I had the dizzying pleasure of attending the mammoth Toy Fair in February, and one thing that seemed to be everywhere was cardboard. Of all of them, my favorite was easily the U.S.-made Elia Mini Chair Kit which takes this basic material and turns it into a piece of kid-size furniture.
Easy to assemble and super sturdy, the chair holds up to 200 pounds, so don't worry if you want to test it out yourself. And with Earth Day right around the corner, I appreciate that husband-and-wife Rey Tabarrok and Michael Gross use primarily post-consumer recycled content to make their totally recyclable chairs. They also donate 5% of their sales to children's and environmental charities.
What's great is that the Elia Mini Chair is an art project too. Give the kids some markers, paints and the colorful enclosed sticker sheets and let them go to town. Just be sure to explain that we don't do this on all the furniture. -Christina
