Grapat Toys – Wonderful Open-ended Treasures to Fall in Love

Grapat toys came into our lives three years ago, and I am so happy they did. We were living in London, my son had just been born, and my daughter was three years old when we had been gifted the Grimms Rainbow. So I started researching open-ended wooden toys, and I saw Grapat coins, rings, and nins. I had never heard of them, and was surprised to discover that Joguines Grapat were actually from where we are from (Catalonia in Spain). We bought some coins and rings, which is how our collection and love story started. We love them.

We’ve added more to the collection with other loose parts, the tinker tray, tomtens, loose mandala parts, Lolas, petal platforms, and little things- they are all our open-ended wooden treasures. What I love about them is that they give wings to our imagination. They allow us to be creative in ways we had not thought of. We use them for small world play, open-ended play, pretend play, free play, experiments, counting, etc. They are simply brilliant, beautiful, and feel so lovely.

About Grapat

Before I share our collection and how we play, let me tell you a bit about Joguines Grapat. 

Joguines Grapat is a family project that came to be when the founders left the city to bring up their children in a more natural environment. They saw children’s play as a sacred moment that should not be interrupted and where adults should take a step back and let them play at their speed and create their own rules. (The only limitations to be set are: respect & not hurting oneself, others, the environment, the material, and the creations of others).

They believe that the game in children is like an earthquake that can not be stopped, however much we adults try with all our strength. Their wooden toys come without instructions and as an invitation to let free play, without the time and slowly. You can learn more about them on their website.

Grapat is also from my homeland, and I was so surprised to discover them three years ago when living in the U.K., not having heard of them when I was back home (2 years before). They are doing a fantastic job and also being completely plastic-free. These beautiful creations are conquering hearts worldwide, and we are not surprised. They are magical! Not a spec of plastic on their products or packaging. 

How we play at home

At home, we mix and match all kinds of toys. We play with plastic toys, wooden toys, stuffed animals, open-ended, close-ended – all types of toys! As a result, my children are having a lot of fun discovering the world through them. I feel that it is good for them to find a balance and experience all types of materials (but I do have a soft spot for open-ended wooden toys – and those are the ones I buy and ask to be gifted). 

Many people ask me if my children play with Grapat and other wooden toys and also have the rest, and they do. They combine them. My son will feed carrots (Mandala orange and green cones) to his Iron man, put out fires (mandala fire) from Connetix buildings with his fire truck, pretend to be a shopkeeper accepting only grapat coins, and many more ideas.

These are some ideas of what we like to do with our Grapat toys:

1- Mandalas

2- Flatlay designs

3- Small world play

4- Pretend play

5- Stacking

6- Building

7- Spinning

8- Color sorting games

9- Counting games

10- Threading

11 – Pattern sequencing and placing activities

The great thing about these toys (or resources) is that they are not just for children but also for those who like to play like children (the age doesn’t matter). I enjoy creating mandalas and flat lays a lot. It’s a peaceful and mindful activity that sets me in a pleasant mood for the day. After I’ve woken up the children and gotten them ready for school, once they are out the door, I gift myself 10 minutes of creating (if the day allows it). I make, shoot some pictures, and put everything back in its place. Then I am ready for the day. (I don’t do it every day, but 2 or 3 times a week, why yes).

Why do I like Grapat toys?

When you open a Grapat box, you immediately see that every loose part has been created with love and care. They are beautiful to see and beautiful to touch. I remember the first time I got some grapat mandala boxes, and some family members were puzzled. “What is this for?”. “What will you do with that?”. Of course, I only smiled and said, “You’ll see.” At that point, I was thinking mainly of creating mandalas and designs, but I didn’t realize then that we would be using them in so many more ways.

Although there are so many different toys in our collection, let me list a few things that I love that are common to them:

– They are naturally and colorfully beautiful. The wood is lovely, and the dyes they use give the pieces such beautiful hues that they are just so pleasant to play with.

– Connection with nature. They are, of course, made of wood, and that has a direct link, but the mandala shapes and colors promote play inspired by nature, and we enjoy playing with leaves and sticks outdoors.

