About UsMeet the Mini Minds
About Us

Every toy can be reimagined.

We are Mini Minds, an American toy brand. We design every product in the USA with meticulous care, starting from what children need, with original ideas you’ll only find at Mini Minds.

  • Original ideas
  • Designed around the child
  • Details you can see
  • Designed in the USA
Present in
Rilo, Mavi, Kiro, Sena and Ziva play around a Magnetic Blocks Forest & Lava world Mini Minds Originals seal: Original Ideas. Exclusive Designs.
Rilo, Mavi, Kiro, Sena and Ziva with Magnetic Blocks Forest & Lava.
Why we exist

Toys got stuck.

Many best-selling toys have barely changed in years. The color changes, the piece count changes, the box changes. But the way kids play stays the same.

For many brands, changing a product that already sells is a risk. For us, it’s the starting point.

18+years building brands

How Mini Minds began

Alan, our founder, has more than 18 years of experience building brands and understanding customers. Over those years, the toy world kept showing the same thing: generic products, with little attention to what children need or to the experience of play. Mini Minds was born to change that, designing every toy around the child.

Our purpose

Giving every child more room for big ideas.

It’s what our motto says: Little Ones. Big Minds. That’s why every Mini Minds toy keeps three promises.

It grows with your child

One set stays with them for years and offers something new at every stage. A 3-year-old and a 12-year-old can both play with Magnetic Blocks, each in their own way.

More than one way to play

Build, invent a story, solve a challenge. When it makes sense, a Mini Minds toy does two or three things.

Every detail has a purpose

To start without frustration, put it away without losing pieces, take it anywhere and want to play again tomorrow.

The Mini Minds

Kids who connect with every kid.

Leno, Rilo, Mavi, Kiro, Sena and Ziva are the kids of our world. Each one has their own age and way of playing, and they show up across the whole brand: they explain every toy, teach and set challenges. Because children love learning from another child, especially one they look up to.

  • They explain every toy
  • They teach new things
  • They play alongside every child
Leno
LenoAges 1–3
Notices the little details.
Rilo
RiloAges 3–4
Wants to see what happens next.
Mavi
MaviAges 4–6
Imagines another possibility.
Kiro
KiroAges 6–8
Builds, adjusts and tries again.
Sena
SenaAges 8–10
Thinks it through, one idea at a time.
Ziva
ZivaAges 10+
Brings everyone into the story.
How we design

From a toy that already exists to one that’s completely new.

We design every toy in 5 phases and 8 steps: understand, imagine, conceptualize, develop and manufacture. Here it is, step by step, with Magnetic Blocks Forest & Lava, our flagship set.

Mini Minds design process: 5 phases and 8 steps UNDERSTAND IMAGINE CONCEPTUALIZE DEVELOP MANUFACTURE 5 PHASES · 8 STEPS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

5 phases, 8 steps

Phase 1 · Understand1Market analysis2Research with children
Phase 2 · Imagine3Opportunity mapping4Concept innovation
Phase 3 · Conceptualize5Industrial design
Phase 4 · Develop6Prototyping and validation7Experience design
Phase 5 · Manufacture8Patent, certification and manufacturing
  1. 1Phase 1 · Understand

    We analyze the market

    We start with the categories families already buy and kids already love. We analyze what works, what parents say and what repeats from brand to brand.

    In Forest & Lava

    Magnetic blocks were already a sought-after toy. But they almost always came the same way: a box of loose cubes.

    Generic loose magnetic cubes, with no scene or guide
    The usual: loose cubes
  2. 2Phase 1 · Understand

    We research how children play

    We hold play sessions with children of different ages: we see what they can do with their hands and minds, what frustrates them and what makes them come back to play. We also hold sessions with moms, because they spend a lot of time playing with their kids.

    • Sessions with kids
    • Sessions with moms
    In Forest & Lava

    We set out to make one set work at 4, at 8 and at 12, each at their own level.

    Mavi builds a simple structureAge 4
    Kiro holds a block figureAge 8
    Ziva finishes a big block lionAge 12
    One set, at every age
  3. 3Phase 2 · Imagine

    We identify the opportunity

    We match what the market asks for with what children need to find the opportunity: what play is still missing.

    In Forest & Lava

    Builds stayed flat on the floor, with no place for the story to happen.

    A flat generic build, made only on the floor
    Everything was built on the floor
  4. 4Phase 2 · Imagine

    We innovate on the concept

    We develop a concept that changes the way kids play. If it only changes how the toy looks, we drop it.

    In Forest & Lava

    We added 3 illustrated magnetic boards set at right angles. The set brings its own world, and kids build on three axes: on the floor, upward and out from the walls.

    The 3 Forest & Lava boards at right angles with a block tree that starts on the floor, rises and leans on the walls
    The concept: a world to build in
  5. 5Phase 3 · Conceptualize

    We develop the industrial design

    We design every piece down to the millimeter: shape, size, magnet strength, how it connects to the others, and how the set comes together and packs away.

