How K Kokila’s WoodBee Toys is transforming childhood play

In Tamil Nadu's Walajahpet in North Arcot district, a group of women are redefining how children learn through toys.

WoodBee Toys—founded by 64-year-old K Kokila, a government employee-turned-entrepreneur in 2020—has grown from its modest origins to one of Tamil Nadu’s leading toy manufacturers. 

Kolkila, along with her daughters-in-law—A Rubini and K Sukanya and backed by close to 30 women workers from neighbouring villages—built WoodBee Toys during the pandemic. In less than five years, the Ranipet-based company has grown to Rs 3.5 crore in revenue as of last year.

Kokila’s journey into entrepreneurship was, however, born out of sheer adversity 20 years ago after her husband, a distributor of chemical fertilisers, passed away following a prolonged illness. She was 42 years old and a mother to three school-going children.

“I was thrown into the unknown. I had learnt the ropes of the business from my husband when he was still alive, but heading the entire fertiliser unit wasn’t something I was prepared for,” says Kokila.

Even as the family made a conscious decision to stop working with chemical fertilisers—which they suspected made Kokila’s husband fatally ill—during his last days, he had begun getting orders from exporters for chemical-free wooden packaging to meet international standards. 

Embracing the challenge, Kokila joined him and mastered the factory's equipment to cut, polish, and treat wood, ensuring compliance with stringent quality requirements. After her husband passed away, Kokila completely took on this role. 

“I would go to the factory to monitor work, go to my work, then once again visit the factory in the evening before returning home,” she says. “I was on my toes for over 15 hours every day, but I did it happily because I was determined to support my children until they finished their education.”

After finishing college, her sons set out to work in different cities, and Kokila managed the business all on her own. And, the idea for WoodBee Toys was born after her grandchildren were born.

Kokila says, “The idea sparked when my daughters-in-law and I went shopping for toys for the children. As infants do, they chewed on a lot of toys, and we were not happy with the silicon options available in the market.”

Noticing the market's reliance on silicon teethers and plastic toys—which invariably came in contact with a child’s mouth—Kokila, alongside her daughters-in-law, envisioned a line of non-toxic wooden toys. 

“It struck us that we could make our own toys from wood, as we already had a setup in place at the factory,” she adds.

Leveraging the factory's capabilities, the team sourced neem and pine wood from Kerala and recruited local women, starting with a team of six. With the help of Kokila’s daughter-in-law, Sukanya, a tech-savvy medical doctor, WoodBee Toys sold its first batch of 100 toys on Instagram instantly.

“We knew we had a business idea at hand then,” says Kokila.

Slowly, the trio started creating toys designed chiefly by Kokila, who incorporated her academic background in mathematics and analytics into the design. Meanwhile, Sukanya handled marketing and Rubini took charge of production and customer support.

Kokila also started a recruitment drive to rope in women from nearby villages, who were farmhands and daily wage labourers.

Kokila's preference for employing women stemmed from her belief in their meticulousness and commitment, especially as many were mothers. "At times, even if I overlook something, they bring it to my notice and fix it," she says. 

This collaborative environment empowered women from neighbouring villages, transitioning them from daily wage labourers to skilled artisans with stable incomes.

Under Kokila's leadership, WoodBee Toys flourished, with its product line expanding to over 100 Montessori and Waldorf-inspired wooden toys, including teethers, rattles, shape sorters, counting frames and abacuses, alphabet and number puzzles, stacking towers, wooden toolkits, and building and construction toys.

All WoodBee Toys are coloured with child-friendly non-toxic paints, certified, and adhere to international safety standards, Kokila says.  

“Before we plan on any new line of products, we learn from the children in our house. We remember what they needed growing up, what they got excited about, and what they outgrew quickly,” says Kokila. “Much of our business has grown from our close understanding of these things as mothers first.”