Yesterday I went through my bookmarks for things I wanted to share with you here. And I ‘re-discovered’ Grapat. A Spanish, family-run business, and they design and make beautiful wooden toys.
And then I thought that I really should share about them soon. Because if you are not going away this summer again this might be something fabulous to keep the kids entertained during their long break.
These wooden toys are so fantastic, versatile and will be enjoyed by children of all ages… and adults too I would say. Casiana and Jordi create open-ended toys that encourage children to freely play, experiment and discover. Further, Grapat toys are made using local, sustainable wood found around their Catalonian home.
The whole ethos behind Grapat toys is free play, loose parts, open and unstructured materials which transform into what children decide, and which are the expressions of their imaginations at any moment in time. Children will explore colour, shape, design, size – working small motor skills and firing their imaginations as they go.
The Waldorf-inspired wooden toy sets will entrance and entertain from 0 to 100 years, here is some inspiration:
Grapat’s wooden toys are inspired by nature and the idea that children only need a few things to create their own games and imaginary worlds. These simple figurines, little cups and bowls, as well as shapes in lovely shades initiate a natural gateway to play for young and old.
All these parts create the possibility their for moving, sorting, stacking, arranging and hiding. What’s more, the colours and shapes of the loose parts, in particular the mandalas, make them beautiful to see and have around.
Grapat also really cares about the environment and sutainability of their products.
Almost all our collaborators are of proximity, because we believe that we must take care of the local producer. Our production is friendly with the people involved. We care about people. And they take care of us and they have a lot of patience! The wood we use comes from sustainable forests.
Good Morning and are you just as delighted as I am that it is Friday today?
I know that a lot of people say that the days of the week are just a name but I can tell you that a break from home school is definitely worth a mini celebration for me.
So before we all head into our well deserved weekends, I wanted to introduce you to Babai Toys. It is a Ukrainian-based company that specialises in innovative, high-quality toys. And they are made entirely from wood combining tradition with modernity!
The people behind the brand value quality very dearly and strictly follow EU standards and manufacture their toys in an environmentally safe approach. Everything comes with a natural, non-varnished and unpainted finish. As well as smooth corners, making it totally child safe, with no points or sharp edges.
Open-ended wooden toys for creative children:
The wooden houses are amazing and so inviting for creative play. They are magnetic which means they are easy to build as well as to take down. Our amazing bow and arrow set is just the job for little adventurers!
And who does not like a good balancing game? Especially one that looks as cool as this one…
The sky is the limit when it comes to imagination at Babai Toys, children and parents alike will fall in love with the innovative creations…
Just this Monday I published my last gift guide for this year and then I went through the things I bookmarked to share with you. And I saw that this lovely natural handmade wooden toys shop just added some lovely wooden reindeers, forest animals, and a nativity scene.
And I am pretty sure you will love these as much as I do. Because who does not love beautiful, and gorgeous wooden toys? So please see today’s post as an addition to me baby gift guide as well as the children’s gift guide. You are so welcome!
The story: Dainius and Nora are two creative people, designers, parents of two little girls, and the founders of this amazing natural wooden toy brand*. They live in Lithuania and all toys are 100% handmade.
‘Our first daughter was the inspiration for the wooden toys. We wanted to create a safe, ecological, natural and nice, long lasting toy. Wood is perfect for all of those reasons. The whole process of designing, producing and testing is happening within our family.’
This big set* is amazing and leaves so much room for creativity and different play options, especially role-play.
The simple designs are playful and the small size figures are perfect for little hands to hold and use in play!
Dainius and Nora only use certified sustainable European wood. And all toys are made in line with EU legal toy safety requirements. The packaging is nature friendly as well and they do like to encourage to buy less but choosing high quality, timeless and durable items. Another reason why these toys make great presents!
Now, let your child use their imagination and have fun creating their own stories!
Hello Monday! A new week and the first day after many weeks where I am sitting behind my desk again. Not in the kitchen and not trying to find a toy, giving out food, and answering 10 questions from little people at the same time.
Love it. The back to school craziness is a challenge itself with the over-excitement (and I do not only mean the kids, grown-ups on the school playground count in here too!) and information flood. But I do love to have a good amount of time where I can actually focus 100%.
Therefore I have a goodie for you today. To share my joy so to speak. You know that I love wooden toys. However, very often wooden toy brands cater for babies and very small children. But I found a very great lovely shop* on Etsy that makes beautiful and educational wooden toys that incorporate the Montessori method, art, and science. Some toys are very useful for older children and so inspiring too!
Suba creates toys that combine science and art, toys that are inspired by nature and nurture the natural curiosity of a child. Wonderful wooden toys that grow with them, are educational, beautifully designed and crafted with attention to detail. And that can be passed on to generations.
