Toys + Blocks

Side by Side comparison of Grimms and Bauspiel slats

Grimm’s and Bauspiel Comparison: Leonardo Sticks and Color Rods

  • Emily 

Grimms and Bauspiel both make sets of long thin wooden slats blocks. The Bauspiel set is their “Color Rods” and, the Grimm’s is the “Leonardo Sticks”–both are beautiful sets and while similar in essence, this comparison shows how these two sets build differently.

Just Blocks Big Box compared to Grimms Large Stepped Pyramid

Just Blocks: Fit with Grimm’s and Fit with Bauspiel

  • Emily 

Have you looked at Just Blocks, and wondered how they might fit with the Grimm’s and Bauspiel blocks you have or plan to add to your collection? Here is a quick rundown of the sizing and how they fit together (the short version: very well!)

ostheimer daughter 2 painted orange and green

Repainting Figures

  • Emily 

I’ve had a little bit of fun repainting figures–a tree that arrived in a color that didn’t suit us and a couple of Ostheimer friends. I’ve linked the Materials we used at the end of the post (click on the product images).

seaside scene built with wooden toys

Open Ended Toys: Picks for Bigger Kids

  • Emily 

Starting a wooden toys collection is a daunting task–and so is growing a collection as your kids get older–what to buy next? Here are some of our favorites for bigger kid.

grimm's waterlily funfeck 2

Grimm’s: Old and New

It’s fascinating to watch how toys change over time—and at first glance easy to think that blocks surely don’t change so much. Even within Grimm’s, they evolve. Before Grimm’s was “Grimm’s Spiel und Holz Design” they were “Spiel & Holz Design” –the original logo didn’t even have a rainbow.

Bauspiel stepped counting blocks, circle blocks, epsilon blocks

Bauspiel Blocks in Ball runs

The Bauspiel building block range introduces a new range of shapes for ball runs, and with it a marvelous new set of options and techniques for ball runs.

grapat rainbow tompten outside

Cleaning Wooden Toys

  • Emily 

All toys need to be cleaned at some point, but wooden toys cannot be run through the dishwasher or scrubbed with solvents. Is the solution to keep them inside? No–if anything they’re more alive than ever outside. One simply needs a reliable way to clean them.

open ended toys - small world play

Open Ended Toys: Where To Start?

One of the most important things to look at is whether a toy allows the child to imagine, or if the toy does all the work itsef. When the toy takes over, children don’t learn and explore. A toy that is open-ended may look like one thing (a rainbow) but it can be used many ways to represent different things (a building, a bridge, a bed) and most of all, it enhances the child’s ideas and imagination, letting them build and learn in their own world.