Hover over the Discovery Box menus above to see a list of different boxes to open and explore!

 

Are you looking for something different, exciting or unusual to give your child?

Where do you start?

I love to get inside a child’s mind and find out from them what it is they need to help them grow and develop.

       

There are so many toys available for your children. Many of them claim to help hand-eye coordination or brain development. Others are just ‘quick-fix’ gifts that quickly lose their novelty value.

Boy Toys and Girl Toys

It’s so easy to automatically steer your little girl towards the designated ‘girl section’ of a toyshop, where she can access hundreds of commercial pink’n’pretty girlie items, from Hello Kitty stick-on nail art, to fairy wings and bug-eyed Bratz dolls. And for boys there are just as many plastic superheroes, Bob the Builder figures, dinky emergency services vehicles and Thomas the Tank trains.

And they seem so easily pleased by it all…. of course they are – that’s all they know!

But… do you ever question this plastic-world.?…. where the toys are manufactured only to follow the latest film or TV series…. these cheaply made, easily-broken items that go out of fashion….that eat up batteries to press a button and go Beep….

…..the gender-specific toys that limit a child’s imagination, or their perception of what it means to be a man or woman….. is this it?

Do you really want to put your kids in a box? Do you think it’s cute for your little boy to turn into a sword-wielding superhero or smart-talking wiseass? Is it OK for your little girl to believe her personal worth depends on looking pretty?

     

Three cheers for Disney’s confident Princess Fiona Shrek, but isn’t there….more??

How can you know what is a truly worthwhile and educational toy, one that is more like an open door? Something equally exciting to both girls and boys, that will be loved, treasured and returned to again and again?

       

There is no one easy answer.

But I believe I can offer something a bit more open-ended than the single-use plastic objects found in the toyshops. A play resource that allows your child to discover his or her sense of adventure and excitement. A new kind of idea that helps them step outside the box, flatten it out and use it as a magic carpet.

The Discovery Box

A Discovery Box is a new take on an old concept. Treasure Baskets have been around for a long time….a basket of random, everyday objects for a baby to explore. I have developed and built on this idea, and designed a series of Treasure Discovery Boxes for all ages that offer virtually limitless possibilities to help your child’s brain, senses and imagination leap off the springboard.

     

A Discovery Box is not a toy, and the objects inside it are for the most part, not toys. The fact that children absolutely love playing with them is probably because many children love REAL things more than the usual plastic toys.

So what is it then, if is not a toy, yet children love it???

A Discovery Box is an endlessly absorbing educational resource. It is designed in collaboration with very young children, seeing the world through their eyes. It leads them on sensory, scientific and imaginative journeys in which their own motivation propels them into their own discoveries.

      

Most of the contents of a Discovery Box are so open-ended that they can be played with in a hundred different ways according to the age and personality of the child.

            

A Discovery Box is like Christmas morning – full of mysterious surprises. Each surprise is hidden inside an exciting little bag or box that no child can resist opening. Sometimes what’s inside is so unusual that it must be explored further to find out what on earth it does. Or so simple that the child’s imagination reaches out impulsively to connect with the materials, extending their play in dozens of different directions. Spontaneous delight, laughter and wonder often result from the discoveries that follow. And many of the objects interact with each other in unexpected ways, leading to yet more discoveries!

       

When provided with open-ended materials to stimulate the senses, curiosity and imagination, children fully engage and switch on!

You too can make a Discovery Box with and for your children.

Oooh…. and would you like some ideas on making life with your children easier and more fun? See the menu of Ideas to Share at the top of the column on the right. 

Please feel free to wander around my blog and explore. I hope you find something to inspire you.

Love, Cathy xxx