BOIKIDO® TOYS

Success Through Play™ is pleased to introduce our readers to a toy company called Boikido®. We asked Jonathan Segal, General Manager of Boikido® to tell us more about the Philosophy behind the Boikido® Toy Company.


Boikido®: The return of self driven play.

"Bois" in French is "wood"- and "Kido" is of course "kids" so in free translation you could call it " Wood for kids". "Boi-Kido".

“I believe that we are at the dawning of a new era in the toy market where people want to see their children play with toys from natural substances through self driven play to balance the computer driven and electronic games and toys ” states Jonathan Segal, General Manager of the Boikido® line.

“ We have witnessed a long period where plastic toys dominated the market for price reasons, but more and more parents are looking for high quality , creative ,artistically designed toys and seek the added value of premium wooden toys with unique and innovative designs that stimulate children’s imagination.” says Jonathan.

Boikido® is a brand owned by French company L’ets Go S.A., a subsidiary of Challenger International. S.A.- the leading nursery and toy distributor in France. L’ets Go, and the Boikido® brand were created in 2004 by Mr. Frank Cohen-Aloro, CEO of the Challenger group, as he identified an increasing demand by parents and buyers for updated well designed wooden toys. Frank himself has been in the nursery business for over 10 years, distributing brands in France such as Graco, Sassy, Tiny Love , Safety First and Babysun. His experience has enabled him to develop a highly developed sense enabling him to identify market needs and future directions. He quickly gathered a team of international design and marketing experts who combined forces to adopt a new approach to traditional wooden toys with a unique look and brand image that is more suitable to the modern parent and what they are looking for. Heading the team, is Mr Jonathan Segal , who Frank recruited from a leading international toy company where he headed the sales and marketing worldwide for 5 years.

“ We found that parents today are looking to counter act the strong influence of electronic games and toys that dominate children’s lives and often leave the child as a passive participant.” Says Jonathan. “This is the reason that wooden toys are making a come back as there is no substitute to a child sitting down to actively play developing their imagination and cognition amongst a long list of other benefits of learning through self driven play” adds Jonathan.

The Boikido® team create colorful and imaginative toys that are educational and at the same time fun for children to play with and are an exciting toy to buy. The colors and small hints of characters and themes stimulate the child to flow with his or her imagination to wherever it may take them. As adults, we often learn to limit our imagination but children can create a world full of exciting , colorful and wonderful experiences. This stage of child development is extremely important .

“ When we sit down to design, we first of all look through the eyes of the child. We create a magical world of colors and friendly characters that often only children themselves can experience” adds Jonathan. “Then we give them to children and observe how the react and play with the toys.”

The Boikido® line is indeed very unique and lovable in its look and design bringing back to life nostalgic toys with great play value in wood , a soft and natural substance that last for generations.

While Boikido® is incorporated in France, the company was established as an international Brand from day one. Although quite young, the company has already established a growing number of exclusive distributors in leading markets worldwide such as Japan, Korea, Belgium ,Canada, Germany, Spain, Australia and more.

“Since the creation of the global village, brands have to be and act global” says Mr.Cohen- Aloro,” The brand must be adapted to children and markets worldwide, regardless of where your home office is based” he adds.

Boikido® is a refreshing newcomer to the market place for children’s toys aged 1-4 years and will continue to bring new and imaginative toys as well as expand distribution to more countries during the course of 2007.

BOIKIDO®- Use your imagination…

( for more information please contact: jonathan@boikido.com or call +972-54-4828343 ). The above is a press release from Boikido.

WWW.BOIKIDO.COM


Success Through Play™: Boikido® sent us the following 2 products all the way from France, and we would like to thank them kindly. Product descriptions provided by Boikido®:

Activity Table



An activity table designed at just the right height so a young baby can sit on the floor and interact with toy. The Boikido® activity table features magnetic stacking geometrical shapes that can be matched by matching corresponding markings to each other that when completed create 3 magnetic stacking towers with friendly Boikido® characters . The stacking pieces can also be sorted in to one of 3 basic shape holes ( triangle, square and cylinder) in the center of the table.



