The toys we love, confessions of a toy snob!
Around our house I have to admit, I have been a bit of a toy snob ever since my kids were born. Living in the city, and at the time in a very small apartment, the toys we bought became part of our decor. They sat on shelves in the living room, on the floor in the dining room and on the counter in the kitchen. They found themselves running for cover under the radiator and sprinkled about the back yard. Because of my intense desire to live like an "adult" I insisted that all of our toys be well designed and pretty to look at. As a result many of our toys are wooden and made by a handful of companies, including Plan Toys, Melissa and Doug, to name a couple. I do not only have a severe aversion to noisy toys but my decor does not follow a primary color palate, therefore they do not belong. During my time in graduate school I did quite a bit of research on consumerism (which lead to a class that taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago) and how children are trained to be little uber-consumers because of poorly made toys that require batteries, break quickly and only have one cause and effect, "press button =noise" causing them to grow bored with them in only 3 presses of the "button", in turn demanding more toys.
Now that my kids are getting older and I have taken up the passion to design urban focused toys that teach creativity to kids, I also have an obligation to respect the urban dwellers need to keep the house free of primary colored noisy and in my opinion "ugly" toys. I have grown so attached to the toys we have collected over the years that I am proud to have them around the house. My new line of doll houses are the perfect fit for your Play Mobile collection of people and accessories or to add your Melissa and Doug wooden furniture to. No batteries required, just your imagination and whatever happens to be laying around the house to transform into accessories for your urban play place.
I have designed not only houses, but also 2-flats, and store front spaces so your child can play with a home that is like yours, not like the one that the only few of us live in resembling a Victorian mansion.
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