‘My daughter is my inspiration, and when I design toys I consider her curiosity and enjoyment. I want all children to laugh and play the way my daughter does when she discovers a new set of toys. As she grows and discovers the wonder that is our world, my line of toys keeps expanding too.’
Before I am showing some of my favourites, here is some more info about these marvelous educational wooden toys:
Everything is tested and CPSC approved and compliant. Made from the highest quality maple wood and coloured with non-toxic paints and food safe-sealants. And even more important, you will fall in love with them instantly. Just as I did…
The ABC board
Practice handwriting and perfect it with the help of this all-natural wooden teaching board*. This beautiful alphabet board in cursive writing is made from maple, and the grooved contrasting letters provide the perfect tactile input for the child.
And did you notice that the vowels and consonants are coloured differently? This will help your child to understand that they are, indeed, different. So when they are ready to learn about vowels, the blue letters will be fresh in their memories.
The number counting board
This counting board* teaches the value of numbers intuitively and lets your little one learn how to write the numbers too. The beautiful board comes with a wooden “pencil” to trace and practice writing the numbers.
The math wheel
Choose a number with one of the bigger coins and keep that in the middle. Now you can either practice addition, subtraction, multiplication or division. Choose your method and find the correspondent wooden coin and place it next to your big number. Now you cans tart your math fun with this great math wheel*! (for some extra help you can use the 100 board*) The wooden coins come in a little cloth bag to keep them together.
The periodic table
I love this one so much. It is perfect to get your children interested in chemistry, especially when they start learning about it in school and might have a teacher that is, unfortunately, not very engaging. This wooden periodic table* depicts where each element is found/used in our everyday life! (It comes with a pdf download of cards giving more details about each element.)
The leaf puzzle
The leaves are made of their respective woods (oak leaf in oak, Ash made of ash…)! Therefore you can see how the wood looks like – for example, the grain, the colour, the hardness…
On top, the front of each leaf is its natural wood color. And the back of the leaves is coloured in their beautiful autumn colours. Altogether, this leaf puzzle* is such a beautiful, clever and educational wooden toy. (Suba is open to personalise the board with trees of your region if you like!)
Perpetual calendar
With this calendar, your child can visually describe how the day will unfold every morning. Making for a fun start and simultaneously learning why the day is the way it is! You will find a temperature, date, weather, days of the week, moon phase, seasons, and months section. Altogether, this perpetual calendar* would be such a great and special gift as well! Probably as good as educational wooden toys can get.
Moon Phases
This is such a creative, beautiful way to keep track of the moon. The top section has the phases of the moon, replicated from a beautifully illustrated watercolor painting. And the bottom section has the full moons as described in the Farmer’s Almanac. Moreover, the moon is a fascinating ‘thing’ and often generates a lot of questions. This toy* is perfect for curious children.
Personalised name tracing board
The picture encourages them to trace and practice their own name over and over. And after they know how to write their name, this will become a name sign for their room. Such a great heirloom gift*!
Colour sorting rainbow
This big wooden rainbow* helps with fine motor skills, colour matching and sequencing, colour identification, counting, and of course, learning the colours of the rainbow. And it is big, made of buttery white maple hardwood with bright colors and the balls are made of 100% wool felt.
What do you say? Are you in love yet? I am so happy I found this shop* and I am sure you will find the perfect present for your little ones here as well…
By the way, these educational wooden toys are made to order in the city of Vancouver, Washington. And every delivery is packed using recyclable materials.
Johanna Backman, Amelie Wiklund and Anna Enander are Kid’s Concept – a studio designing products for kids and their interiors based in Sweden.
Started in 2007 and offering everything you need for the perfect kid’s room – interior deco articles and furniture.
The idea is to work with a number of concepts, series and themes which gives the customers and shops the possibility to offer customized combinations.
‘Coordinated products makes is easy for the customer to choose from our product range as one can mix and match the rage of items. The colors we use in our concepts match and are easily combined.’
I love this set of 5 wooden houses*. You can assemble them again and again and they are so versatile.
The simple Scandinavian design is perfect for design conscious families because it is not overwhelming. You can easily add toys and personal belongings without having a space that looks overloaded.
I really like this concept of subtle colors, minimalist furniture and accessories that can be used in many different ways.
‘Letting children’s imagination influence the home is something we want to encourage. The family, the children and home is of great importance to us, and this influences and shapes the way we work.’
OMG! A wooden fridge*! How cool is that? (the kitchen is pretty cool too…)
Allover I just love wooden toys. And when they are stylish, come in great colours (yes, you can have wooden toys that are not just bland like this cool ABC puzzle* !) then I just love them even more…
