myriad natural toys & crafts

Our range of playthings is chosen because they are conducive to creative, imaginative and meaningful play. Creative, imaginative play is vital for children’s wellbeing and is the most effective form of learning in early childhood, supporting optimal growth on all levels: emotional, intellectual, social physical, and spiritual.

A good toy sparks a child’s imagination – instead of giving the child set answers. Creative, open-ended toys are adaptable to the free flowing nature of imaginative play.

Natural materials such as wool, wood, cotton and silk, stimulate the growing child’s senses in a healthy way, contributing to their overall development – synthetics can never do this!

The Myriad range of handcrafts and hand finished toys are shaped and coloured to please the eye and nourish the senses. We choose playthings that are beautiful because they enhance a child’s sense of wellbeing and contribute to their aesthetic awareness and appreciation, lifelong.

Natural materials have touch-worthy qualities: silk has its own unique fine floaty texture, wool radiates warmth and is airy. Different types of wood have different grain and textures. Unvarnished wood has a wonderful scent and it satisfying to hold and handle.

Our natural wooden toys and natural fibre soft toys are finely crafted and made to last. Most of our wooden toys are finished with natural oil mixes, colours are water based and non-toxic. All our toys and playthings comply with European safety standards.

We source our products from conscientious companies who share our values. The quality of design, integrity, purpose and meaningfulness of each product really does matter to us at Myriad.

Handcrafted and hand finished toys that are beautiful and a pleasure to touch and hold, will encourage children to look after their things – they sense the care and attention that has gone into the making of the toy and will feel inspired to take good care of it. This is an important value to foster in todays throw-away consumerist society.

Most of our range is made in low-impact workshops in Europe, the UK and North America, with some fair trade exception. Our toys are made by skilled crafts people paid a fair wage for their skills, working in clean and safe environments. Myriad also supports several special needs communities in the UK, Germany and Sweden. The work of many of our suppliers stems from Rudolf Steiner’s educational impulse, placing children and their development at the centre of their work – in particular, the wooden Ostheimer figures and sets .

Natural materials are sustainable, good for the environment and the best choice for children! Petroleum based products eg plastic take a huge toll on our environment and there are growing safety concerns. The wood used in our products comes from indigenous European forest plantations, and the by-products are recycled or used for heating. The colours and dyes used are water-based and the finish is natural oil blends or shellac. Our soft toys are natural both inside and out.

We buy from companies who are dedicated to the value of healthy creative play. Many of them work alongside organisations researching children’s play.

Our suppliers spend considerable time researching age appropriate play so that their toys are suitable for a particular age group, supporting children’s play and challenging them in their development without frustration.

We have compiled a simple guideline list of toys for different ages to help you choose what is right for your child at what age.  Read more here.