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A combination of the words toy and furniture, the Toniture kits provide a variety of high density fiber board units, steel attachments and child-friendly nuts and bolts. Created by the South Korean design studio G280, the furniture line is meant to inspire creativity and help children learn more about making.

The large size of the nuts and bolts makes them easy for small hands to work with, and the different sized units allow children’s imaginations to get busy. Each kit comes with a set of suggested designs for a range of pieces, including a desk, chair, table and shelves. Inspired by Meccano, the studio team wants to help the next generation of consumers build a deeper relationship with the objects in their lives, ideally leading to more responsible long term consumption patterns.

Do-it-yourself has become a popular alternative to the recent emphasis on quantity over quality. Communities and individuals are taking control of their production in a number of ways, from off-grid, tech-powered local farms to building wooden bikes, boats or caravans from sets of illustrated how-to guides. Education has also begun experimenting with more learning by doing, so how could public school systems work with the unschooling approach to provide self-guided learning programs?