How to choose a secondhand wooden toy
This is where wood genuinely wins. It can be sanded, glued and have parts replaced.
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Notes on wooden toys, from a workshop being built
Half of these posts are about setting up a small toy workshop in Istanbul. The other half are the guides we wish we had found when we started looking for wooden toys ourselves.
Materials and care
What is actually on an unpainted toy
Unpainted does not mean bare. Something has to sit on the wood, and what that something is matters.
Workshop diary
The wooden toy villages of the world and the story they share
Germany, Japan, Russia, India. Traditions that grew up unaware of each other emerged from the same three conditions and declined for the same reason.
Safety
What the CE mark on a toy actually tells you
CE is not a quality award. It is the manufacturer's own declaration. Knowing that changes how you read a label.
Safety
Are wooden toys really more sustainable
The answer is yes, but less clearly than you would think. Life cycle studies also put wood last in one category.
Buying guides
Why wooden toys break
Most broken pieces come down to the same two mistakes. You can spot both in a shop with the toy in your hand.
Workshop diary
Starting a toy workshop from zero
What we did on day one, what it cost, and everything we did not know yet.
Materials and care
Why beech became the toy wood
European toymaking has run on beech for two centuries. The reason is technical rather than romantic. And beech has one serious flaw.
Buying guides
The difference between four toys and sixteen
Awkward thing for a toy workshop to say: the strongest finding we have says children need fewer toys, not more.
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