Infant & Toddler
0-3 years
Preschool
3-6 years
Primary
6-12 years
At Teia Education & Play, we are as passionate about the brands we sell as the learning materials, toys, children’s books, reference books and artist grade toxin-free creative supplies themselves!
Each brand that you see below has been carefully selected and thoroughly tested by us to ensure that they are:
High Quality
Ethically Made
Non-Toxic
CE Certified
Durable
and most importantly FUN!
To make sure we only stock the very best Montessori materials and toys, and items that fit with Waldorf Steiner, Froebel and traditional pedagogy, we work closely with the companies themselves to champion our shared values.
We are also proud to be the official Swiss stockist for ethical brands including, but not limited to, Nienhuis Montessori, Grapat, Grimm’s, Ostheimer, 5 Little Bears, Threewood, Erzi and SINA Spielzeug.
Take a look below to find out a little bit more about each company, their story and exactly why we love them so much!
5 Little Bears
Australian brand 5 Little Bears create sustainable, educational and sensory wooden learning materials for children. All entirely handmade from sustainably sourced Australian and New Zealand timber in New South Wales, Australia, their range of high quality themed resources include space, dinosaurs, flora and fauna, transport, emotions and Australiana.
Adventerra Games
Adventerra Games is a Swiss company located in Canton Ticino, specialising in environmentally themed educational games for children. Born of a desire to inspire families to respect nature and safeguard our planet, the Adventerra games develop a child’s self-awareness about the effects her or his behaviour has on our shared environment.
Ailefo
Danish brand Ailefo bring parents a safe, non-toxic and natural option of organic modelling clay. The modelling clay is free from harmful ingredients and contains 98% certified organic ingredients. It is produced in a small factory on the beautiful island of Bornholm, Denmark to the highest standards of sustainability, allergy friendliness and Scandinavian design.
Arts & Crafts – Heutink
Heutink International’s Arts & Crafts materials encourage children to freely develop their creative skills, which helps develop their motor skills, social and emotional intelligence, spatial orientation, concentration, communication and problem solving skills. All the Arts & Crafts products offered are of the highest quality, comply with international safety standards and sustainable.
Bajo
Eco-friendly Polish brand BAJO is an innovative company which bases its principles on sustainable development and offering wooden toys used as pedagogical aids in kindergartens as well as for educational and for rehabilitation purposes. All BAJO high-quality toys and furnishings are made by hand in Poland using wood from certified local suppliers and non-toxic paints.
Crayon Rocks
Made in rural Kentucky, USA, from soybean wax, Crayon Rocks are designed by a schoolteacher to teach the correct pencil grip. They are a unique colouring toy for young children. Vibrantly coloured, they create beautifully textured child artwork similar to oil pastels. Crayon Rocks are non-toxic and conform to ASTM D-4236, ASTM F-963, EN71-3 and CPSIA.
Debresk
Swedish brand Debresk high-quality, handmade natural wooden toys are smoothly shaped from pine and birch. Debresk’s philosophy is to provide Waldorf toys made from living materials to promote the child’s relationship with the living world, and to cultivate an appreciation of beauty and caring for the things around us. Debresk toys are to be enjoyed for generations.
Donkey Products
Donkey Products is a German design label and a team of product developers whom come up with innovations and fun gifts, each with a little story, that put a smile on everyones face. Donkey products are made for curious, design-conscious, interested and open people. They are 100% German design and mostly produced in Europe with a focus on ensured safe and certified manufacturing process.
Droomdeurtjes
Droomdeurtjes (“Dream Doors”) is a Dutch brand, founded by Margreet & Sonja. The dream door invites children to create their own safe place and let their imagination run free. An Elf or Dragon friend is always there to share the child’s wishes or experiences, and to encourage the child to do something brave. They also comfort the child, helping them see that even difficult situations can work out.
Educo
The Dutch brand Educo represents a colourful world of playful learning, new ideas and challenging educational games. Learning instinctively through play, children gain valuable experiences that encourage them to grow and develop. Educo’s active, hands-on educational products are mainly made of wood, very durable, encourage play-based learning and inspire growth and success in children aged 1-6 years.
