SAGOSKATT soft toy, Bird, designed by Nick (aged 10) for IKEA, USA/Sweden, 2021

Soft toy bird based on a child's drawing, made predominantly from mid-grey polyester plush. The wingtips and legs are black plush, the beak is a paler grey. The eyes are of white jersey, outlined in black thread, with machine stitched black pupils. A red tongue protrudes from one side of the beak. There is a yellow comb on the head and two yellow feet, all made from stiff, two-sided polyester fabric.

Given by IKEA UK and Ireland

IKEA was founded in Sweden in 1943 by then-17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad (1926-2018). The name is an acronym of the founder’s initials, plus the first letters of the names of the family farm where he was born, Elmtaryd, and the village of Agunnaryd, where he grew up. The company is best-known for its flat-pack furniture and other homeware. From 2008, it was the world’s largest furniture retailer. IKEA is known for its simple, modernist designs, attention to cost control, and continuous product development.

IKEA considers the child’s right to play as a core value. In order to promote the best interests of children, by 2030 the company aims to integrate children’s perspectives into all its business activities. From 2015, the company held an annual competition inviting children to submit drawings to be made into soft toys. The ‘SAGOSKATT’ toys were then sold at low prices, with the full amount from each sale donated to a local charity. In 2021 in the UK, IKEA’s official charity partner was Barnardo’s. The finished products in each edition notable for their faithfulness to the original drawings.

66,259 drawings were submitted for the 2021 edition of SAGOSKATT, with five being selected for production. The range was made available for retail in October 2021.

'I drew a prehistoric dodo bird that looks goofy. The tongue sticks out since they're not very smart. If we were to pretend to do math together, he'd say in his dorky voice: - "I can't count"'
- Nick, aged 10, who designed this toy with IKEA

B.10-2022