Just for Fun

Bilibo has become something of a global sensation in the 9 years following its birth, winning toy and design awards in Germany, Switzerland, the US and the UK. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Bilibo is now being featured in an exhibit at the MoMA.

It’s part of Shape Lab, an interactive space where families can experiment with shape and composition. Shape Lab visitors can create magnetic wall-art, build with large blocks, draw, think and read about shape. And thanks to Alex Hochstrasser, the man behind Bilibo’s enchanting design, they can also spin and play with a smiling plastic shell!

Alex Hochstrasser created Bilibo for Active People in 2001, after researching and observing preschoolers’ play and speaking with childhood development experts. His goal was to make an open-ended toy that children could interact with mentally and physically. In an interview with Active People he said of Bilibo, “it’s very much about the children becoming inventors and authors themselves.”

Bilibo is a good fit for Shape Lab; it’s visually appealing and functional. Describing an impression of personality inherent in Bilibo, Hochstrasser said, “even when you have just one shell there is a smiling expression I like very much because it kind of encompasses the entire object.”

“Really good design must do more than just work. There needs to be some poetry, something magic which is very difficult to describe. I think with Bilibo I was fortunate to create a simple piece of plastic that actually seems to have something like a soul,“ he said.

“Too obvious ornaments like faces or explicit functional elements will limit the possibility to reinterpret the toy in different ways. An object that is too abstract and generic will feel cold and uninviting on the other hand. So it needs to have a character, feel friendly and trigger memories and images in a very subtle way.”

(I developed a bit of an intellectual crush on Alex Hochstrasser as I read his interview, which is why I’m quoting it so extensively.) “Bilibo also reminds me of some friendly aquatic creatures“ he said. “Personally I sometimes use Bilibos as punch-bowls when I throw a party.“

Shape Lab and Bilibo will be at the MoMA until August 30, 2010. Admission for the museum includes admission to Shape Lab. I’ve also read that families can usually go straight there without paying for museum tickets if they ask at the reception desk. Shape Lab is open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, from 10:30 am to 5 pm and Friday from 10:30 am to 6:30 pm.

This has been a Growing Tree Toys Amazing Toys Post. All quoted material is from Alex Hochstrasser’s Interview with Active People, March 2007. Photos of Bilibo at Shape Lab came from the Bilibo facebook page. Photo of Alex Hochstrasser is from his website.

Sometimes I get really excited about toys when I write the product descriptions. Recently I became obsessed with the Yomega Hot Shot Yo-Yo; so obsessed that I convinced Jon and Kim to supply me with one for a series of blog posts called “Ellen Learns to Yo-Yo with Yomega.”

Here’s the pitch that earned me my own Hot Shot:

“Ellen can’t yo-yo, even a little bit. So then she starts practicing and gets to be really sick at doing tricks and everyone is like, ‘Wow, Ellen! You did a really great job and now you’re tricks are sick.’ Would include videos. “

Sounds good, I’d like to see her pull it off. Oh no. I’m the Ellen that has to become a yo-yo master!

So far I’ve enjoyed bragging to friends about how cool my Yomega is; throwing out terms like “double axel” and “perimeter mass,” but I haven’t practiced much. I can make it return to my hand 1-2 times in a row…that’s something.

So here is the beginning of my experiment. I have very few skills that require coordination. I can’t skateboard, do swimming strokes, play hacky-sack, hula hoop, skip-it or moonwalk. I fell out of my chair and into a desk drawer just yesterday while everyone was away at the warehouse, but I will learn to yo-yo if it kills me.

My Hot Shot came with a Yomega Mania DVD which promises tricks for all levels and expert instruction from professionals. I’ll have more to say about the DVD in my next post which you will see approximately one month from now, here on the Growing Tree Toys Blog.

Stay tuned and see how this turns out.

Last Wednesday, Downtown State College was invaded by hoards of kids! They set up tables full of arts, crafts and games along Allen Street and started selling at the Arts Festival Children’s Day. As a kid, I spent hours walking down the three block stretch of crafts, buying cool toys from my peers. I still think Children’s Day is the most fun day of the festival.

This year, according to local kids’ day tradition, there were kids selling headbands with beautiful princess streamers, a few pop guns, and the requisite grass head dolls. It seems that someone in every generation reinvents these Art’s Fest staples.

I bought three exciting pieces of artwork! I couldn’t resist the little girl who had written “Portraits of Dogs 50 cents” on her display poster. She gave me an excellent picture of a sled dog team. But then I found Wild Pig and Monster Ray, two strange creatures drawn by an imaginative young man.

I picked up a copy of “Monster Ray Saves the Day” and a portrait of Wild Pig. Monster Ray is a bat-like, horned and very cool comic book hero who can fight in space. The story follows Monster Ray as his small ship gets sucked into a larger one. Creatures in the large ship come to destroy Ray’s ship, but he busts out of it and destroys them instead. Next Monster Ray saves Snarkle, his nemesis, from the crashing ship. In the last panel, Snarkle asks, “Why did you help me Monster Ray?” And Monster Ray replies “Heroes always help.” A very satisfying story.

The Growing Tree Toys Store Staff was hard at work making visors with kids outside of the store. More than 900 kids showed up to make a visor in a mad visor making dash that took less than three hours! That’s 300 visors an hour!

Despite the extreme heat, it was a successful Children’s Day. I saw some talented kids from the State College Suzuki Program, playing piano on the Allen Street stage. There was a National Marionette Theater performance of Hansel and Gretel and of course the beginnings of the giant sand sculpture in Central Parklet! There were also tons of educational activities from local wildlife organizations and art programs.

But my favorite part of the day has always been the Children and Youth Grand Procession of kids wearing paper mache masks and banners made by local artists. Luckily, I could watch it from my window!

