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.
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 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.
Hi everyone, I just created this ad for the Hamilton Spectators Special “Active Kids” insert that is going to come out this week. What do you think?
The Christmas stress is officially over, and I am about to go offline for some time. Thank you every one for such an awesome season. I even found some time to create some wooden toy cars for my nephews. Have a look:
Last but not least, I wish you all an awesome time with family, enjoy the smiles on the faces of your little ones, don’t forget to give lots of hugs.
Cheers, Hans
Hi everyone,
this is todays mini. More of a classic building block castle. It still has it’s challenges though.
The Jute Bags are back, freshly printed with a cute tree logo. The pull string jute bags are perfect for storing two sets of blocks, and it still leaves some room for other (hopefully wooden :-) ) toys.
You can buy it right here in our online store.
(oh by the way :-) “added on later”) The design of the print is created by Suse of RevoluzZza in Berlin, Germany. You might want to look what else she makes, it’s really neat.
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Hi everyone,
just a brief note. The online store at http://ukoonto.myshopify.com/ seems to work now. I just did a test run and everything works. Shopify has a really nice interface and makes it very easy to manage the store. I hope I can concentrate on all welcoming all of our visitors now :-)
More news from the Ukoonto camp really soon. Look out for a big suprise tomorrow.
Cheers, Hans
