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Simplify Caretaking with iF Design Awards’ Best Childcare Products of 2021

This is the second in a series of articles showcasing winners from the iF Design Award 2021, a competition identifying outstanding examples of design around the world.

In the midst of widespread school closures and working from home, families all over the world have had to completely rethink their approach to childcare. Parents were suddenly spending much more time with their children, while also having to maintain their own busy working schedules. It’s been a challenge for many families to juggle their priorities of safety, comfort, education, and play.

Thankfully, there are plenty of new innovations designed to make childcare as convenient and enjoyable as possible. The internationally renowned iF jury of experts of the iF Design Award sorted through thousands of childcare products to find the best the market has to offer. These leaders in the international design scene chose the following products for their high-quality manufacturing, careful consideration of child safety, and clever approaches to education and play.

Whether you’re caring for a newborn on the go or teaching a teen financial literacy, this list has something to offer parents in all stages of life. Cutting-edge design means these low-maintenance, stress-reducing products have plenty of style to spare. Click through this list and discover today’s highest quality baby seats, toys, educational apps, and more.

SMILE III | Britax Roemer

The new and improved SMILE III offers the ultimate travel solution for comfort and safety. It can swiftly change from pram to stroller, while the super-slim frame lends maximum maneuverability - perfect for urban living. Its superior suspension and air-filled tires ensure the most comfortable ride for both parent and child. With a selection of accessories and bundles to choose from, SMILE III is an ideal travel solution for babies, toddlers, and small children.

Maxi-Cosi | Coral

Car seats for babies must provide ultimate safety, making them heavy and unwieldy to carry. Maxi-Cosi has come up with a solution: Coral, the first modular baby car seat (suitable from birth to 12 months). Its lightweight detachable soft carrier enables superior carrying. That means no more chafing or heavy lifting for parents. The carrier clicks easily into the outer shell while the harness and Isofix base keep the baby safe in a car or on a stroller. Coral prioritizes comfort with soft, removable cushions and the shade of a large sun canopy. Used material and a Side Protection System are designed to protect the baby in case of collision.

Pinto

Pinto is an investment education and experiencing service for teenagers and parents, developed by NH Investment & Securities and KAIST (Republic of Korea). Proper education about finances from an early age is essential to prevent financial illiteracy. Pinto solves this problem by providing a guided investment experience to teenagers. First, Pinto lets teenagers invest once a month. This encourages teenagers to grow planning habits for investing. Second, Pinto provides a shared wishlist between teenagers and their parents through which teenagers can get parental advice on their investment plans. Pinto will have an impact on individuals, families, and society, eventually encouraging the emergence of a healthy investment culture.

Toyi

Toyi is an eco-friendly creative building kit that lets children transform everyday objects into unique toys. It is a new building system to incorporate daily objects into the play process. With a kit consisting of wheels, feet, hands, eyes, joints, sticks, and flexible connectors, kids aged 6+ can transform any object around them into a toy of their own creation. Without step-by-step instructions and enabling children to incorporate their interests into the play experience, Toyi gives priority to children’s needs and supports free creative play.

BOCCO emo by Yukai Engineering

BOCCO emo is a robot that allows for increased communication within families. When a user sends a message through the designated app, BOCCO emo will read it aloud to family members at home. Users can also record and send messages using just the robot. BOCCO emo has a voice recognition function and can be operated hands-free for increased ease of use. Its built-in sensors allow it to accurately grasp its surrounding conditions and respond accordingly. BOCCO emo acts as a reliable family member with the capability of displaying a wide range of emotions and the ability to send weather, scheduling, and disaster prevention notifications.

Night Light™ Baby In-Sight® by Munchkin

Night Light™ Baby In-Sight® is a travel mirror with dimmable LED lights for nighttime car rides with babies. Under its LED cover, there are four warm white LEDs that can gently light up the baby’s face and reflect onto the driver’s rearview mirror without causing harsh glares. The mirror has four different lighting modes that help to soothe or keep the baby awake while on the road. The mirror can be mounted with attached buckle straps, and the angle of the mirror can be adjusted easily.

