I'm inspired by ADO Spielgoed wooden toys

ADO Spielgoed vehicle CODA Museum digital archive 

ADO Spielgoed vehicle CODA Museum digital archive 

ADO Spielgoed vehicle CODA Museum digital archive 

ADO Spielgoed vehicle CODA Museum digital archive 

ADO Spielgoed vehicle CODA Museum digital archive 

I love the playful combination of minimal forms, limited colour and the graphic letter stencils of these wonderful ADO Spielgoed toys, from a recent exhibition at the Coda Museum in the Netherlands.

Ko Verzuu designed these toys between 1935 and 1955, absorbing inspiration from artists such as Gerrit Rietveld and Piet Mondriaan as well as the ideas of educational innovators Maria Montessori and Friedrich Fröbel. The toys, which included all kinds of vehicles, games, building blocks and doll's house furniture were hand made by recovering tuberculosis patients in the Berg en Bosch Sanitorium near Appledoorn. 

For more information, you can dip into the digital archive at the Coda Museum or there is a facsimile edition of a book: ADO Speelgoed Toys, which was published in 1994. 

Coda Museum via Rafa-kids blog

Thanks to Rafa-kids  blogspot for bringing this inspiring exhibition to my attention!