will be fitting 12 funny, lovely, and very friendly animals onto the Wooden Wonders Balancing Block Barnyard Set. Okay, The Wooden Wonders is not actually Noah’s ark but we cannot think of a better analogy. Or, it’s also possible to look at it as a 3-structure barn house but with a rocking base. We’d like to consider the Wooden Wonders more like a game that pits the skills of warring kids, trying to determine among themselves who has the steadiest pulse, the gentlest touch, and the most stable balance. You see, the Wooden Wonders requires children to stack the 12 animals on top of each other on the roof of the barn house.
Durability
All of these wooden, hand-painted, animals should be placed on the roof without falling. But since the house has an arched bottom, you can expect it to be rocking back and forth with each wooden piece that your kid will be placing. The animals include a horse, a puppy, a kitten, a cow, a sheep, a pig, a goose, a duck, and a rooster as well as three other lovable characters.
Educational Value
This is a toy that’ll grow with your child as they develop their motor, coordination, and balancing skills. If your child loves animals, then this will be the perfect accompaniment to their playtime. Though balancing might be difficult for them at first, this playset will give them the perfect opportunity for them to practice. To keep your child further entertained, you can be sure to teach them the different noises that each of the animals makes.
2. Story Box Circus
High quality
Solidly constructed
Bright colors
Sturdy
Wide assortment of props
Some reports of the box arriving thinly coated glue
Some reports of the decal smeared
For many kids, a circus is a magical place where the impossible is made possible and dreams are somehow turned into realities; well, at least in the eyes of children.
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The Janod’s Story Box Circus is a fabulous gift for the young aspiring circus performer or even manager. With the Story Box Circus kids will recreate the very spirit of the circus they know complete with a circus tent that’s made of high-quality wood and many other circus implements and performers, also made of high-grade wood materials.
Durability
If you’re in the market for a toy that will grow with your child, this Janod Story Box Circus set will be the ideal choice for you. It’s sure to get a lot of use while your child can carry around their favorite characters on top of the horse. Or, they can also balance them on the elephant’s trunk. The cardboard box can also be used as a background while your child is playing or as a container for easy storage.
Educational Value
It’s all about exploring circus life the way kids look at it. There’s a high wire, a giant balance ball, and even a flaming hoop. Then there’s a lion to tame, a horse to prance, a monkey to ride a unicycle, and even a tiger to control. All of the wooden pieces are painted with a sparkling finish, giving it a certain luster that really looks good on wood. There are also 8 performers on the circus complete with a circus van complete with trailer.
3. Duck Family Pullalong Toy
Encourages movement
Encourages pretend play
String is a perfect (and safe) length
Solid construction
Bright colors
Can be a bit wobbly, making it prone to tipping over
Some might find the string to be short
One of the most effective toys of old is the pull-along plaything. It really didn’t matter what was being pulled by kids. What mattered was that their toys were actually following them like ducklings following the mother duck.
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The Duck Family Pull-Along Toy is a wooden children’s marvel of a toy that is simply entertaining to watch. The vibrant colors used in the finishing of a mother duck and her duckling are great for helping develop the young infant’s brain, particularly in terms of developing his or her visual sense. Here’s the thing. The Duck Family, like all pull-along toys, has wheels to move about. Nevertheless, a flap is integrated into the wheels so that, when it turns, the flaps slap against the ground creating a funny sound. It is this excellent combination of visual and auditory stimulation that make the Duck Family a great tool for ensuring optimum brain development in kids.
Durability
It’s solidly made of durable materials that are sure to last through the rough and tumble of your child’s play. Though it might not be as effective on carpeted floors, it’s perfect to be used on hardwood floors.
Educational Value
To encourage pretend play and movement with your child, this toy will build along with your child developmental stage. It also adds a bit of old-school vibe to the toy by avoiding the use of the electronic toy noises and lights.
4. Magnetic USA Map
48 piece puzzle
Wooden pieces
Magnetic board
Can be put on display upon completion
Includes all 50 states, capitals, and famous landmarks
There have been typos on some units
This product is best suited for children ages seven to twelve and can be a great way of helping kids remember all of the facts they’ll eventually need to know when it comes to US geography lessons!
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This 48-piece puzzle includes all 50 states, their capitals, and famous landmarks associated with our country. The board itself is 19.7 inches by 13.4 inches, making it a nice size to both interact with and to put on display.
