100 Wooden Toy Cars By 100 Different Designers: TobeUs

above: one of the more uusual wooden toy cars, Tomoki Azumi's 'Would You Like A Slice Of Toast?'



Matteo Ragni has gathered together 100 masters of design from all over the world including Karim Rashid, Marcel Wanders, Barber Ogersby, Fernando and Humberto Campana, Jaime Hayon, Fabio Novembre and Setsu & Shinobu Ito to name but a few. With these globally renowned designers and the support of Alessi, Ragni created “100% TobeUs: 100 designers for 100 new toy cars.”



TobeUs was born as a result of a designer who had become a father and couldn't stand watching his own children captivated by toys just for a few hours and then destroying or growing bored of them. According to Matteo Ragni the easiest solution to this is to give children the possibility to 'love' an object.

To accomplish this, Ragni felt the right choice of material with a recognizable smell, an unquestioned resistance to impact and texting, and, ultimately, a dignified end: recycling or re-utilization was the way to go.

This is how the idea of TobeUs was born: toy cars made of cedar wood, strong and sweet-scented, beautifully and cleverly planned by skillful and passionate designers.


above, clockwise from top left: Fabio Novembre, Paolo Lomazzi, Setsu & Shinobu Ito and Donato Durbino

Some resemble architecture, others dinosaurs. Some are incredibly aerodynamic, while others have multiple angular components. And still some are inspired by present automobiles and others double as everything from pencil holders to puzzles.

Here are some of the more unusual examples from the collection of 100:

Karim Rashid - Tobek:

Fernando and Humberto Campana - Untitled:

Marcel Wanders - Journey Of A Cedar:

Matteo Bazzicalupo - Fakir:

Barber Osgerby - Three, Two, One:

Miriam Mirri - Bed and Breakfast:

Alberto Meda - Solar Car:

Duilo Forte - 3CV:

Paolo Orlandini - Archicar:

Kazuyo Komoda - Doll Dining Car:

Mario Trimarchi - H-Onda:

Spalvieri Del Ciotto - City Car:

Marco Dessi - La Transportamatite:

Raffaella Mangiarotti - Superfast Sketch Holder:


Since its inception, designers who wanted to draw their own TobeUs have multiplied. It seems that everyone has an idea for a wooden toy car. But the project has caveats - TobeUs is made by two cuts in a wooden stump that always have the same size, so it's a project and design exercise that imposes clear limits.

You can even try your own hand at it with a downloadable template:


See all 100 designs here.

The exhibition at the Museum of Science and Technology in Milan (Museo della Scienza e della Tecnologia di Milano) runs from December 5th through January 13th, 2013.

Old School Wood & Slate Versions of Laptops and Smartphones For Kids.

If your child looks to pursue a career in our multimedia-based world, you should introduce him or her to state-of-the-art technology as early as possible.



i-Wood and i-Woody are old school takes on modern technology, with a smart minimal look. Made of 100% natural wood, the ecological versions of today's tech serve as a blank canvas that encourages imagination and can be wiped clean for endless fun.

i-Wood/ My First Laptop:



Wooden fold-up 'laptop' with chalk screen & keyboard.
Dimensions: 24cm x 35cm x 2.5cm
Not suitable for children under 3 years. Please note: irregularities and colour discrepancy within the wood may occur naturally.
buy it here

i-Woody / My First Smartphone


I-Woody/
My first Smartphone
Design: Donkey Creative Lab
Wood · includes chalk & sponge · ca. 11.5 x 6 x 1 cm
Not suitable for children under the age of 3 years. 
100% Natural Product. Irregularities and colour discrepancy within the material may occur naturally.
Buy it here.


Donkey Products is an international Design Label based in Hamburg that develops and designs original, humorous products. And yes, they do ship worldwide.

Modern Modular Eco-Friendly Indoor and Outdoor Playhouses for Kids.

Play Modern designs indoor and outdoor easy-to-assemble modular playhouses for children. Made of FSC Certified wood, the outdoor models are made from high quality, weather-resistant, marine-grade plywood and the indoor models are made of Baltic Birch plywood.









The finishes are non toxic and the products comply with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) standards, which are among the most stringent in the country for indoor air quality.








Even the railings are made from aluminum that is 100% recyclable and has a high recycled content.



above: Custom House letters, aluminum hanging boxes and magnetic chalkboards are available as accessories.


above: the Cuba in Baltic Birch requires no hardware to assemble


• Modern, modular playhouses with limitless possibilities
• Environmentally friendly materials
• Made in USA
• Outdoor and indoor modules available
• One or two story
• Quick, easy assembly with minimal tools
• Expandable to grow with your child
• Ships flat; Stores compact


Learn more and/or purchase here.

Aminals - Organic Toys Made From Children's Drawings

One of my favorite sites, Inhabitots, introduced me to these fabulous, organic toys made from the actual drawings of little kids, called Aminals in their weekly newsletter.



Each Aminals organic doll is inspired by the brilliant, unfettered imagination that only comes through in children's drawings.

These organic kids toys embody the exaggerated proportions, squiggly lines, and bright colors that come with creative expression at its most honest and fun. From these children's drawings, the designers at Dreaming Lion LLC have created a series of huggable-soft characters, each of whom has its own special story and is ready for new adventures with your children.

Aminals' motto is "from their world, for their world," meaning that the toys have been created from kids' creative lives for the future world that they will inherit.

dady and momey:

sistur and brothr:

duggy and eflant:

ceeta and dinasor:

smal bayr, wayul and liun:



Aminals are made with materials from organic farms, making Aminals safer for your children. Certified organic ingredients, like organic cotton and the low impact and natural vegetable dyes that must be used with it, are free of synthetic poisons that are absorbed into the bloodstream through skin contact, meaning your kid can hug his or her Aminal all he or she wants.

all images and information courtesy of Dreaming Lion LLC and Aminals.

Buy them here.

Aminals is certified by GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) an internationally recognized body that certifies that all fibers and processes involved in the manufacture of Aminals meet strict standards for organic, sustainable and humane textile production. Every processing step that brings Aminals to you, from farming through spinning, weaving, washing and dyeing meet or exceed these criteria.