Like parenthood, running playhao involves loads of love and sweat. playhao started in a push-cart with a mini display of toys. Brand-by-brand, we grew to become a well-loved boutique retailer and distributor, with the best interest at heart in curating fun, educational and quality toys for children and adults. We are glad to have made it this far, so it is time to celebrate this milestone! Even though our celebration may be muted due to the pandemic, but it does not stop us from having some fun.
Limited Edition - DIY Mixed Berries Tart
Exclusively for playhao
An artisanal tart deconstructed - a handmade-daily medium tart shell, vanilla cream, freshest berries, raspberry pearls, gold flakes, and a sweet playhao egg tangram - for reconstruction to your liking. So, unleash your creativity to celebrate with us and toast to “For a life of play”, ten years and counting!
We draw parallels in this with the making of playhao: layer in creativity, spread some love, top on the best toys, sprinkle the fun, imagination at hand, and build delectable memories!
How to get the Limited-Edition DIY Mixed Berries Tart*?
To ensure freshness of the tarts, e-Vouchers will be provided for pre-arranged self-collection at Tarte by Cheryl Koh.
From 1st – 15th Aug,
Purchase $350 and above at playhao and receive a Medium DIY Mixed Berries Tart (worth $69.90) or,
Purchase $100 and above at playhao and receive a Small Regular Tart of your choice^
*T&Cs:
While stocks last. Tarts include nuts and dairy. Refrigeration required.
^ A flavour of your choice from the assortment available. Small tarts are pre-assembled and not a DIY version
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IVI Carpets have a wide range of themed-designs and sizes to suit children's interest and play space :
*design layout varies from size to size
Watch your children's imagination and creativity unfold with these play mats and here are some tips on how parents can scaffold their children's holistic learning through tactile and sensory play by using these carpets.
Build Language & Literacy
Strengthen Numeracy Skills
Ponder on and discover world phenomena (Science)
Model Social & Emotional
Encourage Aesthetic and Creative Expression
Strengthen Motor Skills Development
IVI Play Carpets are fun and can be an enjoyable family bonding activity during the time at home.
]]>We want to assure you that our online shop - www.playhao.com will continue to operate and deliver toys and learning tools as usual to your family and friends during this time at home.
For the safety of our staff and customers and the government’s directives, our shop at Forum The Shopping Mall will be temporarily closed.
Please rest assured that our dedicated playhao team is committed to serve you and is just a phone call, web chat, Zoom chat or email away when you need any recommendations or assistance.
Thank you very much for your support!
1) Cuboro Standard $449.90 Age 5+
An ingenious building block and marble run toy made in Switzerland, the Cuboro Standard has been said to be the antidote to the short attention spans many people complain of nowadays, and it also encourages the joy of experimentation, spatial ability, logical thinking, and motor activity. Whilst you can play with it alone, it can also be turned into a team sport. It is always creative and exciting, and is truly a developmental and educational marve.
2) Sumblox Building Set 43pc Pieces $229.00 Age 2+
These wooden blocks, shaped like digits with the heights that correspond to number values, create a playful way for young children to explore basic arithmetic, such as number sequencing, number bonding, additions, subtractions, multiplication, division, fractions and more. It is such a fantastic visual tool for children to explore abstract concepts through tactile play.
3) Makeblock mTiny $239 age 4+ NEW!
mTiny is a fantastic early education robot for children growing up in the digital age. Its Tap Pen Controller is a coding tool that exercises children’s logical thinking and problem-solving abilities. It brings computer programming into children’s real life, using coding cards and various themed map blocks to guide the child in exploring, perceiving, and creating through highly interactive, stimulating, and fun games. The continuously updated mTiny toolkit also fosters children’s interest in learning in math, English, music, and other subjects, and keeps them inspired.
4) Magna-tiles Metropolis $249.90 Age 3+ NEW!
Magna-Tiles® Metropolis contains brighter colors and tiles in motion. From a busy high-rise metropolis to a thriving colony on space, there’s no stopping your imagination with this set! Definitely an invitation to engage and develop math, science, spatial and tactile skills. STEM approved!