Eperfa
Hungarian brand Eperfa’s pretend play and educational toys encourage children to explore freely and at their own pace. Inspired by nature, namely the landscape and wildlife around the Hungarian capital city Budapest and Lake Balaton, the high quality Eperfa toys are handmade and hand-painted in the brand’s small family run workshop in Budapest as well as by physically or socially disadvantaged people.
Erzi
German brand Erzi are renowned for their high quality and durable educationally valuable classic wooden toys, including the highly detailed and realistic wooden play food. The brand takes great pride in their traditional Saxon high standards of craftsmanship and sustainably produces their range of wooden toys exclusively from FSC-certified and local solid wood and non-toxic, water-based paints and varnishes.
Fanny & Alexander
Argentinian brand Fanny & Alexander create beautiful high-quality wooden toys and books encouraging simple, natural and safe play as a welcome antidote to our digital age. They are crafted using thoughtfully sourced hardwoods and soft leather, using contrasting wood combinations instead of paint so that each toy is completely natural and safe for even the youngest children to enjoy.
Filges
German brand Filges is well-known for high-quality organic wool, felt, silk, linen and handicrafts tools. Their sustainable and beautiful products made in Germany are environmentally friendly, pollutant-free and ecologically responsible. Filges is a certified Bioland processing company for sheep’s wool, and a member of the International Association of the Natural Textile Industry.
Filia
Environmentally friendly Danish brand Filia have been creating their oil crayons for almost 70 years. Filia’s iconic oil crayons have been a classic for decades in Danish schools, home settings and are well-beloved art tools in Waldorf Steiner schools worldwide. The square shaped oil crayons are highly pigmented and are produced sustainably in Denmark using only pure and natural ingredients.
Flockmen
Latvian brand Flockmen creates natural unfinished wooden toys, entirely made by hand from locally sourced Baltic wood. Their versatile range of toys is designed for creative play, discovery, learning, developing skills and concepts like sorting, matching, ordering, logic, spatial relations, recognition, organisation, planning and balance. Flockmen toys encourage the child’s imagination to run free.
Glückskäfer
Glückskäfer is a traditional German brand of pedagogically valuable toys that support childhood development and are designed in collaboration with pedagogues, parents, doctors and midwives. Following Waldorf and Montessori principles these beautiful handmade toys aim to promote a child’s development through creative and independent play. Glückskäfer toys are to be treasured for generations.
Gonzagarredi Montessori
The first company to produce Montessori materials over 100 years ago in collaboration with Maria Montessori, Gonzagarredi still produces AMI certified Montessori materials. They also offer a large range of high-quality furniture and tailor made solutions for the prepared Montessori environment, schools, childcare centres and libraries. All of their products are consistent with Maria Montessori’s guidelines.
Goober
Innovative Korean brand Goober create tactile, fun and non-toxic crayons from natural bean wax designed to be mess-free as they do not stain hands. The eco-friendly Goober crayons are moulded in wonderfully appealing shapes such as lego building bricks and peanuts and are perfect for small hands. Each of the brand’s products is made from non-toxic materials safe for children and are third-party safety tested for EN71 & ASTM.
Grapat
The Spanish family-run brand Grapat offers handmade wooden toys without instructions. Their unique and beautifully crafted open-ended toys favour free and autonomous play. Inspired by the Waldorf pedagogy, the Grapat philosophy of natural simplicity is based on providing children with a few basic items and allowing them to create their own games and imaginary worlds with toys that encourage, invite and stimulate creativity.
Grimm’s
Grimm’s is a family owned German toy brand renowned for handmade high-quality and durable wooden toys since 1978. The designs of the Grimm’s toys are guided by the principles of Waldorf and Montessori education and embrace the natural, unique qualities of wood. All Grimm’s toys are made of wood from sustainably managed forests in Europe and finished with water-based, non-toxic and saliva-fast glazes and oils.
Jegro
Supporting the transition from informal to formal acting, Dutch brand Jegro caters to the market with mainly handmade wooden mathematics and language learning materials adapted to the educational needs of children aged 6-12 years. Jegro was founded in 1913 and to this day, the brand’s educational materials are still mainly made by hand at the Noord Nederlandse Stempel- en Leermiddelenfabriek in the Netherlands.
