INTRODUCING CHILDREN'S IKEA

Furniture World Magazine

Fairly tales and children's stories take us through mystical doors and looking-glasses. They carry us on magic carpets, down chocolate rivers and inside tornadoes. These stories bring us to places that comfort us, excite us, tempt our minds and help us grow. In many ways, this is the world that IKEA has created with Children's IKEA. To reflect these stories, IKEA created a place where everything is designed to play a positive role in the marvelous adventure of growing up. In IKEA stores around the globe, Children's IKEA is its own interactive wonderland, an entire area filled with products for children and parents to inspect and interact with. Designed for children ages zero to seven, Children's IKEA products span a wide range. From items for a baby's first few months, to toys that stimulate children's imagination and development, to furniture for children to grow with, to safety products for a more child-safe home, every element of Children's IKEA was designed to help children and their parents reach new heights. "At IKEA, we believe that every child is born with limitless potential," said Gregg Mowins of IKEA. "And it is during these early years that the foundation for future learning and development is laid. With this in mind, Children's IKEA was created to help build strong foundations for children that can be further developed later on...and to do so in a way that allows children and their parents to live and laugh together." The home furnishings in the Children's IKEA line were created with several types of growth in mind. When researching Children's IKEA, IKEA spent a great deal of energy thinking about furniture that would not only help children grow, but would also grow with children. These efforts have yielded several adjustable products, including bookcases and beds, perfectly designed to meet the 'expanding' needs of any child or family. "Parents might say the best thing about this furniture is how it allows their wallets to grow," said Mowins. "No longer will they have to spend with every growth spurt." In addition to home furnishings, IKEA also believes toys play a key role in a child's' development and growth. So, to encourage playful learning for small, playful individuals, Children's IKEA features a variety of different toys. These toys, all grouped under different childhood-stage headings (Pretend, Understand, Create, Discover and Cuddle), are designed to appeal to a child's senses and to stimulate development. Of course, all toys contain a generous helping of unique IKEA design with an emphasis on genuine wood and realistic cuddly animals. "To develop the products and concept for Children's IKEA, we went back to school," said Mowins. "Even though a lot of the individuals involved in the development of Children's IKEA were parents, we knew we needed to listen to psychologists, safety experts, educators and other wise people. So that's what we did...a lot of listening and learning. We then took the sum of all this learning and created Children's IKEA. And of course, after we created the products, we put them through rigorous testing...because we know children will do the same." A child's home should be like a fairy tale...a mixture of reality and fantasy. Here, children are free to dream they are Cinderella, a knight in shining armor, the world's greatest painter, builder or scientist, daddy fixing the table, or mommy going to work. At the same time, this mini-home should be safe, cozy and functional. It should be a place that adapts to change and allows imagination. And it should be affordable, because while dreams are always free, the bedrooms we have them in can get expensive.