To play is to grow: Children growing beyond themselves

GRIMM'S has long been known for its high-quality open-ended play materials. They form the centrepiece of our company and are the result of our deep conviction that free play has enormous value for the positive development of children. At some point, we realised what was missing: the right environment for children to develop naturally, both in play and in all other facets of their personality.

The most important guideline for the design of children's rooms are the children themselves and the fulfilment of their needs should naturally find space in a children's room. Apart from basic human needs such as eating, sleeping, etc., a few needs of children can be summarised that a children's room should ideally take into account. These are: the need to play, the need to be able to act autonomously, the need to create something themselves and the need to be able to retreat when necessary. If there is space for all these needs, the environment can help your child to develop their imagination, independence and self-confidence.

Room for play

Playing is one of the main activities of children and not without reason: playing is learning for life. Play is therefore often modelled on real life or even imitates it in places.

A beautiful play kitchen? Voilà - that's what our UMI play kitchen is for. First and foremost, of course, it caters for all little gourmets who spend hours and years conjuring up the best button soups and pasta à la wool scraps and need the right features to do so. But it also caters for all big gourmets with aesthetic demands, because where better for a play kitchen than in or next to its role model - the big kitchen. UMI is equipped with extensive and loving details. All doors are easy to open and the control knobs can of course be turned - otherwise it won't switch on ; ). Everything is at eye level and within easy reach for little hands.

Playstands are similarly popular with children. Our SHIZU playstand is such a suitable piece of furniture for children's rooms because it is versatile and, above all, takes children's height into account. Even the little ones can reach the shelves without any help. It invites children to play, build, hide and sort. Children can become shop assistants or doll parents, cave builders and anything else they can think of. With its maximum flexibility, SHIZU leaves plenty of room for imaginative play.

Puppet theatres are also totally fascinating for children. Stories are invented and (re)told here. It is a place to try things out and to communicate honestly and sensitively. That's why we have our KOICHI puppet theatre, which, with its simple appearance, provides the ideal stage for imaginative scenarios and adventurous stories. It is also particularly versatile and can be used as a two-storey doll's house, ice cream parlour, post office or much more. For example, it can be placed on the AKI stool or the ZINZAN table to raise it.

The true meaning of our ZINZAN and NOZOMI tables was actually demonstrated to us by children - they attract and become the centre of free play. This makes them centrepieces both in the children's room and in our furniture collection. With their height, they offer children an ideal surface for building and playing. If they are accessible from as many sides as possible, they form a centre and provide space for several people to play together.

While ZINZAN requires a little less space, our NOZOMI table with its large dimensions is particularly suitable for a rather spacious room where there is still enough room to move around. If this is the case, it is highly likely that it will rarely be empty and the most beautiful playscapes will stretch out on it.

Our HARU and HARU LARGE stools have significantly smaller dimensions and can be used as small play tables in smaller rooms or in the corners of rooms, inviting children to play on them.

Of course, you can also play on the floor, but we have actually found that slightly raised surfaces are always popular with children and that the height is also more comfortable for adults to reach and encourages them to engage with the here and now by sitting and playing close to the floor.

Room for autonomy

Many people are certainly familiar with the autonomy phase. However, compared to other phases, it doesn't just pass - and that's a good thing. Because in principle, it is the beginning of an independence that will accompany your child for a lifetime.

Our SHIZU play stand encourages children to be independent. Being able to choose and tidy up their own play materials can be a source of pride and shows children (and parents) what they can already do. SHIZU serves as an open shelf where play materials can be sorted and stored in baskets or boxes and everything has its place.

Appropriate storage is an important point in the children's room, as it prevents too much chaos that nobody wants to tidy up. If everything really has its place and there is not too much play material on offer so that children can keep an overview, the odd discussion about the tiresome topic of tidying up will also be a thing of the past.

Low shelves with books or smaller play materials facilitate independent access and show the selection options. The contents can be changed from time to time and orientated to the season, current interests or upcoming events. Our YORI, REIZO and RIN shelves are available in various sizes and with different features, such as hooks, bars and boards, so there is something to suit all needs.

Our YORI, YORI PLAIN and YORI LARGE shelves, for example, are ideal as small coat racks, as their hooks and shelves allow you to hang up jackets independently as well as store hats and small items.

