New Twickto construction toys let children build together quickly and on a large scale.
Twickto is a new and innovative construction toy consisting of colourful building blocks and connectors. These so-called Bricks and Twicks are connected to each other with a simple twist and click. There are no rules when building with Twickto, which stimulates creativity, spatial awareness and collaboration on fast and large constructions. Children from the age of six can make just about anything and are challenged to create their own rocket, crane or tower.
The joy of building is central at the Dutch start-up. The patented symmetrical construction systems allow things to be built quickly, easily and on a large scale. This is how Twickto distinguishes itself from competitors’ construction toys. The love of classical, physical, challenging construction technique comes from the parent company Jarola. Jarola has been a major player in technical wholesale and retail for 45 years. The organisation has more than 45 branches and 300 employees in the Netherlands. The knowledge and expertise in the area of production and distribution within Europe is naturally also used for Twickto.
“My father Gert–Jan de Wilde (CEO Jarola) was the one who invented Twickto”, says Robin de Wilde, general manager of Twickto. “When my brother and I were young, he thought that there weren’t any suitable construction toys and he set to work himself at his drawing board. Twenty years later, it is my ambition to bring to the market the toys that my father created for us. The pleasure of building something new – that’s our motivation.”
Co–creation core product development
Children, parents and specialists were continuously involved during the development. The toys are tested extensively at primary schools and in homes. These discussions with the target group yielded new insights and have ensured that Twickto fits with the playing behaviour of the current generation. Parents see the educational benefits but also need toy innovations that tempt children away from their monitors and screens. Children think it’s cool that they can quickly build something large and can work together as a group on a building structure.
Co-creation with various specialists has also helped make Twickto more technically challenging than the competition. The years 2015 and 2016 were devoted to development, design and testing. The product lines are now ready to start in the Netherlands. That the product was fully developed domestically has everything to do with Twickto’s vision for quality and delivery reliability.
Assortment: creative packs and theme packs
Twickto will start with two product lines in 2017: creative packs and theme packs. In addition to the Bricks and Twicks, all packs contain various extra components and the TwickTool. This is a key that helps with the building. The creative packs are available in five packages, from starter pack to large volume. There is an attractive pack for every gift budget, from 10 to 100 euros.
The theme packs are bit more challenging technically. They are also more extensively equipped with specific components such as wheels, hinges, sheet metal parts and propellers. The theme packs cover four themes. Each is appealing to the target group: Harbour, Vehicles, Aviation and Construction. This allows children to build the most varied applications, from forklifts to aircraft and from fishing boats to Mars landers.
Twickto’s future
This assortment is a starting point for further development. In co-creation with end users and distribution and retail partners, Twickto is going to expand the programme in the coming years. The toy brand will develop attractive new themes and all sorts of additional components.
“In the coming months Twickto’s focus will be on finding distributors and scaling up production. We’re participating in the Spielwarenmesse in Nuremberg in February in order to expand our international network further. Prior to the 2017 gift–giving season, we hope that children across Europe discover the exciting world of Twickto”, concludes Robin de Wilde.
