Tou Yia Xiong

Who doesn’t love toys? Well, one UW-Stout grad not only likes toys, he also makes them.

Tou Yia Xiong, a 2011 graduate of Stout’s School of Art and Design, exhibited at the 11th annual American International Toy Fair and was featured on The View with his latest creation: Tree Top Adventure. It’s kind of like that wooden bead run thing you find at the dentist’s office for the wee little ones to play with, only a lot cooler. It’s about two feet tall with lots of fun moving bits and pieces for kids to play with. It also has four different stations for multiplayer action.

After working at a video game developer in Seattle, Xiong moved to Minneapolis to work at the Manhattan Toy Company. He has created other toys too, like the Motorworks Fuel-N-Shine Station and the Learning Play Microscope which won the Best in Play award from Working Mother magazine.