KAPLA
KAPLA is a natural construction game made up of identical pine planks. Due to their unique size, in the ratio of 1:3:5, KAPLA planks are an innovative building block, ideal for creating a wide variety of structures. No glue, no screws, no clips. Each plank is simply placed on top of another: gravity and balance alone hold the planks in place.
KAPLA introduces children to a world where art and science coexist beautifully. The game allows children to build, create and experiment using their own imagination. It stimulates creativity, encourages logical thinking, dexterity and concentration.
The KAPLA planks are 100% untreated wood sourced from renewable pine forests in Les Landes, France. Due to the purity and quality of the pine wood used, KAPLA planks will last for many years. A high precision manufacturing process ensures the exact same size, the correct ratio and the perfectly balanced and smooth quality of each KAPLA plank. This results in stable constructions and counter lever potential.
KAPLA was invented in 1987 by Dutchman Tom van der Bruggen who studied the History of Art and always dreamed of building a castle. Inspired by and having fallen in love with an old ruined farm on the Tarn river in the South of France, Tom van der Bruggen decided to fulfil his dream and set about converting the old farm into his dream castle, complete with carriage entrance, fountains and towers. To help him visualise the finished construction of his castle, Tom van der Bruggen used wooden blocks, but soon realised that they would not be suitable for certain aspects of the construction, such as the lintels, roofs and floors. This realisation prompted him to invent a plank based on progressive uneven numbers – 1:3:5, a ratio that has since enabled builders to construct with the strength of stone and the precision of artwork. Naming his invention Kabouter Plankjes (meaning Gnome Planks in Dutch) Tom van der Bruggen abbreviated this to KAPLA. Today KAPLA planks are used by adults and children to create fantastic architectural constructions, animals, transport and other extraordinary creations.
Initially very simple and intuitive, KAPLA adapts to every child’s creative ambition. Children learn every time they build and advance their technique by playing and creations become increasingly complex with time and experience. Everything is possible with KAPLA planks!