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It’s a very common scene. A child is surrounded by toys, but plays with none of them. Why? Many times they are toys we or loved ones have spent precious money on in hopes that they would inspire our children in their play, only to find that our hopes are dashed when our children don’t play the way we imagined. Here are a few quick questions to ask on a regular basis that may help shed light into a reason that may be making it harder for a child's play to take off:     1. Do they have too...

  Adults talk about their emotions and experiences. Kids play them. As the famous saying goes, “play is the work of the child, and toys are the tools”. If you have been trying to find a way to broach some harder subjects with your kids in a way that is honoring to their age and communication style...let play lead the way, even when it comes to the hard stuff. Help your child into the driver seat by using play to help them work out and express their emotions. Here are a few tips and ideas for using open-ended play as...

  We’ve all had that experience with our kids where they get a present and all they want to play with is the box or the wrapping paper. Their favorite toy is a kitchen utensil they found on their own and now carry endlessly around the house. We laugh about it and move on. If we look a bit closer, however, there is an important lesson in a moment like that we often miss and can learn from should we slow down and think about it.  Here’s the thing...kids don’t have preconceived notions about how they should play until we...

Getting your kids to play outside isn't just fun -- it's good for them! Here are 3 health and social benefits that come from getting your kids outside. Promotes Social Skills We believe that getting kids to play outside -- and, specifically, engaging in unstructured (open end) play -- promotes a wide range of skills: "On a playground, not everyone gets to go down the slide first. Going to a playground with your kids is not just about running around and being active, but it's also about learning social skills, executive functions, and behavioural skills as well through play." In fact, the University...

Drive your imagination Back and Forth - or ‘heen en weer’ as we say in Dutch - is our handsome, quirky, wooden toy car. Can’t tell the front from the back? Just leave it up to a child’s imagination, they’ll find their own way to drive Back and Forth!  Show on the road From the very beginning we wanted to showcase our road tracks in combination with cars. Not just any car, but one that kickstarts the imagination like our flexible toy road does. The result: a toy car specially designed by fellow designer Floris Hovers.Fifty handmade and numbered back...

  We all want our kids to get lost in play. We spend precious time, effort, and money in the toys and resources we bring into our homes so that we can facilitate open-ended play that encourages imagining, creating, and playing. One of the tools we can harness in helping our kids get started is through invitations to play. If your kids are not playing with their toys, and you want to figure out why, visit our blog “Reasons your child isn’t playing with their toys (and what to do about it)" for additional tips to jump start play at...