This is why small foot wooden toys make children so happy.

High play value

small foot wooden toys are distinguised by extra play value and fulfil children's basic need for joyful, boundless play. With their modern design and diverse, simple first play experiences, they offer children space for their own world of ideas and help develop imagination and creativity. With multiple play goals in one product, they encourage children to dive deep into their play and discover new things - or even just themselves. From playing to staring in amazement, from fun to learning - small foot offers playing and learning experiences that stick with you for life!

A love for wood - because it's a popular environmental winner!

Nature couldn't have provided a better material to make toys with than wood. As a renewable, natural raw material, it has a bright future! Producing small foot wooden toys in an environmentally sustainable way is of special importance to us - and that's why we choose wood from sustainable forestry or use fast-growing, local kinds of wood in order to shorten material transport routes. In addition, we always strive to reuse manufacturing byproducts and reduce wood waste.
Wooden toys don't need plastic to be fun! small foot avoids the use of plastic in the manufacture, packaging, and transport of our products and instead opts for natural materials wherever possible.
At small foot, we're always working hard to further reduce our environmental footprint. From the energy production for our head office to climate-neutral shipping, we're optimizing our operations piece by piece towards sustainability - and a better tomorrow!

Design made in Germany

Toys from small foot are developed by our design team at our headquarters in northern Germany. This is where we always find the right mix of fun and learning, and of design and playtime value.
There's more behind small foot: you offer easy-start toys and unite multiple play possibilities in one product in order to keep kids excited.
Children love classics: small foot uses timeless play ideas and transforms them in form, colour, and function into something contemporary. With great design, sophisticated details, and surprising functions, we at small foot create child-friendly toys that the children of today will enjoy.

Responsibility for quality and safety so children can play carefree!

The design, development, and quality control of our small foot toys takes place in the head office in Germany. There is where it all happens.
small foot toys are well-thought-out and sturdily built. They are robust and durable so that children can play with them in a carefree way.
We at small foot perform intensive quality control on our products and adhere to all of the common norms for safe toys. For all toys that we manufacture, there's also our own high quality requirements: toys must be safe!

Playtime fun at affordable prices - so that everyone can enjoy small foot!

small foot toys have a great price-performance ratio and are affordable - and that's how it should stay. We strive to keep development and production as trimmed-down as possible, and we don't take any costly detours. small foot toys cost just as much as they should - and not a cent more!
small foot offers so many play possibilities in one product so that our wooden toys are as much fun as they can be as long as possible. They last for years and can be passed down between siblings or even to further generations. That really saves money!
Fairness must be for everyone: in all of the development steps from the production to transport, small foot takes care to ensure fair treatment of involved persons and companies.

History

How did it all begin? An exciting journey through time full of surprises from 2002 to today.

How long have we been here? What have we been up to in recent years? Where are we heading to from here? And what does the foot in the logo actually mean? Our history goes back all the way to the 80s. Maybe we already know each other and you have played with our toys yourself.

1988

Natural and sustainable: Brothers Holger and Ingo Legler found the wholesale trading firm Legler. Their first products are promotional products made of wood.

1995

Concentrating on what's important! Legler shifts focus to wooden toys with the goal of bringing a smile to children's faces. Around 10 employees are working for the company at this time.

2000

Wooden toys go Europe! Customers can now buy wooden toys from Legler in many other European countries, too! It starts with England and France, followed by Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Scandinavia, Poland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, and Portugal.

2002

Small foot is born! In 2002, Ingo Legler's daughter is born. Her footprint becomes the small foot brand logo and the symbol of our wooden toys.

2005

We're growing!Additional buildings for employees and our growing warehouse capacities are obtained in Delmenhorst, Germany. This is because more and more employees are working on the continuing development of the small foot brand with lots of personal commitment and a love for natural products.

2012

The sun is our inexhaustible energy source! The first company-owned photovoltaic energy panels go into operation. In the coming years, many more of the company's buildings will be equipped with solar panels, allowing small foot to reduce CO2 emissions and contribute to the protection of our environment.

2015

The Very Hungry Caterpillar moves in! The most beloved caterpillar in the world from the popular children's book by Eric Carle now adorns exclusive learning and motor activity toys from small foot.

