Plan On It

Plan Toys has stood the test of time with its charmingly analog and consistently popular playthings

Don’t get us wrong: We love a good iPad app as much as the next mom, but it’s no substitute for a classic toy. A basic wooden caterpillar can also provide hours of entertainment, or at least that’s the idea behind Plan Toys’ ultra-simple animal figurines, building blocks, xylophones, kaleidoscopes, wooden foodstuffs and soft, faux kitchenware, the likes of which have miraculously retained their popularity even in the face of new-fangled digital fads.

Since the company’s founding in 1981, Plan Toys has focused on eco-friendly manufacturing, and is often recognized as the first company to use such responsibly “green” materials as sap from rubberwood trees. In the decades since, the now-U.S.A.-based company has undergone several manufacturing collaborations around the world (including BRIO in Sweden and École Camondo in France). All the while, the products held onto their reputation as eco-friendly, educational, and safe (no sharp corners or bite-size parts). 

Widely available in toy stores around the world, Plan Toys is a reminder that youngsters are creative enough to be entertained by just about anything. A toy is a toy—wooden, wired, whatever it may be. —Lucie Alig