Our handcrafted wooden toys are thoughtfully designed to inspire imaginative small-world play, encouraging children to create, explore, and discover at their own pace.
As a former Creative Arts teacher, and now homeschooling mom, I have created teaching materials to equip other moms. Each module is designed to
develop key cognitive skills.
We offer hands-on creative workshops in the Overstrand area. Each creative experiences offers participants the opportunity to develop new skills and gain confidence in their own creativity.
An annual festival celebrating the Artists, Crafters and Makers in the Overstrand. The festival includes a local art route, market and various workshops.
Having spent 15+ years teaching Creative Arts in Cape Town, my husband (Garth) and I (Lauren) chose to leave the city hustle and raise our young children in the slower, small coastal village of Kleinmond.
My first year there (2023) was spent in the trenches of Toddler Parenthood, learning the invaluable importance of Creative Play. While I love the Montessori approach of open play, their ‘beige’ coloured toys did not appeal to my little ones; they wanted colour – and lots of it. As a new mother, I was challenged through the question, ‘what is the legacy you will leave?’ – I didn’t want my legacy of parenthood to be a mountain of plastics in a landfill.
I have always loved wooden toys, but sadly didn’t have the budget to afford them… and those that were affordable were often cheap foreign imports – not the sustainable, eco-friendly option I wanted. So I began to make my own. By that I mean, I designed them, and Garth quickly upped his wood work skills to cut/ construct them. I finished them off, painting all the designs by hand. We currently work in our home studio.
In June 2024, we took a huge leap of faith and applied for a local Winter Market which resulted in the Hermanus Country Market organizers inviting us to join their weekly markets. Since then, we have supplied bespoke ranges to Great White House in Gansbaai, Grootbos Nature Reserve in Gansbaai, Cheverells Farm in Elgin, Tokara wine farm in Stellenbosch, and created a range of toys for Babylonstoren. We are looking forward to joining the KAMERS family in October/November.
Shop our toys here.
Wholehearted Workshops began as an extension of our Homeschooling Journey. If I was doing fun, creative activities with my daughter, perhaps there were others who might want to join? We now offer creative hands-on twice a month at coffee shops in and around Kleinmond.
Follow us on Facebook (@wholeheartedcreativecafe), Instagram (@wholehearted_creativeplay) or join our whatsapp group to keep up to date with our monthly workshops.
As we gain confidence in our Homeschooling journey, so I will be releasing the resources I have created and covered with my daughter. They are filled with worksheets and practical activities that cover the necessary CAPS aligned subjects. We are currently covering Grade R. Join us as we grow! The downloadable workbooks will be available through our online shop soon
We LOVE it when people share the joy they experience through our toys, workshops and creative resources! So tag away on Instagram + Facebook…
Instagram: @wholehearted_toys or @wholehearted_creativeplay (workshops + resources)
Facebook: @WholeheartedCreativeCafe