Juno Bassinet by Juno Baby

Bassinets are essential for safe sleeping to newborn babies but the majority are immobile, confined to one room, and are made of synthetic materials that are environmentally toxic. Juno wanted to provide a safer, more natural solution for parents so they invented the world’s first pop-up bassinet. It can be set up within seconds, moved anywhere around the house so the baby can be nearby, and made of certified sustainable materials which means it is fully recyclable. They achieved this by taking the Finnish baby box as an inspiration and created a new generation of bassinets never seen before to push the world towards a more positive future.

Little Magic | Branding system

Little Magic is a child-focused illustrated clothing brand that allows every child to enjoy high-quality products, sustainable materials, and fun animal illustrations. The illustrations enable children to nourish a lifelong love for animals. The brand identity is iconic and simple, yet playful. The visual system is vibrant, colorful, and joyful. The identity and the visuals capture the Little Magic soul; Every living being is a miracle, and every child has the magic to make their dreams come true.

NO.0 | Neonatal bed

Newborn babies need their own safe place to sleep, preferably close to mom but without the risk of crushing or suffocation at night. The Bolin Bolon’s «0» cot not only gives the baby a safe and independent sleeping space, but also matches the style of modern decoration. The mattress is made of Polyolefin Elastomer which was originally developed in Japan. Even after compression testing involving 80,000 repetitions, the mattress still holds its form to 95%, ensuring excellent support for the baby’s spine. The unique hollow structure of the POE mattress makes it easy to wash and quick to dry. Neither milk nor urine stains are a problem to remove.

Wireless Baby Dryer by Xiamen Chipsu

This is the first hairdryer specially designed for babies aged 0-3 years old. With a built-in lithium battery, it can be used wirelessly, allowing the baby more room to move. Considering the skin and hair quality of infants, this device ensures a constant temperature and gentle airflow. The low sound and low noise also ease babies’ fear of devices and protect their sensitive hearing. Its weight is only half that of a normal hairdryer, so users will not grow tired of holding it. Finally, the rounded forms are reminiscent of a baby’s body.

Philips Avent PPSU Bottle Art Series

This feeding bottle supports a baby’s all-around development. The ergonomic handle is designed to support a baby’s fine motor and gross motor development. Based on the understanding of a baby’s visual development, the high-contrast color and heuristic art graphics stimulate both the baby’s and parents’ sensual perceptions. The bottle also features Natural 2.0 teats, which are scientifically proven to be closer to a mother’s breastfeeding. Natural 2.0 teats offer different textures for young and older babies.

RakugakiAR by Whatever Inc.

RakugakiAR is an app designed to make something we’ve all imagined come true: “What if my drawings came to life?” Just doodle in a notebook, on a whiteboard, or any other surface. As the app scans your doodle, it will come to life and start walking through the virtual space. You can feed them, poke them, or even tease them a little. Whatever developed a proprietary engine called “HoneBorn,” which allows the user to add life-like motion to the doodle by recognizing the head, body, arms, and legs from the scanned doodle and automatically assign bones and joints. This creates a believable experience that lets a child feel as if the doodle is alive by making it sync and interact through the smartphone.

PåHoj by Dual-purpose bike seat

Why choose between taking your child out on a bike or a stroller, when you can do both? Påhoj is the new bike seat that turns into a stroller in a second. No more carrying your kid around after you’ve parked the bicycle! Many parents have dreamed of biking into town with their kids on a sunny day but then realized they couldn’t bring the stroller. Such everyday problems are examples of what Påhoj solves. This dual functionality is unique and is not provided by anyone else in the market.

LEOLEO by Leea Toys

Leoleo is a hyper-functional and playful piece of furniture designed for the care, education, skills development, and entertainment of young children. It consists of a few parts that can be recombined in many ways, thus obtaining different functionalities. More functions are made available by adding accessories. The activities Leoleo promotes are based on adult-child cooperation and aim to develop skills, promote physical movement, and encourage children’s independence. Leoleo can be an observation tower (leaning tower), an activity desk, a slide/ramp, a blackboard, a rocking chair, a high chair with a feeding table, and more.

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