Play time with Conscious Craft & Marlena

Hi it’s Marlena from @with.marlena over on Instagram. I’m here to talk a little bit about our journey with Grimm's. I’m sure you’ve heard about Grimm's but in case you haven't, Grimm's produce natural, high-quality, non toxic toys from alder, linden, beech, and maple wood. Each piece is uniquely hand-made with its unique footprint from nature.

When designing their toys, they are guided by the principles of Waldorf education as well as Montessori. 

These beautiful open-ended toys give wings to everyone’s imagination and creativity, from little children to adults. They are simply brilliant and feel so lovely to the touch too. Even putting them away has it’s own magical way of relaxation and comfort. 

Grimm's toys are an invitation to play and creativity. Some children may have more practice at open-ended play than others and some children may be more used to letting their imaginations fly but it is very important to let your children have the resources they need to build their imagination. 

There are many “wanna be” items you can find in the market but they will not compare to Grimm's in my honest opinion… in case you are still wondering why, let me explain. You probably saw many other RAINBOW wooden products but they are often painted with toxic paints which sooner or later will chip away. Furthermore, Grimm's rainbow is carefully designed to be able to stack naturally while others will likely slip and slide. The great quality also goes for all of the other Grimm's toys, but I’m sure since you are here you already value the natural assets of brands like Grimm's ☺️

Finally let’s talk about the small world play lovers. My daughter Ella who recently turned 3-years old is a big fan of anything small world related. She absolutely loves her Maileg as well as the Grimm's friends so as soon as I saw the new Grimm's Small World Play sets I knew she’d love them. In case you are wondering where to start with Grimm's - and you have a toddler - I’d highly recommend starting with their favourite scene set. They are beautiful and come with just enough pieces to let them explore and test each item’s possibilities. Ella absolutely loved the idea of adding fresh flowers so as soon as our sets were out of the box we went to our garden to collect some of her favourite flowers 🌸 She carefully placed them in each spot and was very proud to see how beautiful and unique they turned out. 

On a different occasion with my help we had a fun day exploring the different faces and talking about the big emotions which at this age they are working very hard to differentiate and verbalise.

Here are a few we created. Some were created by Jacob (Ella’s big brother who is 10-years old)

In case you need more ideas here are a few more we created together with the other Grimms pieces we own.

And lastly, if you are looking to build your collection I’d highly recommend doing it in this order and I’ll explain why.

•Small World play as I have explained above is a great place to start with and build their imagination skills. 

•Friends & Sorting board are fantastic for colour matching as well as many more adventures your little ones will take them on.

•Large stepped pyramid (we own the natural one) is the essential part of many set ups and fantastic as the base for any ball runs. They are just the perfect size and weight to easily stack even by the smallest of hands.

•Large rainbow they come in many different colours so the choice is yours, we love the natural and the pastel one and together with the natural stepping pyramid they create the most beautiful set ups and ball runs.

•Large rainbow semi circles just like the stepping pyramid are the base of many creations and I can’t imagine not having them.

•Set of balls and stepped roofs, a must have if you want to try your hand at ball runs.

I hope this helps and if you have yet to do so feel free to join our Grimm's journey and creations on my Instagram page for more inspirations. 

Have a wonderful time creating... and clearing up 😉❤️