5) Cubetto Playset $339 age 3+
These playful wooden robots give little ones a head start by teaching the basics of computer programming. Montessori approved and LOGO Turtle inspired, it doesn’t feature a single screen and teaches through adventure stories.
Fun fact: it was the most funded educational-tech invention in Kickstarter history ($1.6m!). Winner of a Best of Best Red Dot Design Award, Platinum Junior Design Award, Gold Cannes Lions Award.
6) Cuboro Cugolino $349.90 Age 3+
Cugolino is the quintessential building block and marble run for the younger crowd, and also a terrific add-on to existing Cuboro sets. Consisting of 37 beech wood elements and 6 marbles, it is the only member of the Cuboro family with ramps, half-height blocks and colour, and is the perfect introduction to the three-dimensional world of the Cuboro marble track system. A perfect starter to expose children to spatial relationships, kinetic movement, cause-and-effect, and the effects of gravity, all while your child is experiencing the thrill of marbles rolling through his own construction.
7) Arckit A180 $299.90 Age 14+
Immerse yourself in the ultimate Arckit experience with Arckit 180. Everything you need to design and build your own impressive model structures up to 180 sq.m (1,937 sq.ft) to scale, including adhesive sheets to add realistic building finishes. There are no set instructions – just follow your imagination!
8) Zometool Creator 4 Advance Math & Geometry book $209.90 Age 6+
Explore the fascinating connections between Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math with this comprehensive Math toolkit.
Zometool is a cleverly conceived system which allows you to construct regular 2-, 3-, and 5-fold symmetries. Using Zometool’s precision color and shape-coded parts, you can easily model a profusion of geometrical concepts and interrelationships, from tilings to hyperspace projections, molecular models of quasi-crystals and fullerenes, as well as space frame structures. Zometool helps you to understand the structure of space.
9) Plus Plus Europa $59.90 Age 5+
The Plus-Plus Learn To Build set contains everything you need to get started with this unique construction toy. A Guide Book gives step-by step instructions to build flat mosaics and 3D creations - animals, people, buildings and more!
1) Sphero Bolt $229 age 8+
Sphero BOLT’s eye-catching, programmable 8x8 light matrix opens up an endless array of coding and gaming capabilities. Use advanced sensors to track speed, acceleration, and direction, or drive BOLT without having to aim your robot thanks to the compass. BOLT also features infrared communication, allowing your robot to “talk” with other BOLTs. Equipped with Bluetooth SMART and a strong scratch-resistant shell, this robot’s brawn matches its brilliance.
2) Osmo Little Genius Kit $149 Age 3+
OSMO is an award-winning game system that will change the way your child interacts with the iPad by opening it up to hands-on play.
Designed to take kids aged 3–5 on a hands-on learning adventure, OSMO sparks children's imaginations, learn critical skills, and engage preschoolers in core subjects!
3) Sphero RVR $379 age 8+
RVR is Sphero’s revolutionary take on the programmable robot — drive-able right out of the box; packed with a diverse suite of sensors; and built for customization. Expand RVR's capabilities even further by connecting third-party hardware like a Raspberry Pi, Arduino, BBC micro:bit, or Sphero’s own littleBits. RVR is your mobile blank canvas. Code with it, build on it, and hack the robot of your dreams — then take it anywhere.
4) Wonder Workshop Dash & Dot Wonder Pack $479 Age 6+
The Wonder Pack is a favorite. It comes with our award-winning Dash and Dot robots, as well as, five of our accessories. This exceptional value pack will spark creativity and encourage kids to use their imagination while helping them develop problem-solving skills.
Dot Creativity Kit is designed for adventure, fun and learning at an affordable price, the kit combines Do-it-Yourself projects with a quirky green robot and 100's of self-guided coding challenges.