Kikkerland & Huckleberry
Dutch brand Kikkerland Design represents independent, self-producing designers from around the world, and has a line of products. They give back to local and global organisations, which range from ecological restoration projects to creative writing and design programs for underserved youth. Huckleberry is a line of simple tools and toys perfect for any outdoor adventure, while experiencing the beauty of nature.
Lanco
Spanish brand Lanco is a sustainable, eco-friendly and socially conscious company specialized in natural rubber baby toys which are toxin-free and safe for babies from the very first month of life. Lanco’s organic teething toys are the perfect alternative to plastic and are made by hand from natural rubber from the white sap of the Hevea Brasiliensis tree. All Lanco toys are certified to European safety requirements EN 71.
Larsen
Larsen is a sustainably Norwegian family owned company beloved worldwide for their high quality, fun and educational tray style jigsaw puzzles. Founded in 1953, the Larsen puzzles are sustainably made from recycled cardboard at the family-owned factory in the south of Norway. The Larsen puzzle pieces are strong, durable and precision-cut for satisfying placement and self-checking.
Le Toy Van
Founded in 1995, Le Toy Van is an English family-run toy brand that believes childhood should be enjoyed to the full. Their high quality and traditional wooden toys with contemporary styling encourage early learning through imaginative role play. Le Toy Van’s toys are ethically made from sustainable materials such as replenishable rubber wood and are finished with non-toxic water-based paint.
Lily & Mel
Spanish brand Lily & Mel create plastic-free DIY kits perfect for little explorers to create, play and learn while developing a love and respect for nature. Their kits encourage creative thinking and are made by hand in Spain with materials from local suppliers, are 100% eco friendly and sustainable. Every single part of the packaging is biodegradable, compostable and fully recyclable.
LYRA
LYRA stands for the art of creativity. One of the oldest colouring pencil brands in the world, LYRA was founded in Germany and is known for its top quality products and offers a comprehensive product range for graphic arts. Their sturdy and long-lasting colouring pencils are used in schools worldwide and are very comfortable to hold. LYRA uses efficient methods to produce their products with a close eye on the environment.
Mercurius
Mercurius is the leading supplier of products with a high pedagogical value tailored to the needs of Waldorf schools and teachers, and to traditional schools. Their range of products includes hand-crafted and high quality creative materials, handmade toys and curriculum support materials. Mercurius actively embraces social and environmental responsibilities and is committed to offering only safe products of the highest quality.
Montessori-Pierson Publishing
The Netherlands-based Montessori-Pierson Publishing Company publishes and distributes books and previously unpublished writings by Dr. Maria Montessori in various languages. Their extensive range of books are a key element to Association Montessori Internationale guides trainings and uphold, propagate and further Dr. Maria Montessori’s principles and practices for the full development of the human being.
Moon Picnic
US brand Moon Picnic create unique and fun wooden handmade toys carefully designed to engage children in a creative and imaginative childhood full of play. Their high quality toys are all produced to the highest standards using sustainably sourced natural materials and non-toxic, water-based paints. Several of the wooden toys in the collection are made and painted by hand in Germany by Erzi.
Moulin Roty
Moulin Roty is a French toy brand renowned for quality and style. Their charming range of toys have distinctively French designs and fabrics in a mix of modern style with nostalgic fun. Each beautiful toy has real character, telling a story and making an emotional connection with the child. Child safety is Moulin Roty’s priority and every toy complies with the European standard NF-EN71 and bears the CE mark.
Namaki
France based Namaki was the first organic face paint and make-up brand for children and offer water-based, hypoallergenic and certified organic make-up kits which are made in France from ingredients that respect the skin and health of children. All raw materials for the formulation of Namaki products are selected with much care and are certified natural and organic and are not tested on animals.
Nanchen Natur
German brand Nanchen Natur have been making handmade high-quality traditional Waldorf dolls in their small workshop in Martinhagen, Germany since 1983. Each of the Nanchen dolls has its own character with an individually hand-painted face. Only materials from controlled organic cultivation and controlled organic farming are used such as 100% organic pure new wool to stuff the dolls by hand.