2016

Spielgut! Our Little Bells Rattle receives the coveted Spielgut award. More awards will follow in the coming years, including for the popular Emergency Doctor Kit and the Snack Kit.

2016

With the music and noise products from the "Sound" product line, the first product group with its mutually enhancing and uniformly designed toys moves in with Legler. A milestone!

2017

Small foot products receive the FSC® certification! And they therefore take yet another step towards sustainability.

2017

New packaging! Small foot packaging gets a new look. Lovingly designed and also informative, both younger and older customers are pleased. And the best part? The boxes are stable enough to be used for long-lasting storage. If they're not being used anymore, they can be recycled. That is sustainability in practise!

2017

Small foot is a part of the ICTI program! And with that, the company gets involved with the adherence to ethical standards and sustainability standards in the toy industry.

2017

We like to move it, move it! Motor activities and learning are a fundamental emphasis in the small foot assortment. With the new product groups "Move it!" and "Educate", popular motor activity and learning classics in popular, trendy designs move into the nursery, followed by "Jungle" (2018), "Space", and "Active" (2019).

2018

The lighting of the future! Our company buildings are switched over to LED lights. That saves electricity and helps the environment!

2018

Ernie, Bert and friends! Small foot becomes a licenced partner of the globally popular children's program SESAME STREET. The ergonomic motor activity toys, pull-along toys, puzzles, and stacking cubes made of wood impart educational content, offer unparalleled playtime fun for SESAME STREET fans, and playfully invites kids to discover, play, and learn.

2018

It's our birthday! A lot has been accomplished since our founding days: With commitment, love for the natural product of wood, and our focus on quality and safety, we've become one of the largest manufacturers of wooden toys in Germany over the past 30 years. During that time, our team - comprised of 170 employees at this point - have always had an eye on the needs of children and parents!

2019

Nominated for a Toy Award! The Lawn Mower Baby Walker is nominated for the 2019 ToyAward at the Spielwarenmesse toy fair in Nuremberg, and makes it among the top three amidst 800 submissions in the category "Baby & Infant 0-3 Years".

2020

Yet another Toy Award! We added to the success of 2019 and were able to place in the list of nominees for the top three toys in the "Baby & Infant 0-3 Years" category again - this time with the Whale Baby Walker!

2020

Nominated as "Top-10 Toy of 2020"! For the first time, a small foot product is now counted among the nominees for 2020: the Compact Nordic Workbench impressed the trend scouts with soft colours, clear shapes, and the simple Nordic design which appeals to both girls and boys equally.

In 2021, a total of three small foot toys made the nominations for "Top10 Spielzeug 2021" ("Top 10 Toys of 2021") and "Top10 Baby & Kind 2021" ("Top 10 Baby & Child Toys of 2021") awards from the German Bundesverband des Spielwaren-Einzelhandels (national association of toy retailers).

2022

The Country Life Motor Activity Cube, the Training Bike-Trike 2-in-1 Turquoise Maxi and the Whale Baby Walker have been nominated for the "Top10 Baby & Child 2022" award by the German national toy industry association.

2022

The Emergency Doctor's Backpack from small foot has won the ToyAward in the "Preschool" category, beating out numerous opponents in the competition for the much sought-after toy prize.

2023

The Big Ocean Motor Activity Cube, the Pull-Along Dump Truck, the baby Swing "Seaside" and the Baby Stand-Up Toy "Seaside" have been nominated for the "Top10 Baby & Child 2023" award by the German national toy industry association.

2023

The Rabbit Hutch with Enclosure and the Explorer's Backpack "Discover" have been nominated for the "Top10 Toys 2023" award by the German national toy industry association.

2024

The "Seaside" Motor Activity Cube and the "Wildlife" Elephant Toy Box with Seat and Wheels are among the nominees for the "Top10 Baby & Child" award of the German Bundesverbandes des Spielwaren-Einzelhandels (National Association of Toy Retailers).

2024

The "Sensory" Listening Memory Game and the "Sensory" Feeling Box have made it onto the nominees list for the "Deutsche Spielzeugpreis" ("German Toy Award") in the categories "For my friends & me" and "For the whole family".

