Lattooland: ‘Taste-safe’ multi-sensorial play kits without toxins
What can the four colours of pasta in a toy kit possibly offer a child? “Counting, stamping, pretend play, pattern recognition, craft work, colour, shape identification and lots more,” declares Khushboo Saraf, an inventive Bengaluru mother-turned-inventor who hit the sweet spot with a multi-sensorial play kit idea in
the crowded Indian toy market. Saraf says her desire to find safe, creative toys for her toddler led her to launch her own toy line last year.
Saraf had been finding it difficult to buy toys that went beyond amusing her son and nurtured his mind. Toy safety was a concern. “Some toys were colourful and appealing but were neither creative nor safe. All such products available in the market would not give all the things mothers look for in toys. Necessity is the mother of invention and I got down to making toys that ticked all the boxes they want,” she says.
Saraf’s target was to create safe play kits that would enhance creativity and boost the brain power of children.
After extensive research and several kitchen experiments, she ended up with ‘taste-safe’ multi-sensorial play kits which had safe moulding material. Using the ideas behind the homemade activities she had designed for her son in 2021, the 35-year-old Saraf, who moved from Bihar to Bengaluru, took her first step in the toy industry as the CEO of her own brand ‘Lattooland.’
A business strategy, adaptability and innovation are ingrained in her. An alumnus of IIM Bangalore and BITS Pilani, she has spent over 11 years in investment banking and product management with Citigroup, Snapdeal and Amazon. Multi-sensorial tool kits, as the ‘Lattooland’ name suggests, involve a child using multiple senses such as taste, touch and smell. When all these senses are in play, more neural connections are sparked which boosts the brain’s retention power. “For kids, this is even more exponential since 90 per cent of brain development happens at age five. So whatever you teach a child during that period will most likely hold value for the longest time,” explains the innovative mother.
Initially, Saraf began making play kits which she posted on her Instagram handle @lifeonapalette. It got a strong following from young parents, many of whom requested her to manufacture the kits. Her son’s favourite is the dough kit which helps him mould, cut and roll and dwell in an imaginary world. Another fave is the rainbow rice kit which involves sticking rice grains to learn colours and pasting. Children pick up fine motor skills and learn to scoop and measure correctly.
‘Lattooland’ offers only lab-tested, taste-safe playdough kits with tools, rainbow rice kits, pasta play, gardening kits, and organic festive kits. “Since all our kits are made using food-grade ingredients, they are taste-safe, unlike the plastic ones which contain toxic content like ‘BPA’ (Bisphenol A, a hazardous substance),” Saraf states.