Type of wood for wooden animals?

[Grayson's Mom]

What type of wood do you use for wooden animals? My grandfather is going to cut the shapes out and I am going to sand & paint them. I heard that Holztiger uses poplar, but I don't think that is available in my area. Do they sell that at Lowe's or Home Depot? My grandfather said that certain types of wood would produce pretty fragile animals. I need some wood that will endure. Thanks!

[Think of Winter]

I think you'll need to go to a lumber yard to get decent wood. I think you may only be able to get pine in 1" thicknesses, and it makes light, easily dented toys.

[ari's mama]

My husband just made some wooden animals he used 2 or 3 inch thick oak boards he bought at Lowes, they came out great.

[momaste]

Our lumber yard gives the scraps away for free, so DH got a big box of wooden-animal-sized wood, including oak, pine, redwood, and some others, for free. Worth checking out!

[junipermuse]

My husband just built some wooden cars for our dd. He used maple and the came out beautiful. He made the first ar out of hemlock fir which is similar to pine and it seemed too light and dentable so I suggested he try maple. It was harder to cut, but it made a solid beautiful toy.