Raduga Grez Wooden Fruit

Why do pineapples grow in one place and apples in another? Why do we eat berries in summer and pomegranates in winter? And how does a banana actually grow?

This wooden fruit brings those questions to the table by itself. It invites sorting, stacking, trading and making things up — and it sometimes even persuades the fussiest eater to try a new taste.

Nine pieces of handmade fruit:

• Pineapple, pomegranate, apple, pear, banana, lemon and orange
• A strawberry and a sprig of cherries

The pieces measure 4 to 15.5 cm and come in a cotton bag.

• Build a tower of fruit and see how high you get before it falls.
• Let the others guess which fruit you are thinking of — yes-or-no questions only.
• Hide the fruit around the room, give each child a basket and let them harvest.
• Put it down and draw it. Real fruit rolls away; this does not.
• Work out which fruit your mother, father, brother, sister, grandmother or favourite book character resembles. And why?

Play without rules, without right or wrong. Children discover for themselves how something feels, smells and moves, and follow their imagination wherever it goes. There is no intended ending, so the game is different every time.

• Handmade from linden wood, bought from suppliers who replant what they fell.
• Unvarnished, with a velvet-soft finish that keeps the grain of the wood visible.
• Water-based colours, free of harmful substances — safe for children who put everything in their mouth.
• No acrylic paint, no plywood and no glue.

This is a natural product. Colours may differ slightly from the photo, and marks or streaks in the wood are part of it. That makes every piece different — which is exactly the point.

Raduga Grez is a Russian toy brand that takes its motto Toys as Art seriously.