Animazing Toys connect play, learning and a love of animals
Together, we can help inspire our children to give wild animals a future
Play. Learn. Care.
The Animazing Team
The team that created our current animations have experience spanning teaching in schools, book writing, children’s animation for TV, animal conservation and toy making.
We are actively looking for more zoos and international charities to work with.
Educational methodologies
Our work has been developed and informed with help from teachers and academics. Two principles from educational psychology emerged to underpin our storytelling.
Firstly, children who watch our animations are asked to take the role of teaching and caring for an orphaned baby animal. Akin to the protégé effect.
Secondly, the children are taught by two animated characters who are slightly older than our intended audience of primary school learners – the zone of proximal development.
Linking to animal charities
The wonderful charity linked to our African Bush Elephant experience, is Elephant Havens led by the incomparable elephant enthusiast Debra Stevens, her husband Scott and the brilliant Boago Poloko, who runs the Botswana animal charity and orphanage locally.
Founder story
Founder David Smee was amazed how the toys he bought for his children through their primary school years were so hit-and-miss. He saw an opportunity to give parents and children a way to improve the whole toy experience. His background over 30 years has been in product and service creation, development and commercialisation for companies big and small.
David shared his ideas in science museums, schools, family days and in public locations around Bristol and Bath to help refine the offering. These ideas became Anibotics Ltd in 2021 and spawned Animazing Toys in 2024. This animation leading play concept won Innovate UK and Creative UK awards alongside much child, parent and academic encouragement.
Background to the problems we're solving
According to parents surveyed by the British Heart Foundation, 20% of their children give up on a new toy after a day, rising to nearly 50% after a week.
It’s not surprising then that around 40 million toys are thrown away in the UK every year, almost a third of them in perfect working order.
Over three quarters of parents say they are frustrated with having many unused toys cluttering their homes. Around this number also wish to have an educational element in the toys they give their children.
We’re here to help parents gain better value with a toy purchase: by making that toy endure and educate. We’re here to reward toys returned to us, if they’d otherwise be thrown away or are unwanted clutter.
Beyond these aims, we’d love to help foster positive traits in young people, principally a nurturing empathy for animals, through gaining a deep knowledge of what makes them awesome.
“In the end, we will conserve only what we love,
we will love only what we understand,
and we will understand only what we are taught”
Baba Dioum, 1968
We’ve found a great pedagogy, not just facts about animals, but STEM topics too – through guided play using animal toys. We’re working hard to optimise and iterate based on customers feedback – please share your views to us via email at [email protected].