I found out from Bernard (once again, he connects everyone in the business), that you can now get our building blocks on airmiles. Weird that I never know about it, I wonder how the whole deal works (I’m pretty certain I know who they are getting them from… not from me though).

I find this very touching, what do you think about all this?

I just found a blog post about “Toronto’s Best Baby Stores” on blog T.O. . The post is from summer 2009 (I guess better late than never :-) ). Many of the stores sell our wooden building blocks. It feels great to be part of it all.

This is a little blurb on the evening news in Hamilton. Lots of game action with Ukoonto blocks.

So if you guys ever want to go to a really fun store that has a lot of really nice toys in the Hamilton area, you should visit Citizen Kid.

Hello,

Our blocks were on TV last night as part of CHCH news in Hamilton. Unfortunately there was no mention of us, but footage of kids playing with them. Gosh, I really need my branding iron to come in :-) Maybe I can even track down some video online about it.

Cheers, Hans

I visited the Socially Responsible Design Exhibit at the Toronto International Airport yesterday. It was great seeing what others are doing, some great ideas and some really neat other products that are manufactured in Canada.

A huge thank you to Lee, who is the curator for the art at the airport. She does a great job and is very passionate about representing Canada at the airport is great. “It is often the first and last impression of Canada for travellers.”

She also told me that Treehugger reported on the show and that our blocks are featured in their article. Thank You Treehugger.

(click on image to see the blog post at treehugger.com)

I just thought I would post a picture of the smart. I met Bernard Hellen from TheWorldsGreenestBusinessCard.com when I picked up our new business cards recently, and he mentioned that I didn’t mention it here anywhere. Well, here it is :-)

PS: I really want to make it look like a wooden toy car very soon…

“Can you put on music for the target?” One person asked me this weekend at a show (I still subsidize my income as a sound guy – my formal profession). The show was a free promo event from Nestea (Coca-Cola). I didn’t quite get what she was talking about until I realized she was talking in advertising terms.

Lets not just see our kids as targets anymore. Our children are not just some statistic on legs, not just an average dollar amount that they will spend in life. Lets become more human and listen to each other. Become friends and help communities.

One thing that I struggle with on a regular basis is that we have so much stuff in Canada/the US. Worse even, we think we really need the stuff that we have. Have you ever thought of what you REALLY need? It’s not very much. A bed, some clothes (not many), a stove, a few few pots and pans, and cutlery. Clean water and some food. Really that’s pretty much what we need to live. Well, I’m exaggerating, but when it comes down to it, not that much more.
You probably all know that I used to live in Africa as a kid. As kids, we didn’t need a lot of things. I used to mainly tinker around outside, building my tree house, playing with friends, just wasting time away and loving life.
This also reflects what I want to create for Ukoonto. Simple toys, that are valuable. Toys that don’t just break in a few months, and especially not those that make our children have ADD or other disorders. Don’t get me wrong, I love design, and a love really fun toys, but it’s certainly no Mattel.
I’ve always loved the company TOMS Shoes. Do you know them? In 2006 Tom did a trip to Argentina. He found people that were getting sick, and preventing those diseases is so simple: a pair of shoes. So for every pair of shoes that we by at TOMS Shoes, they will give an equal pair of shoes to people that really need it. Watch the story about TOMS Shoes:

Where does this all tie in with Ukoonto? I like the idea of “One for One”. Buy one computer, a second one is given away to a child in need (does that ring a bell :-) “One Laptop per Child”. I don’t think kids in Third World countries need the toys that we make though. They have such fantastic ways of playing and making their own toys. I would still love to give children in Third World countries something that they need. Something that we take for granted. Maybe books, stuff they need so they can go to school, food, or how about just clean drinking water.
What do you think?

I was contacted by a Hamilton newspaper (The Hamilton Spectator, Active Kids “add-in”, published today). They were interested in my opinion about green play. Unfortunately I was so busy that I didn’t send my answers back in time. I still wanted to share it with the world so here is what I said:
1) What are the benefits (to both children and the environment) of “green
play”

In my opinion “green play” brings us back to the “good old play”. Green toys invest twice into the future of our kids. Once in the children themselves, by offering them few toys that are high in value, and that actually stimulate our kids brains and help them grow to become physically and mentally healthy adults. And secondly, these toys also protect the environment that our kids grow up in.

We have come to see the effects of cheaply designed toys both on the environment (air pollution for transportation and pollution in landfills, because these toys break fast and rarely outlast one childs play) and on the children themselves (dangerous toxins in the toys).

2) What are some of the ways you recommend that children can play green

This is a catch 22 as a toy maker. I recommend buying less “stuff”. Children need very little. My daughter loves playing with our tupperware. We all know that they will play more with the box of a toy, then with the toy itself. This is hard for grandparents, because they love giving gifts. Instead of buying many toys, maybe pool together and get those toys that last for a long time, and that encourage role play and creativity. Instead of a new computer game (virtual drawing game), give them some water colors, a big paint brush and a huge sheet of paper (and an old shirt so they don’t wreck their clothes). Toys should be a vehicle of creativity, and not rob our kids of their colorful phantasy.

Furthermore I recommend buying toys that are safe, preferably natural materials (organic cloth, natural wood). Some toys cannot be made with these materials so choose safe plastics (no BPA, no lead paints, no phthalates) and try to buy them as local as possible (this will reduce the CO2 emissions for transportation).

Last but not least, let kids play outside as much as they can. Let them run around, climb trees, discover little bugs, play in dirt with sticks and stones. I encourage adults to be like kids again as well. Go along with your kids, let them show you what they discover. Kids love it. At the end of the day it matters most that you were there for them, and they will be much more relaxed and tired because of the fresh air and movement in the great outdoors (or your backyard). Your kids will go to sleep and dream of beautiful landscapes with flowers and butterflies.