Dash is beloved by kids and teachers around the world. Dash is smart enough to respond to voices and sounds and Dash can dance and sing, which makes for a fun and interactive learning experience for kids. Dash will help kids learn, laugh, and grow.
5) Sphero Mini Activity Kit $139 age 5+
The Sphero Mini Activity Kit has everything you need to get rolling and playing. Each Kit comes with a Construction Set, Activity Cards, Pins, Cones and a Robotic Ball Cover. Follow the 15 STEM-inspired Activity Cards to build mazes, design obstacle courses, construct towers, play croquet, and more. Drive and game with the Sphero Play App or code and learn with the Sphero Edu App. Complete all the challenges and games and then create your own fun—the possibilities are endless.
6) LittleBits Base Inventor Kit $159.00 Age 8+
The introductory Base Inventor Kit from littleBits includes everything creative kids need to turn their ideas into inventions! With a range of Bits that move, light up, and make noise, kids gain STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) skills by learning how technology is built.
Over 12 activities in the free Inventor App guide kids through building fun inventions, like a voice-activated robotic gripper arm or a room-protecting intruder alarm. Kids are challenged to create their inventions to improve their room, help their community, or save the world. Through hands-on play, kids gain lifelong skills to become changemakers through invention.
7) Makeblock Mbot V1.1 $109.90 Age 8+
mBot is an all-in-one solution to enjoy the hands-on experience of programming, electronics, and robotics. Working with mBlock inspired by Scratch 2.0, connecting with computers or smart devices via Bluetooth or 2.4G (by different version), this easy-to-assemble mBot provides infinite possibilities for you to learn STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics).
8) Tinker Academy micro:bit Kit (without micro:bit) $79 Age 14+
Start your Digital Maker journey with the micro:bit and a variety of easy-to-use components! This kit comes our custom Breakout Board (BoB for short), a custom accessory for the micro:bit that lets you easily connect a wide variety of modules without having to deal with messy breadboard wires.
9) Osmo Genius Kit 2017 $159 Age 5+
OSMO is an award-winning game system that will change the way your child interacts with the iPad by opening it up to hands-on play. Put your iPad in the OSMO base with the red reflector over the camera – and now it can see what’s in front of it, be it Art masterpieces, words, tangram shapes and numbers.
To make your gift gifting a breeze, we compiled a comprehensive guide for you to the top 2019 wish list grouped by age!
Visit www.playhao.com for the more Christmas gift ideas!
The best toys meld learning and fun at their core. Here are some we believe to provide holistic play value in learning environments both in the classroom and at home:
]]>The best toys meld learning and fun at their core. Here are some we believe to provide holistic play value in learning environments both in the classroom and at home:
For Gross Motor Skills
This totally open-ended toy is a crowd favourite. A balance board, a bridge, a camel’s back - the possibilities for what it could be are endless. As a balance board, it increases strength in core muscles and improves posture by maintaining the position of the spine. It is designed to develop balance, weight distribution, coordination and spatial awareness. (Psst! It’s great for yoga, Mom & Dad!). As literally anything else, it activates both mind and body to extend hours of imaginative play.
As one player poses, the other attempts to copy it with the pieces of the magnetic figure. Alternatively, one player can create a pose with their magnetic figure, then describe this pose to the other player to mimic with their own magnetic figure, or even their body. With this game, children hone their listening and comprehension skills while practising vocabulary and descriptive phrases. As an added bonus, children gain a better understanding of body proportions and motion sequences.
For Fine Motor Skills
Magnetic tiles are completely open-ended and child-led, which means it’s up to the child to decide what the outcome of the play will be. The tiles can be used in a myriad of ways, including (but not exclusive to) colour-sorting, as construction materials or as loose parts. They’re also great for sensory play. The translucency of the tiles allow light to flow through, illuminating the colours and enhancing colour-mixing.
Building structures with these tiles takes time; depending on the child and his or her design, these structures sometimes collapse and have to be rebuilt. The entire process of play, then, is not just an exercise in creativity, but also a lesson in perseverance and resilience. Magnatiles really shine when they’re played with socially, in pairs or in groups.Throwing more than one personality into the mix will invariably lead to teamwork, communication, and patience. Magna-Tiles are the perfect classroom toy.
