Online - October 02, 2008

Wild Animal

Cheekeyes Wooden Toys

Back in the day, playtime meant getting creative.

But these days, every toy in Junior’s play chest whizzes, honks, beeps, flashes, and whirls — and that’s before you turn it on.

Get your child’s wheels spinning instead with Cheekeyes, a new collection of ecofriendly wooden animals. The handcrafted Dutch toys come in Arctic, African, Forest, Farm, and Dinosaur groupings.

The beautiful play sets have minimal artistic detailing: only a rosy cheek and an eye on the face (Cheekeyes, get it?) and an accent color on the edge.

As for the rest? That’s where the old noggin comes in. Imagine a Tyrannosaurus rex roaming the earth or a lion claiming territory for his pride. Junior may even start asking about your days growing up on the farm.

You know, when you walked to school uphill, both ways, in the snow.

Available online at oompa.com. To see more styles, go to cheekeyes.com.