OUR STORY
Same material, different every time compartment
Filling forms, sieves, stacking materials, loose pieces to play with. That's all it is. But open it to fine motor skills, and your child scoops and pours. Open it to counting, and those same pieces become math. Open it to color, and it becomes sorting. Open it to language, and it becomes vocabulary. One set. Infinitely many possibilities.
WHAT WE STAND FOR
Where the same material otherwise it will become
where the road leads
Materiaal zonder einde
HOW IT ALL STARTED
A quest that leads nowhere ended
We were looking for toys that feel calm but still engage the brain. Low-stimulus and challenging. Sensory and educational. Toys that keep a child occupied for half an hour without the need for a single battery.
We searched catalogues, stores, and webshops. Everything seemed either too busy and loud, or so boring that we fell asleep just looking at it. The toy we were looking for simply didn't exist.
So we started it ourselves. With a 3D printer, a lot of creativity, and enough rice to make a risotto for four people.
The best learning moment is when a child doesn't realize they're learning learns.
WHAT WE DO
3D printed, filled with amazement
We design and 3D print all the molds ourselves. From ice cream and BBQ sets to greenhouses, flowers, and watering cans, each theme is a small world in itself. These are complemented by filling molds, sieves, stacking materials, and loose parts, as well as natural, sensory materials like rice and chickpeas. Yes, real rice. No, not for eating. Everything appears thematically, and everything is sustainably 3D printed.
And then the magic happens, with exactly the same material. Scooping and sieving? Fine motor skills. Counting pieces? Math. Sorting by color? Organizing. Naming something? Vocabulary. Recognizing a shape among the filler shapes? Sense of shape. Stacking alternately, red-green-red-green? A pattern. One set of materials, ten skills.
So we just started ourselves. With a 3D printer, a lot of creativity, and enough rice to make a risotto for four people.
FOR WHOM
At home and in the class
Play This Way is for parents who want to play mindfully at the kitchen table, and for teachers who want to keep their class engaged on a busy Friday afternoon. Without stress. Without yelling. Just playing.
Because a child that feels safe and calm learns best. Every parent knows that. Every teacher. And, in fact, every child too, even if they never say it out loud.
The same bin of materials can be a math or language lesson in the classroom, or simply a quiet half-hour of play at home. We provide the materials, you choose the box.
WHAT WE STAND FOR
where to play shows the way
Welcome to your compartment
Whether you are a teacher, parent, or just someone who stumbled upon this page by accident, welcome. We hope you find something that fits. With you, with your class, with your child. Today, choose the fine motor skills box, tomorrow counting, the day after sorting by color. Or vocabulary. Or recognizing shapes. Or creating a pattern. The material remains the same; what you learn with it changes every time.
the Play This Way team