    In Forest & Lava

    225 magnetic blocks (2 cm / 0.8 in), triangle and pyramid pieces, 3 connector strips and 3 double-sided 28 cm (11 in) boards: one illustrated side and one with a guide grid. It sets up in 30 seconds.

    Design drawings: board assembly, illustration sketches and piece measurements Technical drawings of builds with their measurements in centimeters
    Forest & Lava design drawings
  6. 6Phase 4 · Develop

    We prototype and validate

    We build prototypes and put them to the test, including in play sessions with children: the magnets have to hold, everything has to fit, and the set has to stand up to everyday play. We adjust and test again.

    In Forest & Lava

    That’s how Magnetic Technology 2.0 was born: magnets that hold up to 5 blocks suspended from the board. And the guide grid keeps every block aligned.

    Five blocks suspended in the air, attached to the magnetic board
    5 blocks in the air
    A block butterfly built on the guide-grid side of the boards
    Guide grid
    Magnetic Technology 2.0
  7. 7Phase 4 · Develop

    We design the complete experience

    A toy should come with everything to get started and keep going: guides, challenges, packaging that doubles as storage, accessories to take it along and an app to build in 3D.

    In Forest & Lava

    A hardcover book with 50 tear-out pages, challenge mode and step-by-step mode, a premium box, a cotton backpack and the Building App.

    A challenge-mode book page with front and back views of the airplane
    Challenge book
    The premium box, open
    Premium box
    The Forest & Lava cotton backpack
    Cotton backpack
    Everything to start and keep going
  8. 8Phase 5 · Manufacture

    We file patents, certify and manufacture

    We file a patent for every innovation and manufacture with partners who meet high quality standards. Our products carry US certifications and quality certification.

    • US certified
    • Quality certified
    In Forest & Lava

    An exclusive Mini Minds design, Patent Pending.

    Magnetic Blocks Forest & Lava box with 225 pieces Patent Pending seal
    Ready to come home with you
Building App

Turn it. See it. Build it.

At home, the experience continues in the Building App. Scan the QR code inside the box, choose a model and start building in 3D, at your own pace.

  1. 1Scan the QR
  2. 2Choose a model
  3. 3Start building
  • 24 models in 3D
  • Challenge and Step-by-Step modes
  • 6 languages
Building App challenge mode: the complete 3D airplane, to rotate and view from every angle
Challenge modeSee the whole model and work out how to build it.
Building App step-by-step mode: the model comes together piece by piece
Step by StepOne piece at a time, at your own pace.

The result: Magnetic Blocks Forest & Lava

  • 225magnetic blocks (2 cm / 0.8 in)
  • 3double-sided boards to build on 3 axes
  • 50tear-out pages in the challenge book
  • 5blocks suspended in the air
Our difference

Why is different?

Because we don’t make one more version of the same toy. These are the four commitments behind every product.

Mini Minds Originals seal: Original Ideas. Exclusive Designs.

Original ideas, exclusive designs

Every product carries our signature, and our innovations are Patent Pending.

Real innovation

We launch only a few products a year. Each one has to bring a new idea that improves how children play.

Certified quality

We manufacture with high-standard partners. Our toys are US certified and quality certified.

Every detail, considered

Premium packaging, cotton backpacks and step-by-step guides. Everything around the toy is designed too.

International presence

From the USA to the world.

Mini Minds is an American brand with a global outlook: we design our toys in the USA, and today we are present in these countries.

  • United States
  • Mexico
  • Brazil
  • Argentina
  • European Union
  • United Kingdom
Our play worlds

A play universe that keeps growing.

Four toy families, each with its own personality. And more are on the way, always with the same rule: if it doesn’t improve the child’s experience, it doesn’t carry our name.

A world built with Magnetic Blocks Forest & Lava
Our flagship set

Magnetic Blocks

Magnetic blocks, illustrated boards and a challenge book to build worlds on three axes.

  • 225 blocks
  • 3 double-sided boards
  • Challenge book
  • Patent Pending
Explore Magnetic Blocks
Castles and shapes built with Magnetic Tiles

Magnetic Tiles

Colorful pieces that let the light through, to build castles, rockets and anything kids imagine.

Explore Magnetic Tiles
Creatures and vehicles made with Magnetic Foam

Magnetic Foam

Soft magnetic shapes to create creatures, vehicles and characters.

Explore Magnetic Foam
Rilo and Ziva play with wooden tools

Wooden Role Play

Wooden tools and food for real-life pretend play.

Explore wooden toys

When a family looks for a different kind of toy, we want them to think of Mini Minds.

Discover the Mini Minds world.

Toys designed so little ones can have big ideas.

See our toys For stores & distributors