Slaan oor na inhoud
In a world of mass-produced plastic toys, Envirokid is doing something quietly radical: making beautiful, durable, thoughtfully designed toys for children — by hand, in Cape Town, using wood, leather, and steel. Each product is built to last, designed to educate, and made to spark a genuine love of the outdoors and the natural world.
This is the story of the brand, what they stand for, and why their toys are some of the most special gifts you can give a child.
The Story Behind Envirokid
Envirokid was founded in 2020 by Tessa Graham, a product designer with a passion for creating beautiful things. What started as a small creative venture has grown into one of South Africa's most distinctive artisanal toy brands, stocked in boutique outlets across the country that share Envirokid's appreciation for handcrafted quality.
In 2022, Envirokid opened its first retail outlet at the Watershed at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town — one of the city's most celebrated destinations for locally made, design-led products. The brand has since expanded its range to include curio gifts and tourist products for visitors wanting to take home something uniquely South African.
Tessa illustrates all the watercolour artworks herself and designs all the packaging personally. The small Cape Town studio has grown to include a team of skilled members, each trained and upskilled to make and assemble every product with care. The goal is clear and unwavering: to become South Africa's Artisanal Toy Brand.
What Envirokid Stands For
Environmental Consciousness
Envirokid uses raw, environmentally conscious materials wherever possible — combining woods, leathers, and steels to create products that are built to last rather than destined for landfill. These are toys that can be passed down, not thrown away.
Education Through Play
Every Envirokid product includes a fun educational element — whether it's learning to tie knots, identifying South African fish species, pressing flowers, or discovering the African Big Five. The brand believes that learning about nature, skills, and new traditions should be exciting from a young age.
Encouraging Outdoor & Creative Play
In an age of screens, Envirokid makes toys that pull children outside and into the world around them. From bug boxes to cable car kits to rope sets, these are products designed for curious, active, imaginative children who love to explore.
The Bestselling Products
Wooden Bead Kit — The #1 Bestseller
The most loved Envirokid product, and it's easy to understand why. The Wooden Bead Kit provides hours of creative fun as children design and create their own colourful jewellery. It's the perfect gift for the creative mind who loves to make beautiful things — and the results are genuinely wearable. Handmade in South Africa.
Wooden Bug Box
A firm favourite with tiny explorers everywhere. The Wooden Bug Box is crafted from luxury wood and leather, designed for catching and observing bugs in the garden or on camping trips. It awakens a child's wonder for the natural world in the most hands-on way possible. Handmade in South Africa.
Wooden Flower Press
Beautifully designed and genuinely functional, the Wooden Flower Press helps children preserve the flowers and natural details they find around them. It's a tool that encourages slow, attentive engagement with the outdoors — and produces something beautiful in the process. Handmade in South Africa.
Rope Kit
Real tools for real kids. The Rope Kit is the ultimate gift for the tiny explorer who loves to stay busy. Children can learn to tie knots, set up a zip line, hoist buckets, and discover the wonder of ropes, hooks, and mechanics through hands-on play. Educational, practical, and endlessly entertaining. Handmade in South Africa.
Fabric Advent Calendar
A seasonal favourite, the Fabric Advent Calendar makes counting down to Christmas genuinely special. Available in Festive, African Animals, and Forest Friends designs, each calendar features 24 pockets that parents can fill with notes, sweets, small gifts, or clues. A keepsake that can be reused year after year. Handmade in South Africa.
More from the Range
Beyond the bestsellers, the Envirokid collection is full of gems worth discovering.
The Wooden Magnetic Fishing Game features 10 illustrated wooden fish native to South Africa, complete with names and facts on the back — making it as educational as it is fun.
The Wooden Baby Books are a child's first book reimagined in birch ply with genuine leather ties and Tessa's own hand-illustrated prints, available in Forest Friends, Farm Friends, Safari Friends, and Big Five editions.
The Wooden Pull Toys — Elephant, John the Giraffe, and Piena the Penguin (whose leather wings wiggle as she walks) — are beautiful keepsakes as much as they are toys.
The Wooden Cable Car Kit can be strung between two trees in the garden for hours of imaginative outdoor play. The Wooden Baby Puzzle (Big Five) features vibrant watercolour animals with fun facts behind each piece. And the Rainbow Suncatcher Mobile fills any sunny room with tiny dancing rainbows.
Proudly South African, Through and Through
Every single Envirokid product is locally manufactured in Cape Town. The materials are sourced with environmental care, the artworks are illustrated by Tessa herself, and each product is assembled by a team that has been trained and upskilled within the studio. When you buy Envirokid, you're supporting a small South African business with a genuine vision — and giving a child a toy that means something.
