At Eeny Meeny, we are deeply committed to bringing you brands that care about the environment and play as much as us. We dream of childhoods filled with beautifully made and crafted toys which inspire play in its thousand forms, created by people who care about the future of the world our children will inherit. Raduga Grez is a perfect example of just this.
A family-made business, Raduga Grez design and craft their beautiful wooden toys in a small mountain village in Russia. Their toys are inspired by the beauty of nature, and have no set purpose - it is simply up to the child. All toys are created with ethical, sustainable, eco-friendly materials with the planet in mind, as well as your little ones (only water-based paints are used). They are also particularly passionate about something they call ‘toygetherness’. They believe toys should be not simply for solo play, but for bonding, encouraging collaborative play that both child and adult will enjoy. Toys should engage children away from screens and into wholesome, playful relationships with their families and friends.
Let’s zoom in a little bit more. Take the Amanita Stacking Tower. Beautifully crafted and smelling like wood shavings, Amanita is pleasant to touch and hold. In early childhood, this little wooden mushroom-style stacker will make a wonderful friend for stacking, towering, and creating patterns. As children age, they make unusual structures out of them. If they’re particularly imaginative, the Amanita will become a toadstool in a fairy garden, a fairy house, or perhaps a mushroom person! As children grow, Amanita will become a pleasant decoration in teenage bedrooms, reminding them of the whimsy of childhood.
Raduga Grez’s Mountain Archs are another beautiful nod to the magic of nature, translated to childhood. The mountain starts as a cosy puzzle to slot together, but will quickly become a balancing game. Small world play will welcome the arch as a mountain range, a river, or even a little gnome’s house. As children age out of this phase of play it will become a beautiful ornament to treasure for years to come.
Finally, an ode to the beautiful Wooden Earth Cubes set. As we always say, the simpler the toy, the more play opportunities - and this set is the perfect example of that. The blocks work wonderfully for stacking, colour matching, ordering and collecting, and are made with lightweight but sturdy wood to last a family for many years. As children develop their fine motor control, the blocks can become long winding towers, and eventually play houses, car garages and more. Perhaps they will become a slice of cake, a train, or a maze for a dragon? With beautiful neutral colours that match all those your child will see in the world around them, the possibilities really are endless.
We hope you enjoyed this little spotlight on Raduga Grez - they truly are a special brand that we just love to share about. Keep your eyes peeled for more close-ups on our favourite brands.
Emily Hanson
Freelance Writer, Education and Play Specialist