2024

The "fresh" cash register and the Industrial children's kitchen were selected as nominees for the "Top10 Toy of 2024" award of the German Bundesverbandes des Spielwaren-Einzelhandels (National Association of Toy Retailers).

Product Design

The journey of a small foot toy, from the idea to the finished product.

The development of a new product is the kind of cross-department process that lies behind any concrete assortment concept. That's why it's often a challenge to make new products unique with their composition.

1. The idea is the beginning of each product!

The ideas for the implementation of our new products always emerges in a different way - sometimes intended and targeted, and sometimes via coincidental encounters with themes and inspirations. In this particular case, it was a documentary about the pollution of the world's oceans and the consequences for its residents, such as the blue whale.

2. From the initial sketches to the first prototype

Thinking and visualising ideas and concepts with a pencil. This is where the first ideas become implementations, studies become designs, and inspiration becomes colourfulness. We mold promising approaches into concrete prototypes, from the first concepts to the construction later.

3. Modelling and building the prototype

From the foundations of these draft drawings, we create a model on the computer or a prototype out of paper or cardboard. With the findings from these models, we improve the draft and create the technical data from which an example product can be built. Only once this example fulfills all of our requirements down to the details do we pass the product on to the production department.

4. The time has come: the production begins!

During the product's production, the individual parts are manufactured step-by-step on a large scale. First, the material is cut to shape, milled, and prepared, and is then painted and printed with illustrations. Next, the individual pieces are assembled so that they're safe for children. At the end, the product is carefully packaged in a way that saves space.

5. Quality is key!

In the quality assurance department, the first product samples are inspected by us in order to ensure that the product matches the prototype example and meets all of our requirements for quality and safety in all aspects.

6. That which impresses children and experts in the field tests is recognised!

The journey of a small foot product from the first idea to the finished toy is filled with passion for the raw material of wood and for design made in Germany. To the same extent, small foot stands for responsibility in the realms of quality, safety, and sustainability as well as for timeless play ideas which are developed further in a modern way. When the products which are created in this way impress children and the experts in field tests, the reward for the hard work is "spiel gut" distinctions, Toy Award nominations, and TOP-10 Toy nominations for the 2020 year!

7. "Sea" how much more the baby walker can do!

We're donating a portion of the sales of the Whale Baby Walker to NABU, which is actively and preventatively engaged in protecting the world's oceans and coasts and thereby decisively contributing to the preservation of the habitats of all sea creatures.

Did you know? 💡 Child-friendly and exciting facts about whales! 🐋

The largest and heaviest animal
A blue whale weighs as much as 23 elephants. Its tongue alone is as heavy as a young elephant.
All-you-can-eat in the sea
Blue whales eat between 4 and 8 tons of plankton, krill, and small fish daily. That's equal to almost 9 cars!
Hold your breath!
Blue whales surface every five minutes to get air. When they exhale, they spray a fountain that can reach a height of 9 metres!
Rather loud
It gets pretty loud when whales sing - up to 230 decibels! That's almost twice as much as a jet during takeoff.
Sharp ears
Whales don't hear with their ears at all, but rather with their lower jaw. The sounds are absorbed by their bones and transported to their inner ear.

Quality and Sustainability

Quality is a multi-layered promise for us!

Small foot stands for the best material, high-quality construction, long-lasting durability and playability, and easy-care, sustainable toys.

Wood - Simply better!

Wood is a wonderful material! Nature couldn't have made a better material for playing and learning. As a renewable resource, it spares our other, more limited resources. The wood for an increasing number of small foot toys comes from FSC 100%-certified plantations - a guarantee for sustainable forestry and the global preservation of forests.

Playtime Value + Durability = Sustainability

Sustainability comes not only from the material - the lifespan also plays a role! Small foot toys are not throw-away products; we use robust solid wood and layered bonded wood which can withstand extreme strain and use. We design our toys so that they offer long-lasting playtime that can be passed down to future generations - and that is practised sustainability! And the packaging? It's made of stable cardboard which can either be used for long storage or easily recycled as waste paper.

The highest level of safety in materials and manufacturing

Before being sold, products are tested multiple times by both internal and external knowledgeable experts and independent inspection institutions for conformity to strict international standards.