Our RIN and RIN LARGE shelves are ideal for displaying a selection of books or handcrafted works of art.
And our REIZO shelf combines the practical functionality of a clothes rail with a shelf surface on the wall and the option of customising it with a circular recess for small vases or our AIKA mug.

To support the sense of time in everyday life, it is often a good orientation for children if there is an accessible weekly schedule that is easy to ‘read’ depending on their age. Our MASARU note board can be the basis for this and make everyday life with daycare, school, hobbies and appointments a little clearer for children so that they can be more involved in processes.

Room for creation

Children are incredibly creative. This doesn't even mean that they are necessarily good at handicrafts. But they just often have really good ideas for expressing themselves or topics that concern them. Creating something according to their own ideas is an expression of experiences, feelings, thoughts etc. and is incredibly valuable for getting to know themselves better. These can be handicrafts or painted pictures, but also collected natural treasures, photos or other objects that have some kind of meaning for children. Therefore, on the one hand, they need the space to create and, on the other, the space to present what they have created.

Together with a seat cushion, our ZINZAN and NOZOMI tables are wonderful places to get creative, paint and do handicrafts. The HARU LARGE stool is also ideal as a smaller work table with the AKI stool as a seat.

A desk is a place of concentration and a place of creativity. With its multifunctionality, our FUYU children's desk supports precisely this range between focussed thoughts and completely free design. The AKI stool also goes well here as a seat.
Even children like to collect and what they collect are usually objects or small snippets with notes or painted pictures and each individual item is full of memories and emotions. Our MASARU note board is a place where life is documented. With its thoughtful and loving details, MASARU invites you to create your very own little place of remembrance. Each designed MASARU hanging in a child's room shows the little individual universe of a child.

Our SHIZU playstand also offers wonderful presentation space on its shelves and the same naturally applies to our RIN, YORI and REIZO wall shelves.

Room for retreat

A room within a room is often a real magnet for children. Either to play in, or to retreat and relax from the stresses and strains of everyday life at nursery or school with a book in their hands or music in their ears. This small room within a large room can be particularly cosy and create a special feeling of comfort with warm light and soft materials.

Our SHIZU playstand with the roof against a wall is really suitable for this or, for a larger house, two of them can be placed together with the roofs and then laid out on the floor with mattresses, blankets, cushions and furs to make it nice and cosy. What's really practical is that you can then fill the shelves of the play stand with books, cuddly toys etc. and the children then have everything they need to find peace and quiet.

Many children love books and that's why they should not be missing in any child's room. The choice of books is entirely up to the child and is best orientated towards their current interests. To display the books attractively, it is always a good option to display not only the spines but also the fronts of the books. A wall shelf, such as our RIN shelf, is ideal for this, as it always has space for a small selection of the current favourites and keeps them within easy reach.

Some schoolchildren who do their homework at home can do it better in a quiet place where they can retreat than at the busy dining table. That's why we have our FUYU children's desk, which, with its integrated RIN shelf, offers storage space in addition to the work surface and keeps small items such as erasers and pencils out of sight.

Nature always brings a very special kind of tranquillity into the home. With collected natural treasures or small twigs and flowers, which can then be given a beautiful place in the room in our AIKA mug, for example. Bringing nature in (or going out into nature, of course) always means grounding yourself a little, becoming aware of your roots and simply being allowed to be in the here and now.

The design of our furniture is of course no coincidence. They are aesthetic, functional and purist and therefore very special and grow with the child. The names of the pieces of furniture are Japanese and all have a deep and beautiful meaning. If you would like to find out more about our furniture, you are welcome to take a look at the FURNITURE category on our website. Das ist auch ein Grund dafür, dass Spielküchen bei Kindern so beliebt sind.

The natural development of your child is therefore at the centre of all considerations relating to the children's room. Orienting yourself towards the general needs of children can help you design a suitable room for them. With older children, the focus can be more on the individual child and naturally include their personal wishes and suggestions. Our furniture combines flexibility, functionality and aesthetics and is therefore timeless and grows with the child. By catering to children's needs and showing them what they can already do without help, they create an environment that gives them space to play imaginatively and develop at their own pace. This actively encourages their self-confidence and independence and we teach them: 

You're not too small for anything here!