Kinderboard or Wobbel What’s the Difference?

Wobble boards (or balance boards) are currently the hottest children’s toy on the market. Their simple design keeps energetic children engaged in creative play for hours while helping them reach key developmental milestones.

You can rock it. Balance on it. Push it. Spin it. Flip it and slide. Sit on it or use it as a foot stool. Make it into a see-saw, a boat or a resting place or a doll’s house – the play opportunities are endless! Here at Entropy, we stock the two leading brands of wobble boards – Kinderfeets Kinderboard and Wobbel. To help you decide which wobble board is right for your family we have everything you need to know right here.

First to the Australian market was Kinderfeets Kinderboard arriving in late June 2017. The Kinderboard while being based on a traditional Dutch design was re-designed by Kinderfeets in the USA and is made in China. The board is made from FSC certified and sustainably sourced German beech wood and is finished with translucent water-based lacquer. Currently, we stock four different colour options – natural, white wash, sage wash and bamboo (bamboo is crafted from bamboo rather than beech wood). The natural wood looks like the images on our website but the white wash and sage wash options are a bit special… They're washed, but not too washed. All we can say is, imagine an upmarket seaside shack’s fancy-pants hardwood floors and these kinderboards would fit right in alongside them.

Holding market share up until the Wobbels hit our shores, the Kinderboards has little competition and sold supremely well. But as Miley Cyrus said ‘… change is a thing you can count on.’

Wobbel landed in Australia in late 2017 and in doing so sent a wave of excitement through the toy industry. Entropy Elf Bec and Elf Johanna were lucky enough to not only see but trial The Original Wobbel at the 2017 Toy and Hobby Fair in Melbourne. After uploading the below video to Entropy’s social media channels it was clear that you, our wonderful toy lovers, were more than interested and couldn’t wait to get your hands on one. Well now the wait is over The Original Wobbel is here and it has many Wobbel cousins gracing our shores now as well.

Like Kinderboard, Wobbel is based off the traditional Dutch Waldorf design. Wobbel (a Dutch company) redesigned and makes their boards in the Netherlands. The Original Wobbel is made from sustainably harvested (FSC) European beech wood (that grows in a 300 km radius of their production factory) and is finished with water based varnish and EKO wool felt.

You don’t need to be an expert to see that both of these brands haven’t cut any corners when it comes to quality. However, it does take more than just a glance to understand exactly how these two products differ.

The biggest difference is the weight that these boards can handle. As the boards are designed for adults as well as children this is important. The Wobbel can withstand up to 200kg where the Kinderboard can handle 220kg without breaking into a sweat. The second biggest difference is that Wobbel can be used by children from birth. Meanwhile, Kinderfeets recommend that children be 18 months of age before they start rockin’ and ridin’. There is also a slight size difference. As you can see in the below images Wobbel has a deeper curve (22cm compared to Kinderboards 19cm), is thicker (by .5cm) and is longer (by 1cm). Lastly, the Wobbel boards that we currently stock all have a felt layer on the outside of their curve. This layer protects both the board and your floors.

So there you have it, that’s pretty much all there is to know about Kinderboard and Wobbel. If you were hoping to find instructions on how to use these toys I am sorry to disappoint. The nature of these balance boards (and all Waldorf toys) is that there is no right or wrong way to play. If you’re worried that your child won’t “get it” put those thoughts aside and get ready to be impressed with how creative your child is. If that isn’t enough to convince you head over to Wobbel’s YouTube Channel and watch a few clips.

A summary from the Entropy Elves

*In November 2017 the Kinderboard’s weight rating went from 90kg to 220kg. This new weight rating is valid for all existing boards.