Natural Earth Paint
Natural Earth Paint was founded in 2011 by Leah Fanning, a professional artist, mom and environmentalist and create truly non-toxic yet very high quality art supplies. Leah is committed to a truly eco-friendly business model; her company was awarded a Gold certification from Green America. The paint is environmentally friendly, safe, easily washed from hands and clothing, quick drying and completely natural.
Nienhuis Montessori
Dutch brand Nienhuis Montessori is the world’s leading Montessori brand, continuing Maria Montessori’s legacy. Nienhuis Montessori manufactures the widest and most innovative range of Montessori materials, furniture, curriculum support and related products. AMI certified, their high quality educational products provide children with the tools they need to become independent and critical thinkers.
Oioiooi
Oioiooi is a Korean brand offering tactile, natural wooden toys with simple but considerate designs that stimulate children and let them experience the world through play. A design studio of mothers, the brand is dedicated to create warm and joyful play experiences. Oioiooi’s delightful, natural and sustainable wooden toys are safe for children, made with solid maple and walnut wood and finished with beeswax.
Ostheimer
Ostheimer is an indispensable Waldorf toy brand known for wooden figures and animals. The high quality Ostheimer wooden toys inspire children to embrace the world with all their senses and to immerse themselves freely in creative and imaginative play. Each wooden Ostheimer toy is individually crafted by hand in Germany with high-quality, environmentally-friendly raw materials, guaranteeing safety for children at play.
Play & Go
Belgian brand Play & Go offer clever, creative and stylish toy storage and a great play mats in one. Their high quality products encourage play anywhere, at home or away, and make organising and tidying toys quick and easy. Play & Go’s play bags cq. play mats are specially designed and crafted to be durable and long-lasting and are manufactured under world-class environmental protection standards.
Rock & Pebble
US based Rock & Pebble is a little company specialising in handmade wooden toys made from solid wood from certified forests, beautiful homewares and creative paper products. Their creations are poetic, imaginative, playful and artistic and are suitable for children of all ages. All Rock & Pebble refined and modern designed products are natural, non toxic and sustainable.
Rolf
Dutch brand Rolf has a love for education at its heart. Every toy and educational material is designed and manufactured sustainably in the Netherlands, ensuring high quality products that are safe, durable and provide hours of joyful play and learning. Rolf’s original and distinctive educational materials and toys are recognisable by their robust materials, vivid colours and engaging illustrations.
Safari Ltd.
US brand Safari Ltd® create ‘toys that teach’ to educate children about the importance of nature and conservation through the joy of imaginative play. Their realistic animal toy figures and learning tools use eco-friendly packaging and are non-toxic, BPA-free, lead-free and phthalate-free and are rigorously safety tested, passing and exceeding all worldwide regulations and testing standards.
Sarah’s Silks
USA based, Sarah’s Silks specialises in Waldorf-inspired, natural and sustainable toys such as playsilks, cotton play cloths, capes, fairy dresses and streamers perfect for open-ended play. The vibrantly coloured playsilks, cotton play cloths and capes are made with non-toxic, eco-friendly dyes and natural fibres ranging from 100% real silk to 100% cotton and are EU and USA safety tested for children from 3 years.
Sassi Gentili
Sassi Gentili is an ethical Italian toy brand creating beautiful educational toys which are sustainably made in Italy from 100% FSC certified beech wood and finished with non-toxic and plant-based paints and vegetable resins made from pine and apple trees. Sassi Gentili plants a tree with Ecologi for each product sold. Their wooden toys are CE certified and comply with Directive 2009/48/EC and EN71-3 safety standards.
Seccorell
German based brand Seccorell offers a unique painting system and a completely new way of working with colour and its possible uses. Their innovative non-toxic and sustainable smudge pastels in the form of paint sticks and clever art tools promote a painting technique which closes a gap between the watercolour and the pastel technique. Seccorell’s high quality products are a staple at Waldorf and primary schools around the world.
