Wondernik is a new company that makes STEM (science, technology, engineer, math) toys and smart stuffed animals for boys and girls without differentiation.
The company is founded by Yvonne Lin, along with Tara Marchionna and Andrea Floren. They want to “bridge the big pink and blue divide in the toy section”. They don’t agree with the notion that girls should play with toys that are focused only toward creativity and boys only with toys with a focus towards maths. Both boys and girls can and should benefit from both types of toys and that is what Wondernik is aiming for.
As a kid, Lin explained to Bustle, she loved to build things and to make art. However, she had trouble finding toys that combined these two activities, since the former is typically designated “for boys” while the latter is more often marketed to girls. In the same time arts and crafts kits are boring, Lin says. They don’t teach anything other than “pre-1800 technology, like knitting, crocheting, and beading”.
Boys’ toys on the other hand are only good for gadgets, robots and cars, but don’t really allow to build much else. Both things are very limiting to children, Lin says. So, Wondernik is combining the two types of toys into one. This means talking stuffed animals, animatronic tails and many more. So far there are three ready toy kits with more coming.
Children can make the toys themselves with the available parts in the kits. They will learn how to operate with batteries, LEDs, speakers, motors, buttons, switches and many more. They will also be able to make the toys unique by personalizing or changing parts from them. This will help learn skills like sewing, drawing, even sculpting. You can find out more about the toys and see the talking stuffed animal in action in the video below:
