GIVING Organic gifts respect kids, earth

Children can enjoy antique toys, fair-trade products or music classes.
By LIZ STEVENS
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
Maybe you think that the holidays have become too commercial. Maybe you think that kids get too much stuff. Maybe you think that usually this stuff is made of cruddy plastic or tainted with suspect chemicals or doesn't encourage kids to connect with Mother Earth.
If so, the following children's gift items are just right for you.
If not, the following children's gift items are just right for you, too.
Confused? The fact is you'd never know most of the items were chosen for their ecological benefit unless you read the fine print or thought about gift-giving in a slightly different way. After all, "earth friendly" can mean a lot of things: gifts made from organic or sustainably grown materials; gifts that don't utilize new raw materials, like antiques; gifts that are made from no materials at all, like art classes or museum memberships; gifts that inspire curiosity in, and teach respect for, nature; even gifts that provide a fair wage to their creators in economically disadvantaged communities around the globe.
We've tried to cover all those bases -- plus a range of ages and interests -- with our choices here.
ORGANIC STUFFED ANIMALS
These adorable, floppy-limbed creatures are made from 100 percent organic cotton and stuffed with wool. They're fashioned in Europe by Lana, a company that claims to oversee all aspects of production, including the working conditions of the people who make these in their homes. Animals include a donkey, cat, pig, dragon, rabbit and chicken. $35 to $59. Available at www.challengeandfun.com, www.oompa.com, www.maukilo.com and www.kouklaonline.com.
TRAVEL GAMES FROM SUSTAINABLY HARVESTED WOOD
The game Nine Men's Morris is old enough to have been found carved into a Roman tile. In the same genre as Chinese checkers, Nine Men's Morris involves strategic movement of marbles around the board, arranging "mills" and "pounding" the other guy's men (the marbles are stored inside the board).
One example was crafted by a student in Berea College's Student Crafts Program. In lieu of paying tuition, students at the Kentucky school work on campus 10 to 12 hours a week. $20 at Green Living in Dallas or at http://bereacc.site.yahoo.net.
ANTIQUES
Shopping antiques malls has numerous advantages: Antiques are, by definition, recycled goods. You never know what you'll find, so stumbling upon the perfect gift is always possible. And the result will likely be unique, as opposed to purchasing something from a popular chain clothing store that begins with G-A-P.
During a 45-minute tour through one such mall, we found a group of antique tin noisemakers with a circus motif for $8 each (booth 3109), vintage panda and seal alarm clocks for $22.50 (booth 335) and a huge selection of Pez dispensers, including Barney Rubble, from $4 to $8 (booth 7359).
Barbie aficionados (young and old) will have fun with these vintage '60s and '70s Barbie clothes (from $15 to $25) or this unusual Barbie portrait that fronts a plastic wall safe, perfect for hiding Tootsie Pops from little brothers ($20). The vintage Barbies are $39.95 (all at booth 68). Montgomery Street Antiques Mall, 2601 Montgomery (at Interstate 30), Fort Worth, Texas, (817) 735-9685.
CAPIZ CAT MOBILE
Brighten up a cat-lover's room with this whimsical feline-themed mobile. Made from hand-painted capiz shells by Filipino craftspeople, the mobile is one of many fair-trade products sold by Ten Thousand Villages, a nonprofit program of the Mennonite Central Committee. Founded in 1946, Ten Thousand Villages seeks to improve the lives of poor and underemployed artisans by facilitating fair-trade agreements between these craftspeople and consumers in other parts of the world. $32 at www.tenthousandvillages.com.
BIODIESEL T-SHIRT
Be the first teen on your block to juice up Pop's truck on vegetable oil -- and advertise your enthusiasm for renewable energy! This American Apparel T-shirt is woven from organic cotton and dyed with water-based inks. Its label notes that the shirt was made in "a sweatshop-free environment at our downtown Los Angeles factory." $24 at Green Living in Dallas.
ECO LIZARD
This line of delightful soft toys, suitable for babies, comes from a women's craft cooperative in Sri Lanka. Handwoven on traditional looms, the colorful animals and balls are stuffed with fibers from the seed pods of the tropical kapok tree and finished in "natural" cotton. This means that, while not grown organically, the cotton is free from the myriad chemical treatments often used on it after harvesting. Dyes are also nontoxic. $16.95 from Green Living in Dallas.
GREAT BOOKS
"The Giving Tree," by Shel Silverstein; "Projects for a Healthy Planet: Simple Environmental Experiments for Kids," by Shar Levine and Allison Grafton; "My Family and Other Animals," by Gerald Durrell. These three books have the potential to inspire children to see their natural world in a profound new way.
Silverstein's classic, about a boy and the tree who loved him, celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2004 and is now available with a CD of the author reading this spare but powerful tale. Levine and Grafton have collected a series of at-home science experiments that exemplify, on a small scale, how nature reacts to human intervention and how to lessen our impact. "My Family and Other Animals" is the first in Durrell's famous trilogy about his family's relocation from the cold, wet British coast to the Greek island of Corfu. I have never forgotten reading this book as a pre-teen and being hypnotized by the exotic and comical escapades of the young Durrell (he was 10 years old when the family moved) and the characters he encountered (human and animal). I was destined, I imagined, for similar adventures. Ah, well ...
"The Giving Tree" 40th anniversary edition, $17.99. "Projects for a Healthy Planet," $10.95. "My Family and Other Animals," $14. At book stores (both physical and online).
POND DIPPING AND ANIMAL TRACKS
Encourage investigation into the natural world with these two gifts. The pond dipping canister includes a net, collection jar with magnifying lid, "Field Notes" notepad, 24 colorful species-identification cards, including favorites like whirligigs and damsel flies, and instructions that help your little scientist find the perfect spot for his or her research. The smaller animal tracks kit comes with a bag of plaster, an identification chart of mammal tracks and instructions. $22.95 and $9 at Green Living in Dallas.
AFTER-SCHOOL LESSONS
Museum/zoo memberships, tickets to a stage play, etc. Instead of a physical gift, think outside the box (literally). Art, dance or music classes; a year-long membership to a child's favorite museum or zoo: Gifts like these not only spare resources but in many cases support a local nonprofit organization. In some instances, they also guarantee a child special time with you.
And what kid doesn't need that?