Matthias Etter Description

Matthias Etter ist the founde of the Cuboro ball run. Etter was born in 1954 in Romanshorn und grew up in Gümligen near Bern.
He finished his mechanical teachings, a sozial eductaioner schooling and worked after that with handcapped people. He had the idea really early, which later ended in the ball run Cuboro:

"The work with handicapped childrenmotivated me to develop special music instruments. For my diploma thesis did I write an instruction for the "sound games in groups". Then I developed puzzles (tailored to the ability of the single children) and other skilled games. So the origin of Cuboro emerged; a simple element game, in which some cubes have to be connected to runs and holes. Runs a marble through it at the end, is the is the mission fulfiled."

As teacher was he specialised in metal treatment and musical subjects. In 1982 Etter bought a courtyard in the Tuscany, where he lived with his wife and his two, later born children. In this time, 1985, the first version of the Cuboro ball run appeared - back then under the name Konstrito.

"The playing is a natural thing to do for the child, a fundamental term. It is the beginning of the (living-) experience through intuition, animation, creation and so on. Playing helps to find their own skills, the world of the things and connections and also the social and emotional relationship to other creatures. Playing never ends."

In 1986 the name Konstrito had to be changed because of judicial reasons and Cuboro was born. After the visit at the trade fair Ornaris in 1986, Etter organisated in cooperation with the joinery of Hans Nyfeler and the WWF the production of Cuboro with his roommated in the own flat share. After the visit of many other trade fairs the export of Cuboro grew. In 1997 the company Cuboro AG was founded in Switzerland.

In 1999 Matthias Etter came back from Italy to Switzerland. Since then he works with the managing, promotion, animation, prsentation and developing of toys, games and concepts for the company Cuboro AG.