Wooden toys should be quality hardwood, not leftover construction material
Wood is commonly divided into two categories, hardwood and softwood. There are scientific ways to describe hard and softwoods but since that’s too scientific lets just say softwoods come from trees with needles, like fir or pine, and are generally softer. Softwood is widely used in construction, furniture making and paper production, just to name a few.
I have seen a lot of toys made from pine construction studs. It’s cheap and widely available but in my opinion it is not the right material for making toys. It is soft and if it breaks, the splinters are long and thin. Even though hardwoods are more expensive they are the better choice in creating lasting and safe toys.
Hardwoods come from trees with broad leaves and are generally harder like oak, maple or walnut. Hardwoods have a higher density and are therefore better suited for applications where a high resistance to wear and tear is needed, like flooring and (you guessed it) toys.
Popular woods for making toys are maple, walnut, poplar, ash, beech and birch, just to name a few. Some species of wood are beautiful and strong but have other attributes that make them unsuitable for making toys. I personally don’t like to use oak for example because it has very open pores which is not very helpful when creating small details. A few exotic woods are even toxic, like Sassafras or Yew.
Some woods are known to cause allergic reactions through inhalation of the wood dust or contact with the eyes and in some cases through contact with the skin. Except for skin contact this is only relevant to the toy maker. Allergic reactions through skin contact are not very common and usually only result in slight skin irritations.