Durability
Memorization can be a tricky skill, and especially during crunch time. Don’t let your kids wait until the last minute to learn their states and capitals. It features a rope so that you can mount it on the wall upon completion and all pieces are made of wood to allow for greater longevity and thick, kid-friendly pieces to grab at and rearrange.
Educational Value
It’s a staple in every educational curriculum: at some point, your child is going to be handed a blank map and asked to fill in the states and their capitals. Give them a head start with this fun Janod Magnetic USA Map! Repetition is a useful tool and starting redundancy with young children allows them to absorb information quickly and naturally in a way that also stays with them as they grow.
5. Wooden Number Hedgehog Playset
Develops hand-eye coordination
Encourages creativity
The wood makes the hedgehog board and the pieces highly durable
Does not include a storage bag for the numbered pieces, which limits its portability
Your child can learn to count with the Janod Wooden Hedgehog. The hedgehog shaped toy is equipped with ten brightly colored wooden pieces.
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Brightly colored this hedgehog is perfect to grasp your child's attention with. Each piece on this special critter has a number specifically painted on it. With pieces that aren’t exactly resting or touching the hedgehog, your child will see spots that have dots on them in each slot. This is a great way for your child to learn how to count in a fun, interactive way.
Durability
This hedgehog is made of wood. Wooden toys are a great way for this toy to be guaranteed a lifelong expectancy. Parents won’t have to worry about the colors fading or anything else. It’s a great way for parents to pass down to their next child or other family members.
Educational Value
Your child can improve their counting skills by counting the dots and matching the numbered piece to the correlating spot. The bright colors of each piece and the adorable hedgehog face will get your child excited to play. The pieces are thick and lightweight which makes them easy to grasp by tiny hands. Your child will improve their hand-eye coordination skills as they play with each piece. Both you and your child can get creative with the hedgehog and come up with new games to play.
6. Body Magnet
Cards printed in 9 different languages
76 magnets
Teaches about all parts of the body, inside and out
Fun mix-and-match game
Hang your magnetic board when you’re finished
English cards are all boy parts
Seven cards for boys and only four for girls
The human body is like its very own map. Help your child learn all about the wonderful ways in which their bodies work!
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This magnet set features 18 cards, 76 body part magnets, and a pointer stick. Pick up a card and then build the muscle, skeleton, organ, or skin that coincides with that card. Great for kids ages seven and over, this a fun mix-and-match way for little ones to learn all about their different body parts, both inside and out!
Durability
Once you’ve created your (current) masterpiece, hang it with the attached set to the wall. Then take it down, start all over, make a new body collage, and display it again!
Educational Value
This magnet set helps children to memorize and understand the basic parts and functions of their body. There are skeletal magnets, muscular magnets, organ magnets, and skin magnets so you can mix-and-match based on the cards you draw! The cards are printed in nine different languages so children can also practice language development.
7. Story Box Farm
Durable
Well-made
Encourages imaginative play
Encourages storytelling skills
Sturdy enough for kids
Small parts might be choking hazard for younger children
Not as sturdy as expected
Children can begin telling a story about life in the farm with Janod’s Story Box Farm which is pretty much similar to the Janod Story Box Circus except that this one’s focused on recreating the life in a farm. There are horses to ride as kids will be galloping across the prairies on their wooden horses.
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They will be imagining driving a farm tractor complete with a cart or trailer that contains a cow to be brought either to the plains for it to feed or to the farmhouse to be milked. Pigs have to be fed and cleaned and their corals managed as well. Helping the farmer manage the flock of sheep is his trusted dog while chickens are busy pecking on the feed pellets that the farmer has thrown on their way. The beautiful Janod farm house doubles as a lovely storage box for the different wooden play pieces.
Durability
Such simplicity in the design of the Story Box Farm is really commendable and one that advances in technology can not really match. Besides, it does provide for a more rural feel to playtime activities. The Story Box Farm is best played with kids using their full imagination on the kind of life that exists on the farm. It’s pretty useful, too in helping children perfect the art of using their fine motor movements in the manipulation of the different pieces. It may not be hi-tech but the Story Box Farm is a classic.
