You know what? I wanna be in one of those meetings where they invent new toy ideas. It must be totally awesome. And the one where they invented Harumika must have been ultra-awesome. Because this is simply the best toy I have ever seen. And my two girls agree with me (yes, even better than the giant robotic pony-thing that they wanted for Christmas).

Harumika Starter Set

But what makes Harumika so awesome is really its simplicity. It’s a basic toy that really relies on the child’s imagination: I know! How novel is that? And the best part? Children will play with this toy for a very long time (mine have spent hours happily at it) and it doesn’t require a lot of adult guidance or assistance (and once they understand the concept, they don’t need any help). It is, essentially, an outfit-making toy. You wrap the fabric around the mannequin and: BINGO! You’ve made a stylish new outfit.

Here's what you get in a starter set.

So, I know what you’re thinking now: how the heck do you work that thing? Honestly, I thought the exact same thing when it arrived. But the concept is incredibly simple. The starter package (which we received) contains a mannequin, some swatches of fabric, a spatula-like tool and some bling stickers. The really genius thing about Harumika is the plastic-coated channel in the back of the mannequin, where you can tuck in the ends of the fabric with the spatula tool:

Channel at the back of the mannequin.

Once your kids have mastered this, it’s hours of independent and imaginative play! My girls are nearly 7 and 9.5 years old, and they love this toy. Truth be told, I love playing with it, too! I’ve seen girls of almost any age love this toy, right from 4 on up to 14 (and 40!), and it’s not just girls who like it – more than one boy has hunkered down and designed outfits on our Harumikas while visiting us on playdates.

Here are some outfits that my daughters created with our Harumika sets:

Two Harumika creations

More fun outfits!

And at about $15 for a starter set, this toy is surprisingly well-priced. It fits perfectly in my birthday party budget, and I feel great about giving it as a gift to my kids’ friends. And now I see that they have a new range of mannequins that are more lifelike, which may appeal to some kids (although mine said they don’t need it – they’re happy with what they have, because they feel like real fashion designers using a dress-form):

A new Harumika

Overall, I give Harumika an A+ grade. I love that it encourages kids to get creative and to engage in real imaginative play, plus it has a very broad range of appeal to many different ages. If you have a kid who likes to create, I strongly recommend Harumika!