These handwriting stencils introduce children as young as three years old to proper penmanship in Manuscript, Transitional (D’Nealian-style) and Cursive letters. They assist with coordinating hand and eye movement, allowing for proper pencil slant, and forcing the hand to lift where normal lift occurs in the handwriting sequence. The stencils are designed to increase retention and focus; each card features two letters, keeping learning concise so the child is not overwhelmed by a large stencil with the entire alphabet. School-Rite is suitable for children of all ages and are especially helpful for Early Childhood Education, Special Needs, Left-handed Learners and Home Instruction.
Magnatabs are tablets with metal beads that are pulled up with a magnetic stylus to create solid lines. Helpful arrows on each letter/number provide directional instructions for children to follow. Erase with the tip of a finger by pushing the beads back down. Younger ones are entranced by the sound of the beads rising and falling, while older kids love its connect-the-dots aspect. Kids love the challenge of pulling every single bead up, a feat that helps to improve attention span. It’s super portable and a fantastic for engaging the kids whilst teachers or parents are preoccupied with other children. The tablets are available as the alphabet (both in lower and uppercase), numbers, and a free play board.
For Imagination and Creativity
These wooden pieces from Spain add to small world creation, allow for colour sorting and storing, posting, story creation and a myriad of other play ideas. GRAPAT designs are duly uncomplicated; behind the simplicity of each GRAPAT toy is the heart for maximum child-led play. The non-toxic dye used to paint each piece (by hand!) is also very light, allowing the quality of the natural wood to shine through. GRAPAT features a special Mandala series of loose parts, which, used with other materials, can be made into a beautiful display for the classroom as a class activity.
The beauty of the Mandala pieces is that they can be utilised for quite literally anything: make them tokens for point accumulation, or use them to sort the class into groups by colour. Students don’t have to be the only ones having fun with GRAPAT!
Imagine a book with a thousand stories, pictures that could move and characters that could appear and disappear at your whim. Zibelka is a story board with movable character pieces that allow storytellers to change things up with each telling. Different boards carry different hand-painted backgrounds with an assortment of woodland or fantastical characters: rabbits, goldfinches, goblins and dragons. Movement in the pictures requires interaction between child and image, where participation involves collaboration and compromise. Zibelka is a far more versatile source of storytelling than a single book or a television show, where the child is rendered a passive recipient. It is a wonderful open-ended storybook that allows opportunities for invaluable teachable moments.
For Logic and Problem-Solving
Developed out of necessity by an exasperated tutor, SumBlox is a toy for educators, by educators. When he realised the math games used by his elementary school students were not designed to hold their attention, digital game designer David Skaggs decided to turn the abstract concepts of mathematics into a tangible visual that could both educate and entertain. Skaggs engineered a toy that easily demonstrated mathematical proportions by carving numbers out of wood, then working with experienced elementary school teachers to develop and adapt the SumBlox into curriculums. Use SumBlox to teach basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and fractions through various stacking games.
Whet an appetite for architecture at a young age with the ARCKIT. It is a freeform model that allows users to explore design and bring their architectural creations to life. The components of the ARCKIT use a “click and connect” system that allows a range of structures to be assembled and reassembled quickly, efficiently and without mess. It is based on modern building techniques and a 1.2m/4ft grid to scale. Suitable for schools with STEM labs, We recommend ARCKIT for ages 8 and up. That’s right, Adults, ARCKIT is for you too!
