Our Story
Experience the warmth and charm of toys crafted by the Toy Maker of Lunenburg
What were your favourite childhood toys? Were they simple toys that you played with over and over with?
Handmade wooden toys are timeless. They are classic, simple, and good for imagination-driven play. Handmade wooden toys have an “old world charm” that makes them instant heirlooms.
Connect with your love ones, by giving them meaningful gifts. You might give toys that were well loved when you or your children were young. Maybe you are cherishing memories of summer holidays on the East Coast and you want to play with toys that help you remember those fun family times. Perhaps you want to send gifts that were made in your “Home” area to those who have moved away.
When you purchase handmade toys and games, you are taking a little piece of our imagination and craftsmanship home. You can appreciate the human touch on every single piece.
Quality handmade wooden toys since 1979
The Toy Maker of Lunenburg is one of Canada's oldest makers of handmade, high-quality wooden toys. Kevin Vickers started the business in 1979 making hand-crafted children's toys and games. Each and every item was made by Kevin personally, and made with solid wood and non-toxic stains. In 2015, we (Ray Syvitski and Elke Uribe) purchased the Toy Maker of Lunenburg.
Crafted with care on Canada’s East Coast, we design and develop all our toys and games with local wood sourced from sustainable forests. Our collections range from building blocks for toddlers to brain teasers and board games for adults—because there’s no age limit on play.
Our toys will inspire and delight the imaginative child in your life. You can find our signature collections in local children’s stores across Canada, in daycares throughout the Maritimes, and in the hands of playful people all around the world.
To buy a one-of-a-kind gift for the fun-lover in your life, we invite you to explore our Children’s Toys and Games and Brain Teasers collections.
Why we make toys
We’re parents who want to play—that’s how we spend quality time as a family. We love toys and games that encourage educational and creative development, and like most parents, we want to buy toys and games that are of value (because how many times do you hear that the child was more interested in the box than the toy?!)
As we’ve shopped over the years for toys and games, we found that finding items that were built well, environmentally friendly, and offered creative fun for our kids—all while not costing a fortune—were hard to find. Flashing lights, batteries required, mass-produced plastic, and fads dominated the market.
It didn’t speak to our approach to play. We wanted to provide our children with tools and toys to become free thinkers.
As a research scientist and university educator, I focused on the application of students’ knowledge to problem-solving and designed early childhood development programs to teach science. Soon I began building quality, fun-to-play-with, wooden toys and woodcrafts with an edible bees-wax coating for our kids.
Before long, our friends were asking for the toys! Then child-care centres were inquiring about our larger outdoor play equipment (like the huts, mud kitchen, and balance beam.)
Our passion for engaging our children's curiosity and imagination grew to where we got excited about building a business around making beautiful, environmentally friendly, creative wooden toys.
Today, The Toy Maker of Lunenburg a truly family business, focused on play—at any age.
Our beliefs and values
We believe:
- Children are inherently curious and creative
- Simple toys tend to be the most stimulating for developing creative thinking skills since children are using their own imagination instead of someone else’s
- Keeping manufacturing jobs in Canada is the key to economic sustainability in Canada
- Being involved with our children will help them build strong relationships
- Toys should be engaging, fun-to-play-with and educational – not simply something to occupy a child with
- Children should be allowed to discover and create – even if it means a bigger mess to clean up
We value:
- Natural, eco-friendly, wooden toys over plastic, disposable toys for creative play
- The environmental and economic welfare of Canada
- The sustainability of Canadian resources
- The quality, durability and safety of North American products
- Truly educational toys – not pseudo education through memorization