The center piece of the table can be removed to later retrieve the stacking pieces. The magnetic stacking head of each tower can also be placed upon the spinning flower that clicks as it turns offering feedback and stimulation to the child.There is also a small bead maze and coaster game for developing fine motor skills as an important part of development.The whole products is designed in a colorful rural environment to further stimulate imagination and play.

Suitable for age 12 months and up.


Building blocks



Building blocks are a basic and important toy to develop children’s imagination. Boikido® blocks are multi colored and feature small hints printed on them such as , stairs, windows, roofs, clouds. A tree, animals, and more to ignite the Child's imagination to begin constructing scenes and environments lead by his own imagination. Beyond the basic motor skills for stacking which are developed in building blocks Boikido® blocks offer more suggestive motives to get the child started and get them stuck in to floor play. You can also add extra Boikido® blocks
sold separately or add them to other products such as "My first train set" to enhance the playing experience.

Suitable for age 24 months and up.


PURCHASING

Boikido® products are distributed world-wide through a rapidly growing network of dedicated distributors in countries such as France, Belgium. The Netherlands, Japan, Germany, U.S.A, England, Spain, Australia, South Africa, Canada, Portugal and more…

To locate a Boikido® distributor nearest to you please contact: coucou@boikido.com.


Success Through Play™ comments:

Boikido® offers a wide range of colorful and imaginative and colorful wooden toys.

We applaud and respect Boikido's philosophy. Many parents still believe that the more high tech the toy, the more developmental value it has for your child. We can't stress enough that the opposite it true, particularly in the birth to three population . Wooden toys that do not require batteries will allow your child to use his imagination and creativity and will offer him countless opportunities to develop a wide range of skills. Boikido® toys are a fine example of this.

Please note that if your child has special needs, battery operated toys may be necessary to help engage your child in an activity. Please consult your child's occupational therapist and or team for assistance.

Activity Table



This Activity Table offers a variety of activities all packaged into one table! It is very simple to assemble and sturdy. The bright, colorful and imaginative design is sure to attract your baby's interest! It measures approximately 9 inches high and 14 inches wide. Included in the box are 3 sets of magnetic blocks (theme: cat, cow, chicken) which can be utilized in various ways. In the center of the table is a removable shape sorter for the magnetic blocks, which features an innovative built in basket which will store the dropped blocks! Baby will enjoy reaching in and collecting the fallen blocks to start the game over again!



Two highlights of the Activity Table include the following 2 activities: wooden beads which move in a spiral pattern along brightly colored coated wires and wooden shapes which move in a spiral slot and both provide baby with an opportunity to work on his eye tracking and eye hand coordination skills whilst having lots of fun. There is a spinning flower which provides auditory stimulation when it is turned and can also magnetically hold the magnetic wooden blocks. There are also 5 spinning beads which will introduce your little one to numbers.


Building Blocks


This building block set is equally well designed and boasts 50 pieces which can be stored conveniently in a bag, which is included. The Blocks come in a variety of different shapes, colors and sizes including the traditional square shape, rectangular, triangular, round, moon, car and even cone shape. The wooden blocks can used in an endless variety of combinations to create anything that you child can imagine! The colors, patterns and design on each block incorporate themes such as fruits, animals, stripes, dots and friendly smiley faces which will encourage your toddler to use his imagination to start building! Playing with blocks is an ideal activity for toddlers as it encourages them to refine their fine motor, visual perceptual and motor planning skills all while using imaginative play and having fun. This set will grow with your child and is sure to become the set that they will treasure.

Our children's panel throughly enjoyed playing with both products and were engaged in the task of play for a very long time! The parents commented on the unique design of both products. We hope to be able to review additional Boikido® Toys in 2008. To learn more please visit:

www.Boikido.com