Toys! Toys! Toys!

They play a major role in a kid’s childhood days. As a parent and with the boom of globalization we have so many options at our hands reach. So how to keep it simple and yet interesting? How to make sure that the kids are not loaded with unwanted toys ? How to make that right choice?

As a mom when I buy toys for my kid I made sure they were safe and of a good quality. Many parents tend to buy a toy on the go without much research and even invest on least expensive toys as they think the kid wouldn’t show much interest after playing one or two times or the kid would just break that down.

Now this is the biggest issue, don’t buy something because it’s cheap. Toys help make memories hence it’s good to give the best memories with good toys.

So how do we refine and select those good toys?

Go for reviews? Unlike our parents we are at the luxury of knowing whether a toy is worth it or not just by some clicks. Listen what the fellow parents are talking about?

Now each kid is different and the toy which would interest one kid may not interest the other one. So it’s important to see what your kid is most interested in? Some trial and error is not that bad.

Until the age of 2, my kid had only handful of toys, a wooden push walker, some rattles and a dummy phone. It was more than enough for him and he was much more interested in my slippers, spoons and vessels. He would make sure the slippers never stay in the rack and it has to be showcased on the tv table and the spoon and vessel helped him to compose music.

So after he reached the age of two I started my own toy business and hence my research started and he generously accepted being the quality controller of my company. I always saw the cheaper the toys were the shorter their life span was. He loved cars, trains and tracks, age old wooden blocks and animal figurines.

Though we had a lot he always chose these. Then I introduced crayons, which was fun for him to scribble away. Then came the play doh. Play doh, crayons, kinetic sand all gave good sensory experience and also helped him in coordination. The wooden blocks are known for eye hand coordination.

We limited ourselves from buying electronic toys. Apart from some electronic toy as gifts we never invested on those. Then the wooden kitchen set came in, which was one of most played toys at my home. Then fish with hooks, some balancing toys were added to our list.

Once I launched magnetic blocks (GELMAG) it kept us hooked for a very long time. This is one of the best toys because this can be used again and again because he came up with different structures every single day. It started with 2D objects and slowly turned to 3D structures and many amazing creations.
So, if a toy can bring out the child’s creativity it has to stay in his/her toy shelf.

Next the magnetic tiles(GELTILES) which is again a world celebrated toy came to our home and I would say it overtook GELMAG in my household. By this time he had a lot of friends coming home, so he had company and the beauty of magnetic blocks and tiles are we can work as a team. It is so versatile not only in terms of structures we make but also it can be included with all other toys. For example my son included it with his car plays. He made garages using GELTILES and placed his cars on those. I have seen kids making doll house using GELMAG for their dolls. So the versatility was a cool aspect.

Many parents question it’s expensiveness but isn’t it worth it? Rather than buying 4 or 5 simple one-time play toys or instead of buying electronic toys these sort of magnetic blocks and tiles help in your kid’s imagination and they are totally worth it. The best part is they can be played with for decades, that strong are these toys.

By the age of four we welcomed Lego. This is again a toy which can help your kid’s little hand make some cool objects. Other than that musical instruments, stackers, story books, coloring can all add color to a kid’s childhood.

Finally my request to parents is to make sure you buy the best toys for your kids and also put some thoughts before investing in toys to make sure you are doing the right thing for your kid.

I would also urge parents to look in if the toys are approved by BIS, ASTM/EN -71 Safety standards. This is to ensure that the toys we buy are safe and doesn’t have lead/any harmful substances which could be bad for the little ones and also age appropriate ones. Read the labels and make sure you’re giving age appropriate toys. Toys which can be used for 2 players or more is also cool for toddlers.

Thanks so much for your patience 😇

— Written by Bhuvi Eshwari

GeLMaG Story

Story behind GELMAG

My son Nilavan got an expensive “Magnetic Blocks toy” as a gift when he was around 2.4 years old in UAE.

I knew this particular toy is just not like every other toy and this is just more than that.

Yes! I guessed right. I could see my little one playing almost every day and he wasn’t getting bored at all.

We started to allocate time for playing with this toy every day. We watched a lot of YouTube videos and started making new structures every day.

We enjoyed every minute playing with it. One day my son will sort all similar colored blocks on one side, one day he will just name all colors and show off that he knows colors. There are days where he has built houses for all his tiny dinosaur friends and at times made big parking lots for his cute cars.

The structures we built everyday differed and we were making new inventions every day. Rockets, fish, ball, heart, small Car, big Car, Palace, forts, spaceship etc.. oh my.. the list is long..

