Hocko building blocks
Text and photos: Anna Plaszczyk
10 September 2017
Triggering creativity in children is a real challenge. Unfortunately, in the era of toys that do not require imagination, it becomes increasingly difficult to educate wisely through play. Where are the days when a piece of string and a stick were enough to create great games? Thanks to Hocko building blocks we can show this world to our kids!
Hocko building blocks –the idea and execution from Krakow. They were created in Wytwórnia odRzeczy due to love for design, children and fun. Wojciech Drab and Magdalena Guzik-Drab, are professional designers, privately they are parents, fascinated by the childs world.
From this fascination, ecological, logical and aesthetic toys were designed. What are Hocko building blocks? They are cardboard, brown puzzles, thanks to which children can create their own colourful world. These toys are the exact opposite of "Chinese products", which are flooding the market of entertainment for children. They dont play, they dont buzz, they dont flicker and they do not provide "easy" fun for 5 minutes. Because Hocko building blocks do not provide ready-made solutions. They allow child to think creatively.
You can build almost anything by them - castles and spaceships from large sets, with small sets- houses, bases, palaces. Their grey-colourless look is apparent – coloured pencils, paints or markers are enough to give them colour and add an individual character.And if there will be some creativity and willingness to help from the parents side - the inhabitants of the cardboard world could be decorated by beads, wool, you could make for them cardboard furniture from ice cream sticks or comfortable chairs and beds from cotton wool and scraps of material.
Each toy is not only tested by the creators themselves , but above all by their little private tester. And the designers admit that testing Hocko building blocks also gives them a lot of fun. Hocko building blocks are appreciated not only by the children and their parents. They were a finalist in the Industrial Design Institute competition – Good Design 2012. They won third place in the competition - Baby Friendly Toy in 2012 , organized by the Museum of Toys and Play in Kielce. The competition Committee for the Protection of Childrens Rights " World Friendly to a Baby 2012" awarded them in the category of toys. They also received honourable mention in 2012 MUST HAVE in "adult" party, which is the Lodz Design Festival.