Safe Toy Shopping

Your mind may be on Thanksgiving right now - but that will quickly change to the holiday shopping season come Friday. Toys are sure to be on the list - but 25 million have been pulled off the shelves this year thanks to recalls. Christmas is known as the season of giving - but when giving involves toys with all the recalls this year that may mean and extra headache. Paula white is getting a head start on her Christmas shopping. "7 kids, sons and daughter in laws and 8 grandkids." Toys are definitely on her list. White is shopping at Toys to Treasure to find something different - and something safe. Her shopping strategy is changing thanks to hundreds of toy recalls this year. "Its probably preventing me from getting a lot of little things Ive been getting." Cathy and Don Beaman opened the store 20 years ago. "Theyre open ended toys that allow a kid to think not just sit and listen," says Kathy. But its turned into a haven for shoppers trying to avoid recalled toys. "This year people are scared it seems like theres another recall of something." Toys to Treasure has only had one recalled toy on their shelves. Theyre very conscious of keep track of the toys theyre selling. "All our companies have sent us letters telling us they are safe." Thats an important tip while shopping. Look for toys produced at smaller companies and companies out of Europe. "Look for German they go through European testing and American testing so theyve got a double dose." Another good way to avoid recalled toys - find toys with a similar concept. Beaman says this Play Foam is similar to the recently recalled Aqua Dots. Beaman says she called to find out what would happen if your child swallowed these - they said kids would just get a stomach ache. Thats another good tip. Ask the toy store employees - they should have all the information about the toy youre looking to buy. Thats reassuring for white whos changing the way she does her Christmas shopping. "Im keeping it a lot more simple." And hopefully a lot more safe. Before you even start shopping youll want to go online. There are many websites that list all the recalled toys. Try http://www.toyinfo.org or http://www.astratoy.org/