Used by Nobel laureates and mathematicians to prove contentious geometric theories, Zometool is a popular tool amongst the scientific community. Scientists, both experimental and theoretical, have vouched for its efficacy in the visualisation of complex polyhedra. Zometool creates with precision (the balls are made with precise angles) and is lightweight to make them easily worked by young hands. Educators are encouraged to use Zometool in experiments and class discussions so that students have a 3D visual to understand geometry and spatial interpretation. There are at least 60 different lesson plans available for teachers online on the Zometool website.
playhao carries a myriad of tech toys that encourage making the most out of screen time. From solving mysteries to recreating Iron Man’s gauntlet (not to be confused with Thanos’ infamous gold Infinity gauntlet), children are exposed to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) from as young as the age of 3. As the world becomes ever-increasingly tech-savvy, STEM toys are useful in familiarising children with the skills that will very soon be ubiquitous, even integral, in most school syllabi.
Of course, many of the toys listed are suitable for a multitude of things beyond what we recommend. For example, the Wobbel Board also adds to small world creation, and so facilitates imagination and creativity. In a Venn diagram, it would fall in the intersection of categories.
Play doesn’t always have to come at a price, and school doesn’t have to be boring! When children pick up a toy, their neurons are simply firing away to engage meaningfully with the object in their hands. Under the right guidance, these toys are tools for wonderful educators to bring big ideas out of little people!
Bring a magic spark to your classroom. If you have any questions at all about any of the toys (or others), click on the little blue chat bubble on the bottom right of your screen. Our playhao team would be more than happy to assist you!
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GRAPAT is a family-run company from the Pyrenees mountains of Catalunya in Spain. Every piece is crafted from the wood of beech or birch trees in sustainable forests and stained with non-toxic water-based dyes. The softness of these dyes brings out the natural integrity of wood instead of muting it the way heavy thick paint might. They allow human hands to come into contact with the wood even through the most vibrant colours, thus interacting with a material none other can replace.
Every spiral marking or dark stripe embodies the uniqueness of each piece - there are no mass-made factory processes here. Wooden toys like GRAPAT present an organic starting point for parent and child alike to learn about the qualities of natural wood.
Being parents ourselves, we’ve found that GRAPAT has the traits of a toy we’d love to get our hands on. It adds to small world creation, allows for colour sorting and storing, posting, story creation and a myriad of other play ideas. Its designs are duly uncomplicated; behind the simplicity of each GRAPAT toy is the heart for maximum child-led play.
The simpler the material, the more complex their play can be. GRAPAT, then, fits the bill if you’re searching for toys that adhere to the Montessori or Waldorf pedagogies. In the same vein, the Theory of Loose Parts, proposed by architect Simon Nicholson in the 1970’s, teaches that loose bits in the environment around us empower creativity and innovation. GRAPAT’s aptly named “Loose Parts" are able to do precisely that. They’re colourful, portable, and versatile. There’s hardly any limit to their use. When placed in the little hands of a child, these seemingly one dimensional pieces become the leading characters in a world of their own.
GRAPAT toys are also lightweight, making them travel-friendly and a super distraction at your next family dinner out (imagine: no screens, a happy child, and a hot meal for you).
Not only does GRAPAT encourage free play, it’s also socially and environmentally conscious. It keeps its collaborations close to Catalunya, thereby allowing it to maintain the working conditions of its employees. Many of these collaborators are foundations that serve those with mental disabilities. The wood it uses is sourced from forests that are conscientiously managed to balance ecological, economical and socio-cultural conservation efforts. The cloth bags that come with some GRAPAT products - like the Nins, Rings & Coins - are repurposed from the discarded material of big companies. As of 2019, GRAPAT has eliminated all plastic from it’s packaging. The brown paper-inspired aesthetic of each GRAPAT set is friendly both to the environment and your Instagram page.
