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Play Like a Local: The Coolest Bay Area Toy Companies

From sturdy recyclable boats to ingenious building sets for girls—when it's time to check off that holiday shopping list, be sure check out some of these hometown favorites.

By rtmargaretswink November 17, 2015

The Bay Area isn’t just home to innovation in tech, it’s also one of the nation’s leaders in independent toys. From Kickstarter darlings to organic baby toys, cooperative games to old-school puppets, the Bay Area is producing some of the highest quality educational toys around. Many of them are prototyped and tested with local kids and are grounded firmly in the social and environmental values that the Bay Area is known for. So when it’s time to check off that holiday shopping list, check out some of these hometown favorites! Click through to see them all.

Inspire Their Inner Artist: Tangle Creations

Richard X Zawitz was a sculptor interested in Asian philosophy when he decided to create a toy based on the Tibetan infinity knot in 1981. Over 100 million toys later, this small family business in South San Francisco has partnered with McDonald’s, Walmart, Nickelodeon and even designed a music video set for Aussie band Empire of the Sun. Their tactile toys are also highly rated for helping kids focus during class and recommended by therapists to counteract “teen texting tendonitis.”

Our pick? Grab one of Tangle’s new Night Balls for a space-aged game of catch.

Want more toy recommendations? Bookmark Berkeley-based expert Stevanne Auerbach, or “Dr. Toy” for ratings and recs on this year’s best toys nationwide.

Do you have a favorite Bay Area brand that we missed? Tell us about it in the comments below!

–Margaret Swink

All images courtesy of the companies