SINA Spielzeug
Family-run brand SINA Spielzeug creates high-quality handmade wooden toys in their private workshop in Germany. SINA’s sustainable range includes didactic wooden toys and wooden playing items for therapeutic use. They are licensed to produce Froebel Gaben (gifts) according to the original Friedrich Fröbel blueprints from the 1800s. SINA is a member of the Pestalozzi-Fröbel-Verband and supports the Froebel pedagogy.
SKÅGFÄ
SKÅGFÄ is a Scandinavian and Mediterranean design house specialising in minimalist simplicity of lines and fusion of colours, combined with great functionality and high quality. Their beautiful children’s products include wooden Montessori-inspired tools that let children join in and be self-sufficient. Using only top-quality, non-toxic materials, all SKÅGFÄ products are hand finished in small quantities in Spain.
Stapelstein
German brand Stapelstein brings children wonderfully fun and active toys that turn every room into an adventure playground. Inspired by the Pikler pedagogy, Stapelstein want to inspire free play and free movement in even the youngest child. Carefully and simply designed, each Stapelstein product is 100% made in Germany from pure, resource-saving EPP and do not contain plasticisers, softeners or additives.
Studio WMO
Studio WMO is a Dutch brand specialising in bespoke wooden products such as Waldorf nature tables and solid wood card and picture holders. Based in Gouda, the brand’s founder Wido works as a small independent contractor. The production of the wooden creations, meant to last for generations, is mostly handicraft using as many sustainable and high quality materials as possible. Such as wood, natural oil and sometimes wool felt.
Stockmar
Used in Waldorf Steiner schools all over the world, German brand Stockmar produces high quality art materials such as modelling beeswax, crayons and paints. Using beeswax, their art materials are non-toxic and produced to the highest pedagogical, artistic, social and environmental standards. The colour range is based on Goethe’s colour circle and is consistent across all products for harmony between colours.
Studio Wald
Studio Wald is an English brand with a collection of unique and high-quality paper goods, homewares, creative products such as flower presses and whimsical prints, all made in England with care and attention to ideas, pattern and process. The brand works closely with local producers and produces all their paper products mainly in their home county of Yorkshire using either 100% recycled or FSC certified paper.
Toys for Life
Toys for Life is a Dutch brand that offers a range of affordable educational products to be applied in the area of education at home as well as at school. The range of colourful learning sets has been developed in close cooperation with the team behind the Heutink brand Educo. The high quality Toys for Life products support play-based learning in the areas of mathematics, language and motor development.
Threewood
Threewood are a small but wonderful Ukrainian wooden toy brand making natural, handmade wooden educational resources inspired by the Montessori pedagogy. Their solid wood educational toys are cleverly designed to stimulate the development of various parts of the brain and enhance the learning of new skills. They are lovingly handmade from locally sourced Ukrainian oak wood in their workshop in Kiev.
Vilac
French brand Vilac’s high quality, safe and durable wooden toys are made to endure and are pleasant to the touch. They are designed in the French Jura, with a great care for detail and beautiful finishes. The wood used for the Vilac toys comes from sustainably managed forests and all lacquers and paints are guaranteed free of allergens, phthalates and lead which ensures that they can be passed from hand to mouth without risk.
Waldorf Family
Waldorf Family is an English brand offering meaningful educational products for children of all ages. Their sustainable products are inspired by nature and include resources for learning about the seasons, to tell time, the alphabet, life cycles, the weather, months of the year and the phases of the moon. The colourful handcrafted wooden learning toys are safety tested and 100% responsibly made in the UK.
Walter Spielwaren
Walter Spielwaren is a German brand known for beautiful, colourful and very durable wooden toys for babies and toddlers. All toys are made by hand in Germany from FCS certified wood and finished with only safety-tested, certified, non-toxic and mainly water-based paints and inks. Walter Spielwaren toys are didactically valuable, safe, CE certified and comply with the European standard for toy safety (EN 71).
Waytoplay
Dutch brand Waytoplay creates easy to connect and clean road parts and components which can be used on almost any surface, inside or outside. Waytoplay encourages imaginative play and creating circuits and road maps for favourite toys and vehicles. The Waytoplay road parts are made in Germany from 100% child safe and durable locally sourced PVC which is BPA, cadmium, PAH and Phthalates free.