Paper Bugs, a different toy, design, an innovative alternative, “leaves an apprenticeship for life”, told Télam its creator and designer, Paola Gómez De Olivera from Santiago.
Paper bugs, is a venture that emerged in Santiago del Estero, paper toys “to put together on the occasion of animals of the native fauna, animals in danger of extinction, also a line of safari animals and the rest all fauna animals native, both in Santiago del Estero and at the national level,” explained De Olivera.
At the same time he commented that they have several lines that are divided by regions: animals from Patagonia, Mesopotamia, Puna, Chaco and Santiago del Estero; there are eight lines in total, but “apart from that we have two with braille, one is called Monte and the other North”.
Paper Bugs It is a toy designed for boys, three-dimensional, which, by means of folds, forms a structure that repeats the morphology of the animal’s anatomy, always with planes.
“They are packages, hanging blister packs and each package has four cut-out sheets, then they are cut out and glued with the instructions and the animals are finished,” he explained.
Despite all these options, Paola commented that they are developing “new toys with paper, some flying, another with boxes for emotions, also an adaptation with recycled materials for blind people, which is a Tatetí that comes with a mask and ends up being a sensory game.
Also, through a commercial alliance with Pruxi de San Juan, they are marketing plantable pencilswhich are “made of paper, it has seeds and we add some pots that are all made of canvas recovered from posters”.
“The idea is to take care of the environment, although we use a lot of paper, and it is not recovered or recycled paper.”
Through Bichos de Papel, he maintained, “We promote respect for species, for diversity in general, both for animal and plant species and for different human ethnic groups, as well as for inclusion, which is why we have toys for blind children.”
Bichos de Papel began as a job for the Industrial Design career, when Paola was in her second year; after more than eight “of being asleep on my computer, the proposal to participate in Puro Diseño came up, in 2013 and instead of wearing shoes, which is what I also did, I wanted to innovate and I brought the little animals.”
His works comprise the 100% Our catalog, of the Ministry of Social Development of the Nation, which shows toys developed by cooperatives, recovered companies, workers registered in the National Registry of Workers of the Popular Economy (Renatep), as well as independent producers.
“It is so in 2013 they go on the market for the first timeand we only had the Santiago del Estero line, which was the Dorado, the Quirquincho, the Tortuga and the Lechuza and now there are almost 29 different models in total,” he said.
“At that fair they were selected, and from there, honestly, Bichos de Papel is a project that got out of hand, because at no time did I think about the impact it had and the great acceptance”he emphasized.
“Paper Bugs allows learning. Although it is a product that does not have a shelf life of more than two weeks, what it leaves you with is learning, that cognitive synapse that one makes by having to think and follow the instructions to assemble the structure of the toy oneself and, furthermore, the moment shared with the adult who helps him put the toy together”.
“The boy or girl is with an adult who helps him and there they play together, that experience, that although with the pandemic it was resumed again, in the pre-pandemic parents, uncles or grandparents did not have time to sit down and play. Y What Paper Bugs does is motivate you and almost force you to play again with the child in your house”, manifested.
“It is also counteract a little so much excessive technology that suddenly there is that electronic pacifier, that the child is plugged in and you stop sharing moments; and yet childhood is almost as fleeting as Paper Bugs, because when you least realize it, the child is already grown up”.