This toy is a real special one. Called the Perpetual Calendar, it follows the Czechoslovakian folk tale of the Twelve Brothers, each of whom represent the twelve months. A circular progression of the months enables the child to view time as at once linear and cyclical. The various hues of the nins (peg dolls) also correspond to the seasons:
In true Waldorf fashion, this calendar encourages parent and child to return to it everyday so a pattern can be formed to teach the abstract concept of time. We love how it incorporates the fantastical elements of a folk-tale while being an educational tool - there are just so many learning opportunities! It could inspire a conversation about different countries, cultures, weather climates - it may even lead to a conversation about how a whole country could disappear (this is a Czechoslovakian story after all).
playhao carries a number of GRAPAT products. While the Mandala series is available for pre-order, the following are currently sold in-store:
Nins, Rings & Coins (in Rainbow and No Basic)
If you’d like to purchase GRAPAT as a gift for a loved one, click here to find out more about the products we offer. Alternatively, if you’d like to be gifted some, click here to create a registry with us at playhao.
Pictures from www.grapat.eu
]]><In their new book "Love, Money, and Parenting: How Economics Explains the Way We Raise Our Kids," economists Matthias Doepke and Fabrizio Zilibotti look at how parents in more unequal societies, like the United States, tend to push their children harder than those in more equal societies, like Sweden. The more we perceive the world as one in which the winner-takes-all, the more we are likely to do whatever we can to ensure that our children are the winners.>
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/22/health/helicopter-parenting-strauss/index.html
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In 2014, Dave Russell, the founder of this company, was told that his youngest daughter Niki had a case of noise-induced hearing loss. He was devastated to realise that this was caused by the pair of headphones that she wore daily.
With the increased usage of electronic devices, hearing loss is a growing epidemic.
Read more ....
https://www.playhao.com/collections/puro
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Kaleidograph® is a toy, a game, a puzzle ... an infinitely creative design tool for artists, quilters and others who enjoy making colorful patterns. The 12 deceptively simple cards make over 500 billiondifferent combinations.
A toy for all ages, the Kaleidograph fosters creativity, rewards with surprise, and brings out the designer in everyone. Make your own intricate designs or try to duplicate the patterns on the enclosed poster. Compete with friends or family to see how long it takes to match designs.
The cards can be displayed as artwork, used as stencils in drawing patterns, and carried as a travel toy or portable amusement. The symmetrical patterns mirror the natural geometry of crystals and flowers. The Kaleidograph upholds the tradition of geometric design toys from the original Froebel Kindergarten system, which influenced Frank Lloyd Wright, Buckminster Fuller, Piet Mondrian, and design education at the Bauhaus. Watch the Kaleidograph in action or play with it online.
Made in the USA from eco-friendly material, the Kaleidograph carries on a tradition of geometric pattern design toys dating back to the Age of Enlightenment. Recipient of an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Plantinum Award, the Kaleidograph was also one of Dr. Toy's 10 Best Creative Products and Forbes.com Top 10 Toys That Kindle Creativity.
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Details of the award are available on our awards page. This awards spurs us on to continue showcasing toys which are stylish, smart, safe, and which you and your child will enjoy playing together.
]]>Fri 20th June and Sat 21st June 2014 Recommended age 5 and up.
Hurry, places are limited!
Conducted by peers 10 and 11 years old who have experience sharing and conducting Rainbow Loom workshops.
(All materials will be provided. For participants only, buy 6 packs of bands and get 1 mystery pack FREE!)
Purchase tickets for Rainbow Loom sessions here ... (30mins) $8
Purchase tickets for Monster Tail sessions here ...(45 mins) $12
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On 2 January this year, my son entered Primary 1. And over the past few days, I have been reminded just how important and influential teachers are.
As a Parent Volunteer during the first 3 days at school, I saw the School Principal beautifully and professionally attired, constantly mingling with the children radiating warmth and kindness. I was reminded how much I loved my own school principal, and how inspiring she had been.
In the classrooms where my son and I were at (I was chaperoning another Primary 1 class), we saw teachers patiently helping nervous children and putting them at ease. Yes, we had an entire discussion on how wonderful the respective teachers were.
