FroggMag founders work with traditional Indian artisans to create unique games and puzzles for children

Try a Madhubani puzzle, draw a Pichwai butterfly and recreate a Gond painting with Shalinee Ghosh and Krishna Kumar’s unique children’s toys and games, which proudly tell a story of India and her people

Finding age-appropriate toys and puzzles for children is no child’s play. Like many Indian parents, Shalinee Ghosh and Krishna Kumar had a tough time finding games that had a connection with India when they were shopping for their pre-schoolers. Ten years ago, under their brand name FroggMag, they launched games, jigsaw puzzles, dominoes and activity boxes that draw inspiration from Indian art and heritage.

Today, the brand has accessories, home decor, jewellery, gifts and scarves. But their USP is undoubtedly the games and puzzles they create for children, which now include an exclusive collection for the National Museum, Delhi, and the Reitberg Museum in Zurich.

Shalinee, a graduate of the National Institute of Design, began by designing travel guides. Avid travellers, both she and Krishna Kumar felt that there was a huge gap in the segment for souvenirs from India. She says, “We started making souvenirs for tourists, products that tell a story about the country and her people.”

Beginning with fridge magnets that had motifs of the Taj Mahal and Amber Fort in addition to images of monuments in Goa, Khajuraho, and Delhi, they moved on to explore Indian art traditions and motifs in textiles such as Kalamkari and Baluchari.

“When we found there was hardly anything for parents who wanted to help children discover India’s rich treasure trove of arts, we decided to design our own products such as jigsaw puzzles, memory games and so on based on different art traditions of India,” says Shalinee. She adds: “When we wanted to name our company, we decided to call it Froggmag because initially, our plan was to make fridge magnets. Frogs have this habit of sticking on to an object and so we combined Frogs and magnets and decided to call it FroggMag.”

The couple wanted games that engaged children in different age groups and even adults. Their jigsaw puzzles are based on Indian art traditions such as mural art, Kalighat pat, Madhubani, the tribal art of the Gonds and Bhils, Pattachitra, Warli, Thanka, Mughal miniatures, Nakashi, Pichwai and so on.

“We requested artists to create designs for us. These help children discover their artistic heritage and also finetune their motor skills. Parents can tell them about the art, the story it represents and the style of the artist,” says Shalinee.