Educational Value
This is sure to offer you and your child with hours of pretend and creative playtimes. The pieces are painted back and front to give a high-quality feel. Though it is a simple design, it still offers your child with easy, creative, and colorful fun. It’s the perfect size to fit in a toddler’s hands without being too big for them to handle.
8. Forest Chunky Puzzle
Cute colors
Well designed
Durable
Easy for children to pick up
Sturdy
The puzzle doesn’t have pictures of animals, rather it just contains blank colored shapes. Some reports of the paint from the animal pieces peeling off
Most of us learn to appreciate the forest as we grow older. Let us help children understand that the forest can be a very magical place especially for animals and other living things.
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To help us with this, we recommend getting the Janod Forest Chunky Puzzle. It’s composed of seven different forest animals that are made of extra-thick wood and finished with a certain gloss that brings out the best qualities of the wooden material. The thick nature of the animal blocks serves to stabilize the pieces when being played as standalone toys.
Durability
This Forest Chunky Puzzle is a great puzzle to grow with your child. It includes multiple critters of the forest and other things that your child might find there. This is a great learning tool and to get your child interested in nature. It’s bright and vibrant and children won’t have to worry about their favorite pieces losing color over time.
Educational Value
Your child’s hand-eye coordination will improve as they work to place each puzzle piece in the correct spot. The bright colors of the puzzle will stimulate their sensory development. Each piece has the ability to stand on its own, so your child can fully immerse into pretend-play with all of the woodland animals. The Forest Chunky Puzzle is great for enhancing or fostering convergent thinking as well as simple problem-solving. More importantly, it’s great for encouraging imaginative play.
9. Crazy Doggy Walking Toy
It can be pulled everywhere
High quality
Great for beginner walkers
Builds confidence
Sturdy
Some reports of the product arriving with chipped paint
Some reports of the screws being defective
Learning to walk is a very important milestone for all children. Walking occurs in stages. It’s always a good idea to get a push toy or a walker toy to help young kids master this developmental necessity.
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The Crazy Doggy Walking Cart Toy is a simple yet highly functional walker implement to help young kids master their steps while holding onto the handle of the Crazy Doggy. Everything about the Crazy Doggy is made of wood; from the handle to the cart bed to the lovely doggy head and to the wheels. Kids can use the cart bed to carry their toys and other items. The doggy head also features a bell which emits a ringing sound whenever the Crazy Doggy gets pushed.
Durability
Made of sturdy materials, the Crazy Doggy is a great implement for young kids to master walking.
Educational Value
As your little one works to push the toy forward they will be strengthening the muscles in their shoulders, arms, and hands. Their leg muscles will also further develop as they continue to learn to walk. The push toy also promotes wrist extension, which is very beneficial for when your child begins to learn to write. Their balance will improve with every step they take.
10. Janod Story Box Firefighters
Boosts creativity
Vibrant colors
Includes many accessories for children to enjoy
Great for ages 3 and up
Some of the objects might be made of cardboard
If you have a little one who loves fire fighters this Janod box story set is perfect for your little one to enjoy. Not only are the toys bright, vibrant and extremely colorful but they’re a great way for your child to enhance their imagination and their creativity through pretend play. This set includes 5 different figures, a fire dog, stop light, safety cone, a fire truck, and a few other accessories as well. It also is perfect for any child between the ages of 3 to 8.
Read moreMaterials –
This pretend-play set is made of wood and non-toxic materials so that your children can play with these toys safely. Parents won’t have to worry about any kind of chemicals or fibers rubbing off onto their children. They are 100% safe for your child to play with. Because this set does include some small pieces it is recommended for children ages 3 and up to avoid any kind of choking hazards.
Durability –
Wooden toys last a lifetime. For growing families having a wooden toy is a fantastic way to pass along toys to a younger sibling. It’s also great because parents don’t have to worry about their child's favorite toy getting ruined or having the colors fade away. This firehouse box set is a great gift for any occasion and perfect for your child to spend hours upon hours playing with.
Educational value -
Janod toys are a great way for your child to help your child's cognitive skills, creativity, and enhancing their imagination through pretend play. It’s also a great way for your child to enhance their fine motor skills. This is a great way for your child to also enhance their social skills by acting out certain scenarios.