– Open-ended resources with endless possibilities. The boxes come without instructions to invite free play. There is no right or wrong way to play. (But if you are ever stuck doing the same thing, or you feel you are not reaching your full potential, you can always come here for some ideas 😉 ).

– Intergenerational play. We can play with it together as a family. From child to grandparents and it is just fantastic to be creating together.

– Helps develop fine motor skills and problem-solving

– Counting resources. They are great for counting! Start small and go big.

– Develops design & color sensibility. They have a beautiful color palette that makes all creations lovely. It is fantastic for pattern creation that could help later on in coding.

– Helps slow down, focus, gain awareness and find peace. 

Our Grapat toys collection

We have 33 toys from Joguines Grapat. These kinds of toys are not cheap, but they are so worth it. The good thing about Grapat is that they sell them in small units and you can buy them little by little. For example, a Mandala box might cost around 15€ (£14). So they are easy to add to the collection little by little. We have saved to acquire them for special occasions (or when I felt like I deserved it 😂). These toys have been birthday presents, Christmas gifts, and a couple just because. So, after three years and two children, I am happy to share our collection.

Grapat Loose Parts

Wooden loose parts are fantastic resources for open-ended play. Loose parts play is a fun way to connect and have fun together. There are no rules, there is no right or wrong, you learn from your children, and they learn from you. I believe it is magical. These are the loose parts we have from Grapat:

• Coins
• Rings
• Spools
• Half spheres
• Large hoop
• Ball
• Cones
• Honeycomb beaker
• Wooden disks
• Cup

And how do we play with them? Here are some ideas: treasure basket, placing things inside & outside, threading, stacking, etc. 

You can see more ideas in this blog post about Grapat Loose parts.

Grapat Mandala

Grapat Mandalas are loose parts, but I’ve placed them in a different category because they deserve it. Each Grapat Mandala box comes with 36 pieces, generally with 12 pieces of the same shade (except the Rainbow eggs and mushrooms, where we have 3 of each of the 12 colors).

• Yellow Honeycombs
• Green Trees
• Pink Flowers
• Blue Waterdrops
• Red Fire
• Blue small coins
• White & Light blue Snowflakes
• Pink Flower Petals
• Yellow & Brown Mushrooms
• Orange Cones
• Green Cones
• Rainbow eggs
• Purple Pinecones
• Yellow Tulips
• Rainbow mushrooms
• Grey pebbles
• Purple eggs

Here are just a few ideas of how we like to play with these beautiful colored parts, hoping they will spark new ways to play for you.

Natural Mandalas

The Natural Wood Mandala set is beautiful if you enjoy playing with natural wooden toys. They are just so lovely. It’s a collection of 120 pieces in 10 different shapes. You have 10 of the most iconic mandala shapes in natural wood: drops, snowflakes, cones, flowers, mushrooms, honeycombs, eggs, pebbles, trees, and pineapples. So you have 12 of each to start creating. 

Grapat Lolas

The first time I saw the Lola box, I was mesmerized. The Lola set is a set of 72 pieces, a combination of tubes with little people – the Lolas- that nest into each other in 12 colors of the rainbow. When you open the box, you find this magnificent setup of cylinders in 6×6, all organized as the rainbow.

When you take them out, you see that each color has these six pieces:

• One tube
• One half-tube (tube with bottom)
• One solid-tube / cylinder
• One large Lola
• One medium Lola
• One small Lola

Again, the possibilities with them are endless. Here you have a few ideas of what we do.

If you’d like to see more about the Lolas, check out this blog post where I exclusively focus on them. We love them!.

Grapat Petal Platforms

In 2022 Grapat released a set of 24 platforms shaped like petals. They are sturdy and thick and an excellent addition to the playroom. When my son got home from school and saw what I had bought, he went directly to them. 

Grapat describes them as “Perfect unstructured material that lends itself to different open-ended play activities. They can be used as platforms for free construction play and Mandala arrangements.”

So far, we’ve stacked them, arranged them in flat designs, used them with the mandalas, and pretended they were pizza slices. They were delicious 😉

Tomtens

These tiny people (elves?) from Grapat are simply gorgeous. Made from wood and dyed with the colors of the rainbow, they feel lovely to the touch. Fantastic for open-ended play and the greenest toys we’ve ever found. They are wonderful for small world play.

