Why everyone is going crazy for the Wobbel Board

The stylish, child-centric item is a favourite among trendy mothers

Children young and old can enjoy the Wobbel Board in its many iterations. Courtesy EcoSouk

If you’re a parent who hasn’t heard about the Wobbel board yet, then you’ve been living under the proverbial rock. I’ve been spotting it all over the Instagram feeds of the stylish, trendy mothers out there; especially those conscious of sleek design when it comes to decorating their homes and buying toys for their children. It certainly looks good in pictures, but what does it do, exactly?

Pretty much everything, I ­discovered, once I let my ­children loose on it. I unwrapped the board and placed it in our living room, and then called my 6-year-old daughter and my almost-2-year-old son to come investigate. I made it a point not to tell them anything about it, nor show them how it can be used. I wanted to see what they'd come up with on their own, and if the sturdy and beautifully crafted board really is as versatile, multipurpose and conducive to open-ended play as many previous reviews have suggested.

Suffice it to say that it’s the best child-centric item in our house, and we are seriously considering investing in a second, larger board. My daughter can’t get enough of it: she rocks on it, uses it to practise her cartwheels, creates a tunnel out of it for her animal figurines, curls up on it with a blanket, pillow and a book for quiet time, lounges on it for a bit of TV-watching and pretends it’s a boat sailing the high seas when it’s time for some adventurous play. My toddler, on the other hand, can’t stop giggling as he continuously climbs on and off it, finding that simple movement absolutely exhilarating.

His sister likes to lean it against the couch so the two of them can slide off it, and more giggling ensues. They both sit on it, back to back, and rock back and forth while singing nursery rhymes. We even caught the toddler using it as a stepping stool to reach some sugary snack he had spotted on the kitchen counter.

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Even my husband and I got in on the action. I've used it as a tray to rest my laptop on, and my husband rocks back and forth on it for a touch of exercise that's gentle on his knee joints.

Certainly, its cost is an ­investment; it starts at Dh520 for a Wobbel Original, or Dh690 for the Wobbel that comes with coloured felt on one side. However, you can safely put aside any fears that your child will outgrow it, or that it will get in the way. My children use it every day, multiple times a day, and it’s a well-made, ethically sourced premium product that I will happily save as a family heirloom for my grandchildren one day. And I’ll maybe just leave it out until then – that’s how good it looks in our home.

Wobbel boards are available in the UAE on EcoSouk.me or Mumzworld, and in store at Eggs & Soldiers in Dubai’s Times Square Centre

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