Criteria Used for Evaluation
Materials
It’s important to clean wood toys properly and efficiently. If dunked in water, they might become rough and natural wood is likely to warp. Instead, it might be better for you to wipe them clean with a cloth that is lint-free. simply dip that cloth in a mixture of 1 part distilled white vinegar and 1 part mild soapy water. Follow that with a wet cloth to clean away that vinegar and soapy water.
Durability
Whether the toy is made of plastic, wood, or metal, it is imperative that it is safe. From the materials that are used in it construction, the products that are integrated or embedded into its finish, and even the structural integrity of every single component of the toys; these must be safe. This is particularly tricky for wooden products since companies often have to find a much better solution to enhance wood’s natural characteristics without necessarily exposing children to harmful chemicals or other substances. Nevertheless, we believe our team did a fantastic job of putting together 10 of Janod’s most trusted and safest wooden toys for kids of all ages to enjoy.
Educational Value
Of course, we did not specifically searched for mid-15th century types of playthings or even an Industrial Age type of toy. The point remains – toys have to provide a variety of developmental benefits to children. If these can enhance children’s imagination and creativity, we’d take that as a point. If there are other aspects of child development that are improved or enhanced, then we took note of these, too. This is important in all of our top or best toys lists. So, our first and most important criterion in our selection of the best Janod toys is the product’s developmental usefulness vis-à-vis developmental appropriateness.
Like all things, not all wooden toys are created (or manufactured) equal. When choosing the right wooden toy, it is important to consider a few things. Here are some of them.
Always choose something that your kid will benefit from. Choosing the right wooden educational toy is just like choosing any other type of children’s toy. You have to look at what they can learn from playing with it. This is important as we want our kids to learn some values in life.
Take time to check the construction of the wooden toy. Most of these will come in different components that are bonded together. Check to see whether these will come loose or if the kind of adhesive they used is toxic or not. Unfortunately, you can’t check this if you’re ordering online. Customer reviews can help, however.
Keep it simple. Unlike other toys, wooden toys are designed for simplicity. This should be fairly obvious by now. If you want a very complicated toy for your child, then wooden toys are definitely not for you. The point in the simple design is to encourage your child to use his imagination so other aspects of his or her cognitive development are also developed.
Other Factors to Consider
Emotional Development
Janod toys are known for their simplicity but highly educational designs that foster imagination and creativity from children. The 10 best Janod toys in 2019 provide you with a collection of the company’s best, which you can consider giving to your child. Kids will be able to learn creativity and bonding by playing with these nice wooden toys. All toys that are safe for children has a CE mark somewhere on the toy or packaging. In order to check if a product is safe for your child, ensure that the surface is not splintered and is smooth. Ensure that you are reading the labels regarding the age suitability to make sure that the toy is safe for your child to play with. The age recommendations are made with the average child’s skill level, interest, and age in mind.
Frequently Asked Questions
q: Are Wooden Toys Safer Than Plastic Toys?
Wooden toys usually do not break easily, nor do they have sharp edges that might be dangerous for your child. This, in turn, makes them more durable and a safer option for your child.
q: Do Wooden Toys Last Longer Than Plastic Toys?
Wood is generally seen as a more resilient and robust material; therefore, the life expectancy of wooden objects is higher than that of a plastic toy. Wood toys are generally also passed down from generation to generation.
q: Are Wooden Toys Eco-Friendlier Than Plastic?
The simple answer is, yes. Wood is biodegradable whereas plastic is not. While plastic fills out landfills up, wood can be recycled to be made into another use.
q: Are There Any Health Benefits for Wooden Toys?
From younger children to older children, wooden toys have always been very versatile in their use. Wood toys are a much safer alternative than plastic or metal toys.
q: Why are these all reasonably affordable?
The range by Janod is specially priced to be affordable for all. They offer a range of products in different price ranges which all have the same high quality to suit everyone’s needs.
q: Is There an Educational Benefit That Comes with Wooden Toys?
There is not a specific educational benefit that comes with all wooden toys, as all of them are not made equally. However, the range by Janod, are educational toys that also help with your child’s fine motor skills through games, building blocks, and puzzles.
Sources
- Wooden Toys Safer than Plastic Toys, Informative Article ,
- How to Check Safety of Wooden Toys, Toys Advice ,
- The Best Way to Clean Baby Toys, Informative Guide ,
- 10 Cleaning Hacks All Parents Should Know, Informative Guide ,
- 10 Baby Toy Safety Tips, Informative Tips ,