Play – both fun and neccessary

Small children are experts at learning while having fun. By playing, they practice motor skills and coordination, train logical thinking and conquer lots of new abilities. UPPSTÅ is a series of toys specially developed for that early play – and everyone who loves to feel, bang, stack and pull.

When you pull the happy hedgehog’s string, and it rolls forward, you can hear a clicking sound from its spinning round belly. “As soon as you stop, the hedgehog goes quiet. For the child, it’s an exciting confirmation that it can make the sound itself, explains designer Henrik Johansson.

Explore through play

Henrik has designed toys for more than 20 years – to him, children’s play is something to take very seriously. “Play is a way for the child to discover its surroundings. To us adults, it’s often important to do things the right way, like stacking blocks in a certain order. But to the child, it isn’t always the result that counts, but the exploration of how the blocks can be stacked.” The toy hammering block is a classic toy for curious little hands. “Apart from the fact that it’s fun to bang on the plugs, it’s exciting to see what happens if you use more strength. At the same time, the child trains its eye-hand coordination.

Toys that last

Playing isn’t only a matter of motor skills and logical thinking – imagination is also important. With its characters and illustrations, the UPPSTÅ series is a tale about a forest world that you can make up stories around. “We want to inspire open and diversified play that lasts long. By choosing durable materials and colours, the UPPSTÅ toys can be around for many years.” So, in a couple of years, maybe it’s a younger sibling or friend who stacks rings and take the first steps with the toddler walker.