An incident which happened on the 3rd day of orientation brought home how in the midst of the madding crowd, teachers do think on their feet, and exercise the power to turn an otherwise potentially scarring experience into a happy one. The little ones had put up an Appreciation Concert for the Parent Volunteers, and it was a terrific show! One of the little girls who was dancing however, suffered stage fright midway through her performance. The teacher who was emceeing the event quickly brought everyone’s attention to the next item, whilst another teacher came to calm the little girl down. Performing in front of 400 pairs of eyes can be very daunting for a 6 year old. Nonetheless, at the end of the scheduled programme, the teacher emcee announced that the sporting little girl wanted to try again. Try she did, but once again the little girl was struck by the size of the crowd and fell silent. The teacher acted quickly, and before the little girl could burst into tears, asked everyone else who knew the song to come on up and dance together. The happy Primary 1s complied, and soon, what could have been a flood of tears turned into a huge happy grin as the little girl danced away happily with her friends. Great save, Teacher!
On the 4th day of school, the children had to be dropped off for the first time. As the cars came up the long driveway, the first person the children saw was the Principal, welcoming them with a warm smile. Standing closely behind was the Vice-Principal, offering yet more reassurance. Teachers lined the driveway, waiting to receive the children as they were dropped off. As the car door was closing, the children were reminded to say bye bye to their parents and wave. The teachers had also arranged for Primary 2 children to come guide the little Primary 1s down to the basketball court. I watched as a Primary 2 boy put his arm around my son’s shoulders and chatted with him as they walked down the stairs. Somehow I knew everything was going to be ok.
Thank you, Teachers.
]]>We have worked closely with Cuboro since the earliest days of playhao, and from the start, known that their toys are real winners. We just needed to bring it to more people. So we have worked ceaselessly to bring down the pricing for this amazing range of toys to make it more accessible. There is an incredible amount of logistics, financing and planning that goes on behind the scenes! Cuboro on its end has played its part by developing new toys which are harder and harder to resist. First the Mystery Cube (which is deserving of whole blog posts on its own), and now Tricky Ways!
Tricky Ways is a marble track system board game. Each player takes turns to try to lead their marble to an empty finish field, passing as many cuboro cubes as possible in the process. If you think that sounds simple, try considering that there are surface and tunnel tracks to take into account, as well as 12 finish fields and only three changing actions allowed per turn. The tricky thing is, the little kids find it really easy to grasp the game, whilst the adults fumble. You can imagine the squeals of laughter and how thrilled the kids get.
As it turns out, Tricky Ways shares many of the same traits as the other members of the Cuboro family. It gets little kids to PLAN. Yes, actually plan their next move and consider the consequences. The tactile feel of the cubes make planning concrete for the kids. Then the marble is the proof. Did your plan lead to the desired result? i.e. Does the marble roll to the finish field you intended for it to reach? If not, what do you have to do to debug the process?
The children don’t even realize it, but they are actually learning the basics of computer programming as they play. Each cube constituting code, the marble rolling over the proposed route being running code, and adjustments made constituting debugging.
Enuf' said, let’s get down to playing!
Get yours now at: http://www.playhao.com/products/cuborotrickyways
]]>There is meaning in everything we do. It was a conscious decision to create a name which is unique (playhao is not an entry in the Oxford Dictionary yet), but also holds great significance. We took as much care naming playhao as we did naming our children.
After all, playhao began life because we wanted only the best for our children. Like so many of you do.
So we carry only good (好) toys, stimulating, which promote intellectual vigour, yet which also bring hours of laughter and fun. Something aesthetically pleasing we are happy to have in our homes, and which smells good too. We are demanding people.
But apart from representing the fact that we carry only the best things in life, we also wanted a name which reflects how we have something good for girls and for boys. So here is where it gets technical - the word 好 stands for “girls and boys” when you break it up into its component parts 女(girl) and 子(boy). There is something good at playhao for every boy and girl. (Our sons and daughters choose to think however, that they are personally represented in playhao’s name.)
Naming this baby play好also acknowledges how important we view bilingualism to be, quite apart from the fact that naming the company ‘playgood’ just would not have been half as fun!
A few months after playhao was christened, someone shared that Lego means “playwell” in Danish. Sheer coincidence? Or a classic case of great minds think alike.
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