This year, I started homeschooling my daughter for Grade 1. We’ve had a lot of fun doing reading, spelling, math and science together. While I’m excited about teaching my daughter to read because I know that’s how I like to learn, I’ve noticed that she gravitates towards the hands-on activities. She loves science because we’ve been learning about seeds and so she’s made a collage of difference seeds and watched some plants grow. She also enjoys math, because we play with blocks and pennies and Smarties to help her count.
Realizing this, I’ve started looking for more ways to help make many of the abstract concepts she must learn more tactile and hands-0n. So I was excited to see the Prismland collection. We’re just starting on shapes in math – learning the basic circle, square, and triangle – but I can see the 3D shapes coming and how hard it will be explain those shapes on paper. The Prismland pals make geometric concepts come alive for children in a really fun way.
Right now, the creators of Prismland are running a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for their educational toys. There are five lovable characters in the Prismland series: Cubert, Hexter, Rhonda, Spherrison and Pyri (see if you can guess which shape each is!). Each one is 6″ around and comes with a cute book that tells a story to bring the shape alive for kids.
These toys are intended for children ages 3-5, giving them a head-start on concepts of geometry. Children will be used to playing with their geometric toys and already have an idea about spheres, pyramids, and cubes when they start school. Thanks to the books, they’ll be familiar with the shapes and even have a fun way to remember each one. I’ve seen how my daughters respond to stories, and I think this is a brilliant idea! Stories make everything so much easier to remember.
The Prismland Kickstarter campaign is open for the month of October. Each backer will receive a special gift of appreciation; donate just $1 to stay updated about the campaign and receive a digital copy of the Prismland poster. Donate $30 or more to get a Prismland pal and book of your choosing!
The Prismland pals are created by Toronto artist Jess Chen. Her friend, McGill graduate Matthew Mayers, is helping her with her business campaign. They’ve got some fun ideas for continuing the learning beyond these stuffed toys. To find out more about them or the Prismland toys, drop by the website.
