An Introduction to Maileg

Why do children love to play with Maileg?

Is it because the mice in matchboxes are so cute? Is there something going on in terms of development?

Maileg's characters have a vast universe. From dancing bunnies to cuddling hippos to dollhouses and race cars, the emphasis is on delicate, small-world play with evocative detail and soft, natural materials that children like playing with.

But it's not the characters' charm that makes them so enjoyable to play with: it's the fact that they're divided into families. There are unspoken connections between the toys. You can probably guess what the back story is. Perhaps the younger brother never cleans his room, Grandpa is always sleeping in the armchair, and the baby is always hungry. Their lifestyles are almost certainly similar to yours.

Table of contents:

What is Maileg?

How do you play with Maileg?

What is Maileg?

Maileg creates fanciful dolls and dollhouses with painstaking attention to detail in their clothing and accessories (such as mice that live in matchboxes and dancing bunnies who lay on daybeds in gold tutus). Buttons, bows, blankets, and other products are all hand-sewn in delicate, muted colours and textures. As a result, a selection of toys for girls and boys that feels both homey and traditional, while also containing plenty of comedy and fairytale charm, has emerged.

How do you play with Maileg?

Almost single Maileg figure has a theme of nurturing and caring. This, combined with their fantastical accessories and props like matchbox beds, camping tents, and motorcycles, makes them ideal small-world play toys. Small world play is a smaller, more enclosed cousin of imaginative play, where children are free to imagine and narrate their own stories and dramas on a child-size scale. It allows children to explore events in their own lives, assisting them in making sense of the world.

Playing with Maileg can also be collaboration. All children love peaceful time alone with their toys, although collaboration can be beneficial at times. It is, in fact, one of the most critical ways in which we learn. Children learn through interactions with a more informed 'other,' according to social constructivists. It could be an older child or an adult, as well as a peer. Soon, there will be a blog entry on this subject.