QUALITY TIME with meaningful toys by Trang Öhman (@tremoh) from Finland

As a working mom with two young children, I want, and I need time with my two dance monkeys. I don’t want the noise to drown out all those beautiful laughs and those scrapes that needs to be kissed. I don’t want to miss a single moment. It’s difficult though, I know every parent struggles with this, to be present. To not let your adulthood, take away the childhood of your children from you. And I struggle, every single day to not let myself be whisked away on cloudy skies and stormy winds from the sunshine sitting right next to me.
 
To be honest I grew out of the sitting down and playing with toys at the age of 10, it doesn’t come naturally to me. So, when the kids came of the age where toys mattered, I knew I needed toys that would grow with them and inspired them to greatness not just for them but for me too. Toys that sparked joy and that also gave them the freedom to explore their creativity and work their beautiful little minds. Kind of a tall order, right? But then I stumbled on open-ended toys. And I have been hooked ever since. Beautifully made
sustainable toys, that not only inspire hundreds of hours of play but so aesthetically pleasing they create a beautiful imaginative educational world. Some so simple but oh so ingenious.

The 2-3 years I stayed home with the kids I became somewhat of a toy expert (that’s what I like to think, anyway). I reviewed every toy and made comparisons between different similar toys. It was my pastime; I was like the toy’s whisperer. Since starting work I haven’t been as diligent but luckily enough our shelves are filled with all the goodies: Grimms, Grapat, Connetix tiles and Flockmen to name a few, so we’re set for some time.

My kids and I love to build; wooden blocks are a classic. When I stumbled upon these little wooden men I was mesmerized by their simpleness and ingenuity. After a lot of reviews and searching, I was happy to find that they shipped to Finland.

We’d played with these little men in so many ways, and when I say we I really mean WE. One of the best ways to play with them is using them as building blocks but they’ve also been policemen, doctors, thugs and so on. Who needs domino bricks when you have Flockmen? The kids have so much fun pushing them down and seeing the chain reaction that happens. Count them, paint them, draw them, the sky’s the limit.

Trang Öhman / @tremoh