Little Things

They present it as a wish box with a little figure inside. It is really something unique. Hide treasures inside it like buttons, tiny pebbles, flowers, beads, or even a tooth for the Tooth Fairy or Ratoncito Perez (whoever comes to your house). Use them for stacking other loose parts on their heads. My children use them as dummies/pacifiers when they are pretending they are babies. But you can also spin the little figure as a spinning top, which is what we usually do with them.

Tinker Tray

We got the Grapat tinker tray a couple of years ago, and I realize we have used it basically for two things:

– storing

– color sorting

We use it for our loose parts and other things we have at home. You name it, cars, animals, stones, leaves, pinecones, shells, dolls. It is lovely. I’ve seen people using it to decorate or invite elements of a new season or holiday. We’ll have to try them.

We also turn it upside down, and use the flat bottom as a rectangular platform for other activities, like counting games, or flatlays.

Where to buy Grapat toys

If you want to buy Grapat toys, you will most likely find them in toy shops with open-ended toys or Waldorf and Montessori-style toy stores. Probably in the biggest city near you, you might have some that you can go in and explore. I go to Aúpali in Barcelona – I love to wander around.

If that were not the case for you, luckily, there are online stores where you’ll be able to find them. Unfortunately, Grapat toys are not listed on Amazon. So, I am sharing other web pages I have bought from while living in the U.K. and Spain (some are local, but others have international deliveries). Additionally, although I haven’t been there, from their Instagram and accounts of people living there, I will also recommend other places worldwide (based on their comments and opinions). 

Store with International deliveries

• Babipur.co.uk – You’ll even find a whole Grapat section on their site, and they deliver worldwide.
• Oskar’s Wooden Ark – They are based in Australia, and they also provide international shipping to selected countries (New Zealand; United States; Canada, Singapore & South Korea) using Australia Post.

Store with delivery in the UK

• Babipur – of course, you have Babipur. They are from the U.K., and you’ll find all the Grapat Mandala pieces here.

Stores with delivery in Spain and Portugal

• Jugar i Jugar – Their toy portfolio is beautiful. It’s been my favorite online option lately if you are in Spain. Their customer service is excellent. If you purchase before 2 pm, you get your delivery the next day.
• Aúpali – It is a store in Barcelona, located in the neighborhood of Sarrià, filled with surprising toys that you’ll love. If you are ever in town, I suggest you make a stop. They also have an online store that delivers to the whole Peninsula and the Islands.

Store with delivery in the USA

• Bella Luna Toys – They have a wide selection of Grapat toys and most Mandalas. I’ve never ordered with them (I haven’t been in the U.S. since I’ve had children), but they seem very nice, have a lovely online store, and have excellent customer reviews.

Store with delivery in Australia & New Zealand.

• Oskar’s Wooden Ark – Here is another passionate Grapat bunch. Based in Australia, they also provide international shipping to selected countries (New Zealand; United States; Canada, Singapore & South Korea) using Australia Post.
• Little Toy Tribe – Is a small family-owned business from Brisbane. They are currently shipping orders within Australia through their website. If you are from New Zealand, contact them through email with the list of what you’d like, and they’ll send a shipping quote. 

Store with delivery in Malaysia

• Bueno Blocks – Bueno Blocks has an impressive range of Grapat toys. They are a very kind family-owned business that wishes to bring these toys to families in Malaysia.

Growing up with Grapat toys

I feel that my children are enjoying growing up surrounded by these types of toys and that it is beneficial for them. They can play just with them or use them to complement their play with other kinds of toys they love. In addition, I feel that when we get our Grapat toys and loose parts out, it is a fantastic excuse to play together and create as a family. 

I recently read that the less a toy does, the more a child does because they have to put more of their imagination and creativity to play. And it is fascinating just to let them play and see what they come up with. They will surprise you, and you will feel proud. I know. The moments around these toys are magical.

We hope you’ll enjoy them as much as we do! Happy playing!

P.S: Hey! If you liked this blog post, you might also like these posts as well. I hope they might be helpful!