Feature - Wooden Toys

Traditional treasures

As wooden toys continue to grow in popularity, Sam Giltrow speaks to a selection of suppliers to find out what is fuelling this trend and how they are continuing to innovate in this sector.

Many of us have something wooden in the attic which we, or our own children, played with when younger - a wooden dolls house, a push along truck with building blocks or a ride-on wooden car. With timeless appeal, these items have become treasured heirlooms to pass down to siblings or even new generations. Indeed, many wooden ranges have evolved into stylish additions to the playroom, some even coming with technological elements to keep today’s tech-savvy youngsters happy.

David Allan, MD at Toynamics UK & Ireland, says the rise in popularity of the wooden category is a real opportunity for retailers. “Shoppers, from parents to grandparents and gift givers, are less likely to spend on disposable toys, and more likely to invest in longerlasting heritage type toys,” he tells Toy World. “I expect retailers will see a rise in popularity of wooden toys this year across railway, role-play and infant, fuelled additionally by consumer demand for more sustainable toys. The durability and quality of wooden toys offers longevity, which makes them great value for money, as well as desirable items that can be passed down through the family.”

Toynamics says its traditional themed toys such as dolls houses, railway and wooden infant toys continue to sell well. The company recently launched a substantial digital marketing campaign for its Hape Railway range, working with a mix of TV celebrity parent and influencer talent with target age children to showcase the brand.

Hape is the world’s largest manufacturer of toys made from renewable raw materials, also using rice, fasal and bamboo as well as wood. Reflecting environmental lifestyle shifts, some of the new toys carry an eco-sustainability theme through their design, such as the Gearhead Stunt Garage, which features a solar electric car charging point instead of a petrol station.

Tapping into an increased demand for tech in toys, the company has also introduced electronic features into its traditional Hape wooden toys, such as the new Rock and Slide Dollshouse, which has interactive sensors. When a doll is placed on a sensor, it triggers the sound of a particular feature or accessory in the house, such as the toilet flushing or music playing. “With Hape, we keep an eye on the trends and use classic designs with modern twists that could be adding in an interactive element or a green living feature,” explains David. “We want to keep our toys relevant and appealing to children and their parents, adding play value too. We have very strict testing criteria and every new Hape toy is sent to a variety of child testers. If toys do not pass the play test, they will not be sent to production.”

Toynamics has enjoyed a good first half of 2022 and David hopes this momentum will continue with a raft of new product launches in the second half of the year, including additions to the Hape Railway collection. A key new introduction is the new Hape Mega Metropolis Bucket Set: an 80-piece wooden railway set containing scenery with bridges, rails, restaurant, shops, construction site, fire station, airport, people and vehicles.

The company will support retailers by continuing its Toy of the Month incentive, which provides discounts on certain lines, while in-store support is available for lines such as Hape Railway, which includes gift with purchase and assets for colouring competitions, as well as in-store play tables.

Also keeping up with the demand for wooden toys which incorporate the appeal of technology is Ravensburger, with the Brio brand of wooden trains and tracks. The Brio Smart Tech Sound lines allow kids to record sounds and control, stop, start or reverse,

enriching the interactive play environment. Katy Fletcher, Ravensburger’s head of Marketing and Product Development, tells Toy World that other launches this year include the Smart Tech Sound Spooky Train Station, the 2022 addition to the STS range and, expanding on the Steaming Train launched in 2021, will be a new Steaming Train Set.

“In order to innovate, you need a strong creative team and our product development team in Sweden is focused year-round on continuing to evolve the Brio brand of products,” says Katy. “Brio is an exceptionally strong brand within our portfolio and continues to grow year on year at retail in the UK.” She believes the brand is popular because of its longevity – today’s range is compatible with the wooden trains and tracks that were developed several decades ago. “Children can incorporate today’s new additions alongside the track and accessories their parents played with when they were young.”

Katy adds: “Interactive play is cyclical and the value of playing on the floor with your children has become increasingly important in recent years, to encourage role-play and creativity away from screen-time. It’s therefore appropriate that our PR theme for 2022 is ‘Just Play’ - focusing on both children and their parents to engage together.”

In recent years, Ravensburger has also recognised a move towards creative construction and immersive play with wooden components, which led it to develop the Brio Builder range, which encourages children to build and create their own constructions, predominantly using FSC sustainable wood but with some plastic elements to add functionality to the designs. “Children are empowered by watching adults working with tools and the open-ended Brio Builder range combines child size tools with components and parts that inspire today’s constructive young minds,” explains Katy.

A Brio Toddler range has also been introduced including pull-along toys, stacking blocks and pushand-go lines and this will be an area of continued growth for the brand, giving kids an early introduction to Brio. All the new launches, which also include a Disney Princess Snow White Train Set, a My First Railway Light Up Rainbow Set for toddlers and a Brio World Cargo Mountain Set, will be supported with marketing activity across traditional media platforms as well as digital, influencer and social media outreach.

Established wooden toy manufacturer Melissa & Doug is tapping into a younger demographic and venturing into a whole new category for AW22 with its 0-2 range. For the first time in its 30-year history, the company is now catering for children from birth all the way up to 5+ years. The range was introduced to rave reviews at this year’s London Toy Fair, with each product in the new infant and toddler range incorporating the familiar Melissa & Doug DNA that encourages open-ended play. The range also features a variety of innovative SKUs designed to engender developmental skills that babies and toddlers learn as they grow, including fine motor and sensory skills, empathetic play and hand-eye coordination.

There will be a continued focus on wooden elements in the new lines, which include stand-out products such as the Wooden Grow with Me Grocery Cart and hero product, the Bread & Sweets Bakery Counter.

Melissa & Doug’s head of Customer Marketing – Europe, David Lubliner, proudly confirms that the trend for wooden toys has also received Royal approval. “Market data shows today’s parents are increasingly opting for more traditional sustainable toys and this trend has been fuelled lately by press articles citing the fact that wooden toys are the preference of younger members of the Royal Family,” he explains.

Melissa & Doug is continuing with its successful sustainability mission, Project Restore, which aims to achieve 50% FSC-certified wooden toys by 2025 and is in addition to its ‘One Tree Planted’ initiative, which sees a tree planted for every tree used in manufacture. “We are on track for more than 50% of our new wooden toys to be created using 100% FSC-certified materials by 2025,” says David. “New items made from FSC wood were launched last month and the transition of current items to FSC has already started.”

Also seeing a big sustainability push is A.B.Gee. Over the past 12 months it has ensured all of its wooden toys carry the FSC mark, and there has been a huge reduction in the use of plastic in the packaging, with the company working closely with its manufacturer to explore ways of removing it completely going forward. “Due to the increased awareness of any product’s eco credentials, customers are certainly much more interested in sustainability – the wooden option is a great way to lower their carbon footprint while still ensuring high product quality and value for money,” says marketing manager Anna Vaughan.

Wooden toys, like any other toy, need to stand out on the shelves and A.B.Gee’s Tooky Toy range is constantly under review. “We only continue with the best-selling lines and always look to add exciting new ones where we can,” Anna tells us. There will be a number of new launches throughout Q3 and Q4 and going into 2023. “Tooky Toy is a great innovative partner and is constantly coming up with fresh ideas in a crowded market,” she adds. “2023 will see a complete packaging refresh too.”