Majorly I could see his screen time reduced a lot after the entry of Magnetic blocks.

I was amazed seeing how versatile this toy is and how nice if every kid had this. We shared this toy with my neighbor kids. I could see kids aged from 2 till 10 years were amazed playing with the magnetic blocks even adults too. So I started my research. In India a 20 pcs magnetic blocks set on Amazon website costed approximately 2200 INR .The beauty of “magnetic blocks/ tiles game” is if you have more pieces it will be more fun else we will be stuck with the same design and structure. Hence at least a 50 pieces set should be given to a child to explore a lot and broaden the imagination. In Amazon 50 pieces set costed 4500 Rs. minimum even during sale periods. I decided this innovative toy should become every kids’ toy. I always wondered how Western country toys have higher safety standards than Indian toys? In India the safety standards for toys is not that great. I decided if I sell this toy I should make sure this has the international safety standard and researched on EN 71 Certification (European Nations safety test on toys)

I decided to design the number of blocks needed and other accessories for the magna blocks to be interesting for kids on long term and came to a conclusion.

I designed a 60 pieces set which will keep a kid engaged for a longer time. I wanted to manufacture this toy in India but the budget and manpower factors made me decide to choose a partner in China and I started my research and I flew to China with my little one on my back .Yes! With a baby carrier and my husband took 7 days leave just to be with my child when I go to meet the potential business partners. I saw I was able to afford the similar magnetic blocks for much cheaper rates and they were made of low quality plastic. I learnt most of the low quality plastic magnetic blocks enter Asian market which are harmful .

I DECIDED MY PRODUCT WILL BE OF SUPREME QUALITY AND HAVE INTERNATIONAL SAFETY STANDARD CERTIFICATION.

I had to take my son Nilavan with me because I was breastfeeding him and this little fellow has never been away from me.

I didn’t know the language or the routes and I just went to China with very little knowledge. I know all my decisions were impulse. But I was sure this trip will make me more strong. I was an adventure lover by nature and I happily roamed around China😊

I was able to convince a big manufacturing sector of Magna blocks to tie up with GeL. I could see my dream beginning to turn true at that moment. For the past six months I spent so many days working day and night to finance this project. My hubby and Father were pillars of support even though they were unsure about my actions.

I spent days doing so many legal works and going to government offices for paper works almost every week in past three months . My husband works in Dubai and I flew to India for my dream to come true and I am in India for past six months working on this project. He is one loving person who thought this mad lady is behind something and I should let her.

I was able to design a best product and was able to get it with an International safety standard certification EN -71! I was happy I was able to launch “GeLMaG” for the best and affordable price for all the Indian parents. I can’t describe in words how much I endured for this project to come true. I want to see the same smile I saw on my kid’s face on most kids in India.

I am sure my project is a winning project because I am a parent and I can guess at least a bit how my fellow parents and kids would love this Toy.

I know I have blurted out a lot but to who else I will share? Thanks !

For this video shoot I stood for 8 hours

Make a learning Fun with GeLMaG.

Am a new GEL fan

Thanks team GEL for making such good quality wooden toys accessible at a steal for toddlers. My baby loved the russian dolls and the merry go round doll set . she is glued to the puzzles. Love the fact that you are helping local artisans showcase their talent and get paid for it. Am definitely a GEL fan

GIFT EQUALS LOVE

Article by Bhuvaneshwari K

The love can be expressed in many ways and one of the beautiful ways to express is through gifts.

And when these gifts wrapped with love with a thought of eco friendliness makes it look even more beautiful. Yes! GEL Products are wooden and every product is chosen with care.

The basic reason for this start up is to uplift the rural artisans of our own country. We specialize in hand made kitchen accessories. But we are diverse. We also have a wide range of toys from our South Indian artisans.

These toys range from eye hand coordination toys to sensory stimulating toys. The vegetable color and a pure hand crafted toys makes it more special. The fear of lead based plastic toys can just be kept away by choosing the wooden toys.

The cute kitchen sets and tea sets from GEL are a great pretend play toys for toddlers. The wooden rattles are a great sensory development toy. The best factor of these wooden toys are natural vegetable color. This benefit can calm down the new parents even if their babies mouth the rattles.

The customer satisfaction is our motto. As many customers requested for educational aids we gave in to import educational toys for them. Hence you can also find a variety of imported educational aids.

We strive our best to serve better every day. GEL has reached almost hundreds of customers and we are happy to keep serving them.

GEL bloomed from a Mother’s dream. Yeah! This e-store is run by a mom of a two-year-old hence every product is chosen with motherly love and care.