Developing Our New Learning Tools!

At the Woodworks, we work to build intentionality into our products. There has to be a goal in mind for each product. We have to answer the question: Why are we making this? Especially for young children, the function of a well designed toy can be incredibly impactful. We know that tactile learning is so critical in those early development stages. There’s just no substitute for a child interacting with a physical object to build dexterity and problem solving skills.

But we also know that expert advice is critical to developing tools that are truly useful for children. Let’s face it, we’re woodworkers. And while we know a thing or two about our craft, we know that going to an expert for advice can make all the difference. That’s why we partnered with leading Early Childhood Development professionals to guide our development process. With perspectives from Behavior Analysts, Childcare Professionals, and long time Education Professionals, our team developed our line of Woodworks Learning tools, with two new kits designed to help young children in their next stages of development.

It’s that advice that helped motivate us to another critical step in childhood: learning to write.

The transition from simply knowing letters, pinching and grasping the wooden pieces, to holding a pencil or a pen and trying to write is a big jump. For many kids, holding that pencil can be a big challenge at first.

That’s why we made our Wooden Tracing Board, to help young learners build grip strength and familiarity with drawing the Alphabet. With both Upper and Lower case letters, the board provides all the tools to teach the basics of the alphabet. Combined with a durable stylus to stand in for a pen or pencil, your child will feel right at home in the transition to writing, with the grooves of the board guiding them the whole way through.

And it’s that spirit of guided learning that we continued in our Learn to Write Tracing Set. This set is all about learning to write those most critical letters and numbers the right way. Learning how to make the characters, not just what they are. This set also provides the next step in a child’s learning process: feedback. With the ability to trace on sheets of paper, held in place by the kit’s frame, the Learn to Write Tracing Set acts as a guided lesson plan, and for the first time, your child will be able to see the results of their practice on paper!

Built with these next steps in mind, the stencils create a guided pattern of repetition. First with vowels in upper and lower case letters, and then with numbers 1-9. These stencils help children transition from simply making the shape of a letter, to understanding how to write them.  And with our modular stencils, as each lesson progresses, your child can reposition that stencil for another round of writing.

We’re proud to introduce the Learning Tools line here at the Woodworks, keep an eye out for more great tools for your child, very soon.