Don’t Sleep on Cocoletes

Cocoletes can be purchased at Things They Love. TTL is run by former Miami girl (extra points in my book), extraordinary human, and superstar mama, Victoria Elizabeth Chediak. Make sure to check out her VIP FB group: Play Insiders – Things They Love.

I purchased a new table for Cocoletes. I thought I should probably open with that. I love this brand so much, it inspired me to set up another wooden toy area in our living room. So, between our seasonal display table and our sensory bin Flisat, is our Cocoletes table. Draped in a moss colored playsilk, is our Cocoletes village.

Sidenote: These toys were also extremely well received by my husband. My husband is of Cuban descent and our current home in the Carolinas doesn’t give us many opportunities to work on our Spanish. We are really concerned about our limited chances to provide her interaction with her culture. However, when I told him one of the toys in the mail was a bilingual weekly calendar, he was thrilled!

So, the two Cocoletes’ items we currently own are their “Aldea y Sus Tronco-habitantes” and the “Bilingual Weekly Calendar”. Here’s some details on both!

The “Bilingual Weekly Calendar” has a look all to it’s own. Most closely described as a fiery sun (it gives me real Tangled vibes), it is a solid block of wood, as opposed to both Grimm’s “Celebration Ring” and Grapat’s “Perpetual Calendar”. This takes the item from lovely accessory to centerpiece, in my opinion. The days are signified by small colored trunks all set in matching recessed holders. The colors of the trunks and holders are in traditional Waldorf schema, which pleases this Waldorfy momma in me greatly. The days of the week are written in both English and Spanish. The current day is placed in the center in a slightly larger recessed holder. All in all, it makes for an exquisite addition to the seasonal table.

Now the “Village and Its Trunk-Dwellers” is a masterpiece. Made up of 6 village dwellers and 6 solid wood homes, it’s an early years teacher’s dream come true. The backs are painted on of the six main colors in the rainbow (no one like you indigo). The dwellers are painted a matching color and the details on their body (leaves etc.) match the decor of their corresponding home. It’s just so well thought out and clever. Place on an accessible table, this is the most aesthetic small world play I’ve ever seen.

Cocoletes prides itself on using only wood sourced from either work around their neighborhood or “sustainable forests with FSC and PEFC certification.” They also don’t use complicated wood cutting machinery, prefering to create these works of art by hand. This helps preserve the natural beauty of the wood, especially the bark, which has become part of Cocoletes distinctive style.

All that to say, Cocoletes is light years ahead of any of the other small makers out there. It’s added such beauty to our home and really channels a similar maker’s tagline “Toys as Art”. Make sure to check out Things They Love’s Cocoletes collection here.