Especially easy to clean

Because of wood's special surface and its naturally antibacterial contents, wooden toys are naturally more hygienic than plastic toys - and they're particularly easy to clean and care for. To clean wooden toys, it's enough to gently scrub them with some lukewarm water and a dab of environmentally friendly dish soap so that they stay pretty and hygienic for a long time.

Inspected Safety

The safety of your child is your first priority - just like it is for us!

Parents care a lot about quality and safety these days - especially when it comes to toys! That's been a strong reason for us to make sure that our selection of materials for our toys has the highest quality. In our eyes, wood is the best material to play with as a renewable natural resource because to us, quality always means:

- Robustness
- Stability
- Durability
- Product lifespan
- Reliability

Toys must be safe! When it comes to safety, our toys fulfill all of the common safety norms, are tested thoroughly by independent inspection bodies, and are subjected to additional intensive quality and safety tests with testing instruments at our headquarters in northern Germany. Our quality assurance team accompany our toys closely from the idea through the sampling and supply stages through to the sale. 20,000 random samples annually help guarantee the safety of toys manufactured by us.

In addition, our age recommendations give solid guidance as to when a child can play with a specific toy in an age-appropriate and safe way. In the course of the testing of the random samples, the paints, lacquers, and materials are regularly tested for toxic substances (in accordance with norm EN 71-3).

small foot is acclaimed!

Really good toys convince! Parents, children and experts all agree on this.

Toy seals provide orientation. Age-appropriate? Giving joy? Pedagogically valuable and safe? Toys have to fulfil many criteria - and many of our small foot products know how to convince children and experts alike in practical tests and can claim ToyAward and TOP10 toy nominations as their own.

Spiel gut

For 60 years, the independent "spiel gut" seal has been distinguishing toys which offer a special playtime value and fulfil the highest safety and quality criteria. In addition to age-appropriate play ideas, safety, design, functionality, lifespan, development support, and environmental friendliness are also judged - and not only by professionals, but also by the true experts: the children themselves. We're proud that so many small foot toys have received this award!

Toy Award

The Toy Award, which is presented annually at the world's largest toy fair in Nuremberg, is probably the highest award for toys worldwide. In 2019 and 2020, small foot toys have already made it into the top three toys in the "Baby & Infant" category from among more than 800 applicants! Then, in 2022, the time had come: the Emergency Doctor Backpack won the ToyAward in the "PreSchool" category. Another award for small foot in terms of originality, safety, product concept, workmanship & quality as well as play fun.

Deutscher Spielzeugpreis

The "Deutsche Spielzeugpreis" ("German Toy Award") distinguishes new, innovative, and educationally valuable toys in various categories on a yearly basis. For this award, the readers of the "familie&co" periodical vote for the winners of each category, and an expert jury comprised of parents, educators, editors, and children then vote for the overall winner. In 2024, two small foot products have made it onto the nominees list: the "Sensory" Listening Memory Game in the "For my friends & me" category, and the "Sensory" Feeling Box in the "For the whole family" category!

Top10 Toys

Extraordinary highlight products from the toy industry are distinguished and awarded by the organisation "Top10 Spielzeug" (Top10 Toys). The jury is comprised of toy experts who are actively involved in toy industry associations and toy store chains. For four years in a row now, a small foot product has been selected as a nominee: in 2020, the Compact Nordic Workbench impressed the trend scouts; in 2021, it was the generously large Urban Villa Doll House; in 2022, it was the Rabbit Hutch and the "Discover" Explorer's Backpack; and in 2024, it was the "fresh" Cash Register and the Industrial Play Kitchen.

Top10 Bébé & Enfant

The "TOP 10 Baby & Kind" is the retailer's campaign for baby & toddler articles in Germany. The highlights of the year are selected by the German Association of Toy Retailers (BVS) together with an independent jury of experts. Over the past several years, small foot products have been nominated for awards: for example, the Hare Motor Activity Cube in 2021, the Whale Baby Walker in 2022, the "Seaside" Baby Stand-Up Figure in 2023 and in 2024 and the "Wildlife" Elephant Toy Box with Seat and Wheels made the cut.

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