Mind Your Beeswax

What if toys were not manufactured, but grown?

Roni is an open-ended play system made from mycelium, the root structure of fungi. Designed for children ages four to five, the project explores how toys can move beyond plastic manufacturing and instead participate in natural material cycles. While most toys are made from petroleum-based plastics and quickly discarded, mycelium offers a biodegradable alternative that can be grown, used, and eventually returned safely to the earth.

A key part of the project is that the toy can be grown by the children themselves. Using a simple growing process, kids can cultivate the mycelium pieces at home or in the classroom before they are dried and used for play. This transforms the toy from a finished product into an experience—one that allows children to witness how materials develop and change over time.

The resulting pieces connect with wooden dowels and blocks to create a flexible construction system that encourages open-ended play. Instead of dictating a single outcome, the toy allows children to build structures, invent stories, and experiment freely.

By involving children in the growth of the material, Roni turns play into a lesson about biology, natural cycles, and sustainability. The project reframes the toy not just as an object for entertainment, but as a tool for curiosity, care, and learning about the living systems that shape our world.