Our Story

Thank you for visiting our page. When you're supporting a small business, you're supporting a dream. And this is our dream. 

My Toy Wagon is a mama and papa shop, led by Rashid, a successful entrepreneur, marketing expert, and photographer, and Irfana, a social historian, professor, and toy aficionado. We wear many hats, as I am sure you do. At the end of the day, we are parents first and that is a hat you never can take off.

When we first became parents, we found ourselves parenting in a trial by fire sort of way—from bottles and bibs to toys and play. This is probably still the case today. But over the years, our parenting style was cobbled together from many sources, including our personal philosophies, diverse cultural backgrounds, and childhood experiences. 

Like many parents, we learned about Montessori and Waldorf-inspired approaches to learning, imagination, and play informally through parent groups and word of mouth. Also, like many, we are not committed to one approach. What we are committed to is moving away from plastic toys (because of their high toxin levels) and toward handmade, handcrafted natural toys that are child-friendly, non-toxic, plastic-free, and planet-friendly. Making this transition was no easy task.  Just because we had made a decision to shift towards eco-parenting did not mean that our family and friends had. The problem with finding high-quality natural toys in the USA was also tricky; many of the finest wooden toys, for example, are European; because of evolving rules about geofencing and low supplies in pandemic times, supplies of these toys in the market are low even though demand is high. Our shop is our way of making these toys more accessible to American families. 

At My Toy Wagon, we want you, as parents, aunts, uncles, minders, and teachers of all sorts, to be mindful, present, and happy. Engaging the vast curiosity of little people is challenging. That's why we curate artisan-made, heirloom-quality, and STEAM toys. Packed with layers of discovery, our toys stimulate imaginative, mindful, and open-ended play and help foster play experiences where both adult and child thrive. 

Humbly Yours,

Rashid & Irfana