Toys can be creative teachers, too

New toy store in Gig Harbor focuses on the value of play

Susan Schell

of the Gateway

When Valla Wagner and Melissa Tennille opened their toy store, Teaching Toys, Too, in Uptown Gig Harbor, they already had quite a following.

Wagner and Tennille had owned another store in Tacoma for six years, and they said another one was needed in Gig Harbor.

“We had customers come in who have been driving to Tacoma for years,” Wagner said. “So opening a second place in Uptown was a pretty big deal.”

Teaching Toys, Too is the only toy store in town. It is a resource for teachers, occupational therapists and other specialists.

“We act as a conduit of information for the community,” Wagner said. “In a broad sense, we look at developmental levels. We look at what a child needs, and (we) look for toys that are open-ended, durable and won’t end up in a landfill next year.”

Wagner describes the toy industry in two groups: mass market and specialty stores.

“We don’t do a lot of flash-in-the-pan stuff, like the mass markets,” she said. “We opt out of that. If you just buy mass-market stuff you leave out the inventors.”

Wagner said a favorite part of her job is buying toys for the store. She and her partner look for high-quality items that are impossible to find in the mass markets.

“There are really good artisans everywhere. You just have to take the time to find them,” she said. “If we don’t find the little guys, they’ll go out of business. And if that happens, we’ll just have the same things to choose from as everyone else.”

Wagner and Tennille attend big toy conventions each year, particularly in Europe.

“The Germans make the best toys,” Wagner said. “They make good, hardwood building blocks and handmade dolls.”

She said if a child only had one toy, it should be a set of building blocks.

“It teaches early geometry, constructing and creativity and lasts for generations,” Wagner said. “It’s the simplest thing, but that block sitting there doesn’t do anything without the child’s imagination.”

Too many toys on the market don’t involve active participation, Wagner said.

“If you push a button and it tells you something, the child is just an observer,” she said. “With television and videos, there’s already too much of that. If they are actively engaged, the creativity is coming from the child.

“These are stepping stones to development, and a lot of children are missing those stepping stones,” she added. “That’s how children learn to be adults.”

Wagner and Tennille both got into the industry by working for the former owners of the Tacoma Teaching Toys, Too. When the owners decided the commute to Tacoma from their North Bend home was too much, the two women bought the business.

“I had a background in law and education and just wanted to make some extra money working at my neighborhood toy store,” Wagner said. “I never thought I’d end up becoming a business owner. It’s funny how life is.”

The store celebrated its official grand opening on Saturday, and the owners have high hopes that business will be good.

“We’re really gratified with the warmth we’ve received here in Uptown,” Wagner said. “We hired top-notch employees that helped us put the store together and feel a real sense of ownership.

“Everyone has a great attitude and the same energy and love for children.”

Teaching Toys, Too

The new store at Uptown Gig Harbor is the only specialty toy shop on the lower Kitsap Peninsula. The store is located at 4635 Point Fosdick Drive NW in Gig Harbor, next to Ben & Jerry’s.

For more information, call 253-514-6113.