With most families spending more time at home this past year, Little House on the Prairie licensees Cūbles and The Queen’s Treasures have been helping parents engage children with toys that provide solid, interactive, year-round play value and a connection to stories about family togetherness, homeschooling, gardening, baking and the joys of a simpler life.
Both licensees are now poised to continue that work with new Little House on the Prairie products planned for 2021.
“We are very pleased with the continued success of our licensees as they expand their Little House on the Prairie collections for children to engage in creative play,” said Trip Friendly, CEO of Friendly Family Productions.
The Queen’s Treasures
“The Little House on the Prairie books have always been popular in home-schooling communities and, when parents had to take on the role of homebound educators because of the pandemic, many of them connected with the material as well,” says Joann Cartiglia of The Queen’s Treasures, makers of Little House on the Prairie 18-inch dolls, and doll clothing, furniture, and accessories.
For 2021, Cartiglia will continue to expand her company’s Little House on the Prairie Collection with an 18-inch doll version of a classic cast iron wood-fired cook stove which coordinates with cookware and table accessories already in the line. The Queen’s Treasures also has plans to expand the collection’s age range by launching a new toddler toy grouping based on elements from Little House in the Big Woods later this year.
The fully-assembled 1890s-style wooden stove sized for play with 18-inch dolls is available for preorder now and will ship in late May. The “Little Bears on the Prairie” line will feature handmade mini-jointed teddy bears and several Little House wooden structures with furniture, including a cabin, mercantile, school, and church. This toddler line be marketed for age 3-6 years and will be a nice complement to the My First Little House Books series for read-along, play-along fun.
Cūbles
Minnesota-based Cūbles launched its line of Little House on the Prairie Cūbles for children to assemble unique paper toys of each member of the Ingalls family. The collection launched shortly after the pandemic shutdowns began in the spring of 2020 and quickly saw customers embrace them as a great STEM activity that engages children in the process of building toys which they can then enjoy through creative play.
“We will expand our line in 2021 with the release of ColorMe Little House on the Prairie Cūbles which are the same as the current Little House Cūbles, but designed for kids to color them first so the finished toy is like a coloring book come to life!” says Cūbles inventor and CEO Joel Morris.
Cūbles also announced plans to switch its packaging from compostable plastic sleeves to paperboard sleeves, so the entire product is 100% recyclable paper.
“It’s wonderful to see Little House on the Prairie still inspiring licensees and captivating fans with stories of pioneer life set a century and a half ago and to know its themes of family, community, courage, optimism, and perseverance still resonate and are worth celebrating today,” says Carole Postal, President of Spotlight Licensing and Brand Management, the agency appointed by Friendly Family Productions to manage the Little House on the Prairie merchandise licensing program.