Space Dog Piñata

Matt Singer's Sputnik-inspired papier-mâché party game

Whether you delight in watching others struggle blindly to hit their mark, or you enjoy giving a papier-mâché animal a hearty whack, piñatas offer instant revelry for party-goers of any age. Designer Matt Singer recently gave the age-old party game a new form with his Space Dog piñata, inspired by the puppies sent into orbit by the Soviet Union during the 1950s and ’60s. The …

Child’s Own Studio

Kid-commissioned customized toys

Be it a bunny or a bear, there’s often at least one special toy that a child clings to for security, without which their world—and their parents’—might swiftly crumble. Creative mom Wendy Tsao sets out to strengthen that relationship with Child’s Own Studio, which she founded to make custom stuffed plushie toys based on kids’ drawings. “When my son started kindergarten, his school asked for …

Clump-O-Lump

Modular stuffed animals to satisfy your inner Frankenstein

Kids can let their imaginations run wild playing with the recently released Clump-O-Lump stuffed animals, a zip-and-match menagerie of zany creatures invented by the little ones themselves. Created by an equally youthful and ambitious industrial design student, Max Knecht, the modular design allows for children to unzip each animal—the family includes squids, frogs, bumblebees and more—into three separate pieces to be mixed up with others …