Jump, balance, climb, build—Stapelstein® invites movement, play, and creativity into everyday family life. Founded by Hannah König and Stephan Schenk, Stapelstein® designs multifunctional, thoughtfully crafted elements that inspire holistic development and foster connection and well-being for children and families alike.
Let’s start with some backstory. What inspired you to develop Stapelstein?
Stephan: The idea of the Stapelstein Original originated in 2015 during my product design studies. After a two-year development process involving children and educational professionals, the Stapelstein Original was first presented to the public in 2017. Since then, our elements have been inspiring people of all ages around the world to move in playful ways.
I come from a family of educators and teachers - in fact my dad taught physical education. Health, exercise, and the fact that kids weren't getting enough physical activity were a topic of discussion at home. The lack of movement and play is and has been a longstanding concern in our society. There are studies that show that this leads to deficits in a child's health and development, and it is a crisis that affects kids worldwide. So, to help change this, my goal was to create something for the whole family that encourages playful movement by design.
We appreciate how your products encourage creative play with their open-ended form. How did you decide on this design?
Our design process is rooted in collaboration with children, educators, and parents, ensuring we address diverse needs while achieving harmony between material, form, and function. Our products are lightweight, strong, and accessible to users of all ages and abilities. This is achieved using high-end materials and world-class sustainable technology made in Germany. We design with children at eye level, creating child-friendly solutions for the whole family in an industry often marked by overly simplistic, 'childish' approaches.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. It takes hard work to make something truly simple, requiring a deep understanding of underlying challenges to create elegant solutions. Simplicity is not just minimalism; it involves understanding the essence of a product and removing anything non-essential. This philosophy guides our work, helping us focus on what truly matters.
At the heart of our approach is our mission: to cultivate family wellbeing through playful movement by design. We envision, craft, and offer innovative products to integrate playful movement in family environment.
What role does creativity play in your lives?
Creativity is the foundation of our lives. Our entire organization is the result of creative work, constantly striving to find the best, elegant form—not only in our product design but also in our organizational and business structures. We believe that creativity is in constant interplay with movement and play. We strive to integrate playful movement into our daily lives and view the world through the curious eyes of children. When it comes to Stapelstein, we use our elements as dynamic stools, yoga blocks, or simply as sources of inspiration for challenges beyond product design. Our products constantly remind us to approach the world with openness and curiosity.
Through your journey with Stapelstein, have you discovered any insights about child development that you believe deserve more attention from the public?
Movement is essential to human development and well-being, yet the emphasis on sitting still, as cultivated throughout our educational system, is counterproductive. In our view, people learn more effectively in and through playful movement driven by intrinsic motivation. We believe this deserves far more attention, as fostering a dynamic learning and living environment can significantly enhance both the development and well-being of children and families.
What advice can you share with parents who would like to better support their children’s imaginative play?
Spend as much time as possible in nature. In your home environment, incorporate versatile, open-ended, high-quality materials and objects.
We really admire your company’s sustainability mission. In what other ways does this show up in your lives?
We approach sustainability holistically by striving to think, live, and work responsibly. From the way we develop our products, to the choice of material and production methods, shipping and packaging through to long-term and fair partnerships with suppliers and distribution channels. Our goal is a child-friendly world and, to achieve this, we must always be mindful of the new generations and the state of the world we will leave to them.
What has you feeling inspired lately?
The documentary Rivers and Tides about the artist Andy Goldsworthy.
