This year, the magic of Christmas coincides with a special anniversary for Oxybul: the brand is celebrating its 30th birthday! Thirty years of creation and innovation to help children discover their talents. Thirty years of loyalty to its basic principle and respect for its values and mission: to bring out the best in every child.
Thirty years of co-creation
The way we consume has changed and so has the way we play. While retaining the added value of its play and learn approach, Oxybul has continued to update its toys and games to suit today’s tastes and has created new ones to meet current needs. But one thing has not changed in thirty years: its focus on children! From the very beginning in 1989, Margaret Milan subscribed to Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences. All children have more than one potential inside of them, which can be realized through play. When Margaret couldn’t find the early learning games she needed for her own children in France, she launched her first mail order catalogue and Oxybul was born!
Thirty years of bringing out the best in every child
Today, Oxybul’s Talent Brands show us more clearly than ever that “every child is a gifted child”. Its games promote early learning and develop all aspects of a child’s talents by focusing on the heart, body and mind.
Its success is also the result of thirty fruitful years of co-creation. The passionate parents that surround Margaret Milan have never really left Oxybul. Known as “parent testers”, there are 3,000 of them in France, helping to design and improve its products on a daily basis.
This enthusiastic community is further enriched by the expert backing it receives, particularly from the Rigolo Comme La Vie crèche network, which completes the picture. After “playing together” for thirty years, the brand has made some very fond memories.
did you know? Oxybul launched the first balance bike and the first cooperative games!
In the last three years, Oxybul teams have created no less than 1,200 Talent Brand toys and games, which represent half of its turnover.
Thirty years of respecting children and the planet
Because we need our children to protect the planet and ensure its future, Oxybul games are all about respecting children. Inspired by the Montessori method, they avoid overstimulation and are in tune with children’s rhythms and essential needs.
They are gender neutral and allow children to flourish in line with their aspirations. They are ergonomic and easy to use every day. And above all, they are designed to transcend generations and be passed on regardless of trends.
Concerns about CSR issues led to a packaging rethink and 200 new Oxybul products now have eco-designed packaging. The main change was optimizing the size of the boxes. And this initiative has been applied to 32 old products, saving 5 tonnes of cardboard and 6 tonnes of plastic in 2018!
Because the planet is everyone’s business, Oxybul gets its customers involved in ÏDTROC every year, which allows them to give a second life to their children’s toys and books. The ÏDTROC initiative also enabled Oxybul to redistribute 60,000 unsold products to charity in 2018, bringing happiness to lots of new children!
Thirty years of accessibility to all
Offering educational games is one thing but making them accessible to everyone is even better! Since 2007, Oxybul’s “Disability & Play” range has been offering toys and games designed to help children with disabilities harness their potential and feel empowered.
Making educational games more accessible also involves providing local amenities. In its 60 stores in France, children are invited to try out toys, take part in organized activities and spend quality time with their families[PI1] !
And because accessibility is also about price, Oxybul always strives to offer the best possible value for money.
The result: 7,700,000 toys and books are sold every year!
Thirty years… and Oxybul wants thirty more!
This is only the beginning! There is still a lot that staff, parents and experts can do together to bring out the best in the world’s children. That’s why Oxybul is increasingly focusing its efforts overseas, opening stores in Belgium, England, Italy and Spain. And what principle will drive the brand for the next thirty years? That when a toy helps children to discover and develop their potential, not only do their eyes light up, the first foundations of a happy and responsible adulthood are laid.
Read the Oxybul story: https://www.oxybul.com/anniversaire-30-ans
