Design toys: valuable, sustainable, decorative
Playing together helps children and adults develop social skills. High-quality toys encourage children's imagination, creativity and motor skills without overwhelming them. What makes design toys special is that they are made from natural materials such as wood or cardboard, which also makes them beautiful, timeless and individual.
At Connox, you'll find carefully selected products from well-known brands and designers – for playing, as a gift or as a stylish accessory. The award-winning designer Kurt Naef developed his toys from his own ideas or based on designs by Bauhaus artists such as Alma Siedhoff-Buscher and Ludwig Hirschfeld-Mack. His name is inseparably linked with his exceptional wooden toys.
Choosing the right toy – what to look for when buying:
1. Benefits
2. Types
3. Age groups
4. Material
5. Care
6. Safety information
7. Price
1. Benefits: why are high-quality toys so important?
The right toys help your child understand the world around them and develop mental, physical and social skills. While playing, children act out what they observe in everyday life, put their own ideas into practice and try out different roles.
The Wooden Notebook-I-Wood-My first Laptop from Donkey Products lets children aged three and over be creative and artistic whenever they like. With the chalk, little ones can capture all their impressions and ideas on the blackboard surface, even when they're out and about.
2. Design toys in many varieties
Toys come in all kinds of types and designs, from games of skill and memory games to strategy games and puzzles. With simple rules and endless new combinations, the tile-laying game Remember Eckolo brings excitement and fun to the whole family.
Wooden toys are a category of their own – a classic that children love and that never goes out of date. The Cuboro marble run, made of untreated regional beech from Switzerland, is a high-quality toy for the whole family. Games like this stimulate spatial awareness, concentration, coordination and logical thinking – with no complicated instructions.
3. Who are toys and games for?
People play at every age. That's why Connox offers carefully chosen design toys for all age groups:
Babies
Even babies can play with wooden toys: grasping toys, activity trainers and building blocks teach colours, shapes and dexterity. Babies also love listening to gentle melodies from a music box.
Toddlers
Two-year-olds can burn off energy on ride-on toys. Wooden toys such as the Cubebot by Areaware delight children aged three and over. This sturdy wooden cube by designer David Weeks turns into a poseable robot in no time and also makes an attractive desk decoration.
Children's furniture such as a playhouse, a doll's house or creative toys help children aged four and over create their very own world. At this age, children can also sit still for longer and join in card games. From the age of six, toys such as sturdy wooden animals for their own farm become very popular.
School-age children
The Bauhaus optical colour mixer from Naef Spiele creates unusual visual effects for children as young as six. This is also when strategy games come into their own: Cuboro Babel, a game for two players, calls for thinking ahead. At seven, children also like to retreat now and then. Comfortable, soft bean bags in the children's room can easily be pressed into the desired shape for playing or resting. For older children aged 12 and over, there's a historically inspired wooden catapult kit.
Adults
Musical toys or fine model toys that delight collectors also make great gifts and stylish decorations. Board games such as the Remember Sudoku game for 1–4 players or the Bauhaus chess set from Naef Spiele are a special pleasure for children and adults alike, as they turn game ideas into masterful works of art.
4. Natural materials for high-quality design toys
Wood in particular has always fascinated toymakers because it can be worked in so many ways. Leading toy manufacturers such as Cuboro use wood from ecological forestry – untreated, oiled or painted. Board games, by contrast, are usually made of sturdy cardboard.
The American manufacturer Areaware creates unusual yet timeless designs, combining play concepts with decorative ideas and practical everyday use. Sustainably sourced beech, nylon, resin and marble form the basis of these unusual design toys.
5. Good care ensures a long life
For toys to delight several generations, they should be cared for in a way that suits their material. Slightly damp cotton cloths or special dust-attracting cloths are more suitable than a microfibre cloth, which can leave fine scratches on the surface when dusting.
Wooden toys contain natural tannins that make life difficult for germs and are naturally antibacterial. For heavy soiling on untreated wood, use a neutral soap or diluted soda solution applied with a little water and a soft sponge. Then wipe off the soap and rub the wood dry. Scratches or chips can be smoothed with fine sandpaper. Painted wood can simply be rinsed and wiped with a cloth. Under EU regulations, these paints must be saliva-resistant and must not pose a health risk. Oiled wood is permanently protected against moisture and dirt and can be re-oiled to bring out the natural grain.
Leather, such as on our football from Sonnenleder, is best treated with beeswax products.
Care for metal parts and mechanical elements with special waxes and oils suitable for the metal in question.
6. Safety information and awards for toys
The German consumer organisation Stiftung Warentest tests toys every year and advises paying attention to warnings, test seals and age recommendations. However, age recommendations are only a rough guide, as children of the same age can be at very different stages of development.
The "spiel gut" seal recognises educationally valuable toys once a committee has assessed criteria such as durability, material, safety and environmental compatibility positively.
7. Price: something for everyone
At Connox, you'll find high-quality wooden toys for toddlers in the entry-level price range. Valuable children's toys such as the award-winning Naef caterpillar sit in the lower to upper mid-price range. Strategy games such as the Wobble chess set from Umbra are an exclusive purchase.
Games from Connox – your benefits:
- A carefully selected range from top design brands
- High-quality products by well-known designers
- Simple, direct online shopping
- Personal support from our customer service team
- Fair delivery costs
- Secure payment thanks to SSL encryption
- Delivery in just a few working days
Shopping advice at Connox
Would you like to buy toys online but need some help? Our customer service team is always happy to help. We'll support you with advice while you shop, make recommendations and answer your questions quickly. Then simply sit back and have your games delivered straight to your door in just a few working days.
