Gombe Mane
Four kinds of toy, one hole each. Drop a shape in to see only those toys on the shelf below.
Each toy says the age it starts at. Slide the ruler to your child's age to see the toys made for that stage.
12toyson the shelf
9+ months
First toysGrasping toy · 22 cm
Three round-bellied elephants turned and threaded on one rod, sized for a small fist to grab, shake and pass from hand to hand.
10+ months
First toysSeven nesting arches · 21 cm wide
Seven arches that nest into a rainbow, rock like a cradle, or stand up as a tunnel for a pull-along to pass under.
12+ months
First toysFive rings on a turned post · 24 cm
The first puzzle most children solve: five lac rings from big to small, and a round red cap that finishes the tower.
10+ months
BlocksThirty 4 cm cubes in a cloth bag
Plain, sanded cubes with softened corners — the block every other block is measured against. Towers, walls, roads.
2+ years
BlocksTwenty-six 5 cm cubes
A letter, a number and a picture on every cube, printed and then sealed under lac, for spelling names and knocking them down.
3+ years
BlocksCubes, arches, cylinders and planks
The set on our play table: cubes, arches, half-moons, cylinders and long planks in four lac colours, sized so they all stack together.
18+ months
Pull-alongsEngine and one wagon · 32 cm
A chunky engine on turned wheels with a cord to pull it room to room. The wagon carries whatever needs carrying.
18+ months
Pull-alongsFour wagons on a base · 30 cm
Square, round, star and triangle wagons that slot onto their own pegs. Sort them, count them, pull them along.
3+ years
Pull-alongsFive boats on wheels · each 12 cm
Five little boats with cotton sails and a sailor in each, linked nose to tail so the whole fleet follows.
5+ years
Puzzles & gamesTilting maze with a steel ball · 20 cm
Two knobs tilt the board, and the ball has to find its way past the holes. Patience, in a box.
6+ years
Puzzles & gamesInterlocking puzzle · 6 cm
Six notched sticks that lock into a knot. Taking it apart takes a minute; putting it back can take an evening.
6+ years
Puzzles & gamesBoard and eighteen counters · 26 cm
The old mill game, called navakankari in Karnataka: line up three to take a piece. Turned counters in natural and dark wood.
No toys start at this age in this kind right now.
Five steps, the same ones Channapatna turners have followed for generations — only the electricity is new.
Logs of ivory wood (aale mara) and neem dry in the yard for months, so nothing splits once it is a toy.
On the lathe, the turner shapes each piece with hand chisels: a corner softened, a ring hollowed, a wheel made true.
A stick of lac, coloured with plant dyes, is pressed against the spinning wood. The heat of friction melts it into the grain.
A dried screw-pine leaf held to the turning piece burnishes the lac to a soft shine.
Every toy is checked by hand for loose parts and rough edges, wrapped in paper and boxed.
The workshop is a short walk from the Channapatna bus stand. Come and watch a toy being turned, or write to us about a name set, a school order or a question about a toy.
We have received your order and emailed you a copy.