They’re big, bold, unplugged and ideal for schools, museums, and community spaces looking to inspire a generation of creative thinkers, problem solvers and collaborators.
Sydney based business Mud Kitchen today announced it has secured exclusive distribution rights in Australia and New Zealand for two globally acclaimed play based educational product ranges that are helping schools, educators, and community groups around the world engage children in learning through fun and their own unlimited imaginations.
Rigamajig is a series of large-scale wooden building kits that inspire children to follow their curiosity through hands-on, collaborative and playful STEAM1 learning.
The colourful wheels, cogs, nuts and bolts combined with gears, pulleys and ropes are intuitively designed to give children the freedom to create three-dimensional, mechanical contraptions that are only limited by their imaginations and sense of invention.
Big Blue Blocks from US-based company Imagination Playground is a collection of bright blue arches, bends, planks, and cylinders, accented with chutes, channels and other uniquely shaped loose parts that children can stack, line up, move around, sculpt and connect in endless combinations.
Made of patented aerospace grade lightweight, waterproof foam, the scale and tactile nature of the Big Blue Blocks allows children to become immersed in their play, inspiring them to invent their own worlds, environments and activities – and have fun at the same time!
Studies show that when children engage in high levels of engineering play, they are more likely to exhibit 21st Century skills, such as critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity23.
“Rigamajig is designed to inspire kids to create and learn through collaborative, hands-on, open-ended play,” Rigamajig Creator and Designer Cas Holman said.
“There are no instructions, set outcomes, or right-and-wrong answers. Rigamajig empowers kids with the freedom to tackle challenges, tap into their imagination, and figure out how to work together to solve problems.
“By allowing kids to direct their play, they develop lifelong skills and habits of agency, independence, and self-determination.”