Made with love in Squamish

Hi! We are Geoff and Brigitte, a husband and wife team living next to a coastal temperate forest in Squamish, British Columbia. Geoff spent a decade as a carpenter building houses for his father in Whistler, and I (Brigitte) taught in the public school system for over 13 years, specializing in teaching both honours students and students with learning challenges at an International Baccalaureate (IB) school. 

It wasn’t until we had children of our own that we saw the true benefits of combining our skills. Development has always been a part of what I have done as a teacher, and I have always been a firm believer that anything is possible for any child. Creating toys and resources that foster and encourage different skills seemed like the next step, especially for our children.

We are avid rock climbers and well, let’s be honest, *former* mountaineers (since we haven’t done any mountaineering once our kids were born). Geoff used to teach kids how to climb at the local gym in Whistler, and I used to be on the board of the Alpine Club of Canada Whistler Section. In fact, climbing is how we met! I used to take my students on an annual field trip to the climbing gym, and I saw first hand how it helped improve their confidence. They went from “NO WAY I CAN CLIMB THAT” to “No way! I climbed that!”

Because we have seen what climbing does for big kids, and for our munchkins, we wanted to make a climbing structure for little ones. We are the only makers in the world that build a foldable climbing structure out of solid Canadian maple, and that is because most laminated woods (birch plywood included) contain glue that includes formaldehyde. We wanted to keep ours 100% non-toxic, and have worked hard to source local, sustainable wood in whole pieces. Our toys are made from FSC-certified and Rainforest Alliance wood, and we upcycle/recycle/repurpose off cuts, waste, and packaging material wherever possible. 

Each of our toys can be played in many ways for many years. In fact, before we even add a toy to the shop, we test it with our kids, our neighbour’s kids, and our friend’s kids to make sure it goes further than a single use. All of our toys link and connect to one another for greater learning and creativity, for many years.

We hope to ignite everyone’s imagination and let learning thrive through each one of our handmade toys.

For your children – and maybe even for you.

Xoxo,

Brigitte