‘Creative from start to finish’: Washington City artist offers educational toys that double as home decor

WASHINGTON CITY — A teacher with an artistic background has hand-created a line of one-of-a-kind educational toys for children, but don’t worry, she’s including adults.

Kelly Simmons, owner of Roots of Wonder Designs, poses with her wooden art inside her home studio in Washington City, Utah, Feb. 1, 2023 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
Kelly Simmons, the owner of Roots of Wonder Designs, poses with her wooden art inside her home studio in Washington City, Utah, Feb. 1, 2023 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News

With designs that include colorful sunsets, desert escapes, famous national park scenes and everything in between, they’re also doubling as unique home decor.

“I’m self-taught,” Roots of Wonder Designs owner Kelly Simmons said about her wooden creations. “I’ve always had an art background and been able to create things, so this has been an enjoyable learning process.”

Simmons said her grandfather was a professional artist who painted famous billboards in San Diego. He gave her art lessons while she was in high school, and she continued on to teach art to home-schooled children. On the side, she made her own creations, such as headbands and hair bows.

After spending 22 years traveling with her husband during his military career, the couple moved to Phoenix, Arizona. They each went into teaching, with her husband becoming a Junior ROTC teacher, and she teaching pre-kindergarten.

A booth for Roots of Wonder Designs is seen at a local market, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Kelly Simmons, St. George News
A booth for Roots of Wonder Designs is seen at a local market, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Kelly Simmons, St. George News

She found herself interested in the Reggio Emilia approach, a teaching method Simmons mastered with natural, miscellaneous materials such as wood. The items were set up as provocations, allowing children to explore and play freely.

With a goal to use items that were familiar to children in the Arizona desert landscape, she looked online for a set of wooden desert animals. When she couldn’t find what she was looking for, she decided to make them herself. 

Completely self-taught, she purchased a bandsaw and a Dremel to make her first set, which included a jackrabbit, a roadrunner, a coyote and a quail. Shortly after, she bought a scroll saw and continued to make designs for her classroom.

The wooden designs she creates are made to fit together however a child sees fit with their own imagination, which she said is a great way to advance learning. Children also grow through dialog and discussion over the scenes and items they create.

Kelly Simmons stands inside her booth at a local market, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Kelly Simmons, St. George News
Kelly Simmons stands inside her booth at a local market, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Kelly Simmons, St. George News

“We have preconceived ideas about how things are supposed to be used, but children don’t yet, so their imagination just flourishes,” she said. “It’s amazing to see what they create and it’s much more than what I could even imagine.”

To keep herself busy after her husband was ready to retire, she began selling Roots of Wonder Designs on Etsy, and the business grew. Two years ago, the couple moved to Southern Utah, where she began selling her products at local markets.

“People are surprised when they come up to the market,” Simmons said. “They see my husband and I together, and they look at him and assume he made all this. They assume because he’s the male that he did it. I design everything. I create it from start to finish.”

Each item begins with Simmons drawing the design either on paper or through procreate — a digital illusion app that allows users to draw and paint with an iPad. From there, she creates a pattern, traces it on wood and cuts the design with a scrollsaw or a bandsaw. She then machine- and hand-sands each piece to ensure it’s smooth to the touch. The final process includes painting with non-toxic child-safe paint and sealing the toys with her homemade wax, which consists of beeswax and coconut oil.

A wooden art design by Roots of Wonder Designs is inspired by Southern Utah scenery, Washington City, Utah, Feb. 1, 2023 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
A wooden art design by Roots of Wonder Designs is inspired by Southern Utah scenery, Washington City, Utah, Feb. 1, 2023 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News

But these aren’t just toys.

With the variety of eye-catching colors and landscape-inspired designs, Simmons said many purchase them solely for home decor.

Inspired by the beauty of Southern Utah, she has created many designs that reflect the red rock landscape, including her popular Red Rock Cliffs design and Delicate Arch. She’s also started a national park series that includes the colorful hot springs of Yellowstone in a setting with buffalo grazing.

Simmons said she only uses high-quality birch and poplar wood for each design. Sourcing locally whenever possible, she also finds a variety of wood from areas such as San Diego and Las Vegas.

A variety of art by Roots of Wonder Designs are pictured, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Kelly Simmons, St. George News
A variety of art by Roots of Wonder Designs are pictured, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Kelly Simmons, St. George News

She purposefully dilutes her paint to allow the woodgrain to be seen, giving each piece additional dimension.

“Each piece is unique even though the pattern might be similar,” Simmons said. “They’re different because each piece of wood is different.”

Shop Roots of Wonder Designs in person at the re-opening of the St. George Downtown Farmers Market this Saturday, Feb. 4, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Vernon Worthen Park.

For more information on Roots of Wonder Designs, visit the online Etsy shop, or follow @rootsofwonder on Instagram and Facebook to see more.

“Having my own little business is exciting and it’s a lot of work,” Simmons said. “Allowing me to be creative from start to finish on a project is very rewarding. And then being able to share the love of what I like to do with other people — it’s making the relationships with the local people that I’ve enjoyed the most.”

Photo Gallery

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!