This colourful wooden toy was designed by Alma Siedhoff-Buscher, a student at the German Bauhaus school, in 1923. The reformist pedagogical movements that emerged at the turn of the century and gained ground in the 1920s and 1930s (Waldorf, Montessori, etc.) challenged the formerly established views on children and their toys. They believe that play is not only fun, but also a way for children to develop their creativity and self-expression. This notion probably informed the design of this brightly coloured set for a toy boat, which can be assembled from wooden elements of different shapes and sizes.