If you missed all the fun, plan to drop by next year on July 13th. We’d love to see you here!

This has been an amazing kids post, celebrating all of our creative Pennsylvania kids! Images from the festival and marionette show are from the Central Pennsylvania Arts Festival Website. Monster Ray, Wild Pig and the Dog Sled Team are scans of the Original artwork from awesome up-and-coming artists (whose names I didn’t get permission to share, but you will know them by their imaginations)!

We haven’t seen a lot of green slime on Nickelodeon in the last 10 years. And that use to be kind of… their thing. I’m hoping for a return of the slime content and I think BrainSurge has the potential to start the revolution.

As of June 21, BrainSurge began its second season on Nickelodeon! It’s a kids’ game show reminiscent of early late 80’s and 90’s Nickelodeon shows like Double Dare, You Can’t Do that On Television and Figure it Out with lots of slime and gross contraptions.

Nickelodeon was a groundbreaking concept for kid’s television programming when it began at the end of the 1970’s. An entire network devoted to kids, fun and getting revenge on authority figures with cream pies. There was definitely a golden age of Nickelodeon that today’s kids are missing—and I don’t think I’m just being nostalgic.

In its early years, Nickelodeon produced simple, creative and inspiring television shows. Even the bumps and station id’s were weird and creative. For example, there was a series of short spots during commercial breaks in which ordinary kids with very ordinary bedrooms gave the cameras tours of their rooms.

Enough of what we’ve lost. Here’s how BrainSurge works:

The first round begins with memory puzzles that are actually pretty challenging. Two players are eliminated and sent down THE BRAINDRAIN, a long slide filled with earwax-like mush that originates from a giant ear.

In the next level the host reads a story and kids are pulled away on crazy-hand chairs with whoopee cushions if they answer story questions incorrectly. When there are only two players, they compete in a matching memory game. The final round challenges the winner to remember a pattern of lights on a floor grid, and then run across it.

If the last player completes the 6 x 6 grid before time runs out, he or she gets covered in slime and wins a grand prize! It’s a cool concept for a game show, because the viewer can work on the memory puzzles with the contestants.

Here’s to a slimy green Nickelodeon planet!

BrainSurge photo from Channel Guide Magazine. All others from FanPop.com.

We just wanted to share a neat promotion sponsored by Farm Rich, makers of tasty mozzarella sticks and other frozen foods.

Kids Who Give was launched by Farm Rich in March of this year to find amazing kids around the U.S. “with a strong understanding of the meaning and purpose behind giving to others.” Right now they have ten outstanding semifinalists that will be narrowed down to five. Please visit kidswhogive.com to read biographies and see pictures of all ten kids. If you can pick a favorite – or just spread your votes around! – vote every day from now till July 20th.

(A neat side note: at the end of each biography is this thoughtful text: “Note: In the hope of capturing the spirit of youth and integrity of the entrant’s personal story, submission content has not been edited for spelling or grammar.”)

See more about Kids Who Give on Twitter and more about Farm Rich on their Facebook.

My favorite toy at Growing Tree Toys is the Casa Cabana House, a plain-white cardboard playhouse. It’s a space that kids can use in any way they choose. It can be painted or wallpapered like a dream house. You could glue toys, jewels, fur and feathers all over it to complete a more abstract vision of home. No matter how kids chose to decorate and redecorate the Casa Cabana, the pretend play possibilities are endless and that’s why I love it as a playhouse and plaything.

I’ve been running around the internet, looking for more cardboard playhouses to love. I found three.

The Villa Julia

Spanish artist and designer, Javier Mariscal, created the Villa Julia in 2009. It’s special because it doesn’t look like the familiar four walls and peaked roof that frequently communicate, “this thing is a house” to a child. It’s modern, with long windows gathered to one side and a graceful slanted roof. It’s homey too. There’s a chimney, implying an imaginary fireplace and a spigot for gardening and outdoor chores. I think of it as a cartoon bungalow.

It’s a playhouse with style and charm. Unfortunately if you want your own Villa Julia to play with (I really, really do) then you’ll have to pay around three hundred and fifty dollars. How would I justify paying hundreds of dollars for what is essentially cardboard? I think like this, “It’s like buying a first edition print of artwork I like.”

Cardboard Cubby House

This playhouse is a little bit insane. The Cardboard Cubby House is a prototype created by Marcus Trimble and Erin Field of architecture firm, Super Colossal for the Sydney Design and Decoration trade show in 2008. It consists of 7 interlocking tubes that are open at the top to allow in light. Although this one is gigantic, Super Colossal has talked about creating a smaller, flat packed version that could fit in the trunk of a car.

So far, no version is for sale, but Super Colossal has a plan you can follow to build your own on their website. The Cardboard Cubby House is meant to be a temporary outdoor playhouse that biodegrades after a rainfall. With such a short lifespan, the Cardboard Cubby House becomes a special experience for kids.

Cardboard Apartment (Casa De Carton)

This one isn’t really a playhouse for kids. It’s an art installation by Chilean artist Luise Valdes (a.k.a. Don Lucho) made completely from cardboard, paper, white paint and marker. Unlike my other favorite playhouses, this one doesn’t focus on exterior architectural elements. It’s all about the interior details like cardboard sneakers, a toilet, kitchen utensils and hundreds of little details that make the apartment seem full.

The general disorder—from the cardboard underwear strewn about the bedroom, to the skateboard deck against the wall—the paper apartment hints at who its inhabitant might be. There’s even a cardboard car that Valdes crashed into a signpost outside the gallery.

This has been a Growing Tree Toys Amazing Toys Post. For more amazing playhouses, I recommend a playhouse blog called, A Place Imagined.