Loog Guitars makes compact musical instruments designed to get children playing, learning, and falling in love with music from day one. Its signature three-string guitars are real wood instruments sized for small hands, paired with chord flashcards, video lessons, and a learning app that helps beginners move naturally toward a standard guitar. The company also makes a portable digital piano and a small ukulele, extending the same beginner-focused approach beyond guitar.
Instruments of AfricaInstruments of Africa designs and produces African electric guitars shaped by the continent’s landscapes, blending African cultural inspiration with modern technology and craftsmanship. Based in Lagos, the company’s African Electric Guitar line includes distinctive instruments such as the Nairobi Limited Edition, whose neck-through-body construction forms the continent’s silhouette in a single piece of wood. Its guitars have also been used in Afrobeat sound production.OWINGS MILLS, MD
The Loo BoosFounded by mom and inventor Karrima Muhammad, The Loo Boos makes children’s hygiene products centered on its patented Loo Boo Scrub, a musical bath scrubber that teaches kids to wash from head to toe through a seven-minute guided song. Its character-led approach brings the human microbiome into bath time, turning hygiene lessons into playful science and helping children build confidence and independence.GLEN BURNIE, MD
Community PlaythingsCommunity Playthings designs and makes solid-wood furniture and play equipment for early childhood classrooms, with products developed around open-ended play and children’s safety. For nearly 70 years, the company has designed, made, and sold its furniture from workshops in New York and Pennsylvania, using old-world craftsmanship to build pieces intended to last for generations. It also offers free room planning, creating 2D and 3D classroom layouts to help child-care centers furnish their spaces.ULSTER PARK, NY
Theo Klein GmbHFrom its base on the Südliche Weinstraße, the family-run Theo Klein GmbH has been making imaginative, educational toys for more than 75 years. The company employs over 200 people across sites in Germany, England, France and Spain, and combines its broad licensed and original play worlds with a continuing production presence in Germany. Its toys are developed with input from educators, parents and kindergarten teachers, with quality and child development central to the process.MILLERSBURG, PA