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About Us
Are you looking for a unique toy that will stimulate your child’s imagination?
Amazing WIZ Kids creates unique educational toys for children. We seek to provide wonderful things that can’t be found elsewhere. We believe there is no greater investment than your child’s education. And a great learning toy is an investment in your child’s future.
Play is very important to a child’s development. As the famous Chinese philosopher Confucius once said, “I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand”. Learning by doing benefits any child, regardless of learning style (visual, auditory, verbal, kinesthetic).
Our first project, Fine Art Puzzle, was developed to bring fine art to very young children who might not ordinarily get much exposure in school or at the occasional museum trip. Children spend so much time in front of licensed character images, and there is nothing wrong with the characters, but we believe it is never too early to broaden your child’s horizons.
Why make a kids’ puzzle out of great works of art?
1. The process of doing a puzzle encourages your child to slow down and notice more about the picture and become familiar with the artist’s style and technique.
2. The experience of looking at a new work of art can lead to an interest in that type of artwork, or questions about the historical time period, or a desire to create one’s own unique composition drawing on the picture for inspiration.
3. We believe that exposure to different art and ideas will make a child more creative. Creativity is aided by references (that is, ideas you have been exposed to in the past), and if your references are the same as everyone else’s, then the ideas your brain generates are likely to be similar to everyone else’s. However, by exposing yourself to references you wouldn’t otherwise have, you give your brain new input and new sources for future creative ideas.
4. We believe exposure to the great masterpieces will enhance a child's aesthetic sensibilities. Appropriate fine art exposure for the very young child is most conveniently provided in their books, puzzles, and toys. As Susan Striker, art educator has pointed out: “Since many children will look at picture books long before they are exposed to art in any other format, it is crucial for the quality of the illustrations to be outstanding and the stories compelling. Great books can inspire early art activities and set high aesthetic standards.” [Yount at Art, Susan Striker page 120, Henry Holt & Co, 2001] We think this holds true for puzzles and other toys as well.
At Amazing WIZ Kids, we plan to feature works from various periods, designs, and artists, using images that will be appealing to the children in the puzzle’s age range. Check our site frequently – new products are being added all the time. Have any questions, comments, or concerns? Please feel free to contact us. Suzanne Player, the founder and CEO of Amazing WIZ Kids, is a mother and former practicing attorney with a strong interest in education and the arts. She has 10 years of experience in sales and marketing with a strong record of high quality customer service. She also blogs about education related topics at http://amazingwizkids.blogspot.com/ and writes about personal finance.
Amazing WIZ Kids supports:
ArtSafe
ArtSafe is dedicated to changing the lives of troubled kids through the arts. ArtSafe targets "at risk" kids in their schools, neighborhoods, juvenile and adult prisons. We help young people heal from the effects of violence, discover their skills, talents and give them the tools to learn how to deal with anger, avoid getting into trouble and create meaningful lives. Read about their many success stories here.
Why is it important that girls as well as boys be educated?
* When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90 percent of it into their families, as compared to only 30 to 40 percent for a man,
* An extra year of primary school boosts girls’ eventual wages by 10 to 20 percent; an extra year of secondary school: 15 to 25 percent
* When a girl in the developing world receives seven or more years of education, she marries four years later and has 2.2 fewer children
Head Start has provided children of low-income families with a comprehensive program to meet their emotional, social, health, nutritional, and psychological needs. This widely acclaimed program is designed to help break the cycle of poverty for preschool children and their families. Bank Street Head Start's mission is to empower and educate low-income families and their children through comprehensive, high quality services. They build long-term relationships and provide a range of individualized support in the areas of early childhood education, medical, dental, mental health, nutrition and social services.
Anderson Center for Autism, a not for profit organization, offers the highest quality year round day and residential programs to children and adults who have been diagnosed on the autism spectrum.
Kiva's mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. Kiva is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend to unique entrepreneurs around the globe. You can lend directly to an individual in another country whose profile appears on Kiva, and choose an entrepreneur by gender, industry, or region of the world.
The mission of the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted. The primary goal of Toys for Tots is to deliver, through a new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to less fortunate youngsters that will assist them in becoming responsible, productive, patriotic citizens.
Free Rice
Events
TOMS Shoes
One Day Without Shoes is the day we spread awareness about the impact a simple pair of shoes can have on a child’s life. On April 8th, people were asked to go the day, part of the day or even just a few minutes, barefoot, to experience a life without shoes first-hand, and inspire others at the same time.
Through everyday encounters with domestic poverty, we are reminded to appreciate having food and shelter, but most of us all but forget about our feet. Food, shelter, AND shoes facilitate life’s fundamentals. Imagine a life without shoes; constantly aware of the ground in front of you, suffering regular cuts and scrapes, tending to infection after each walk, and enduring not only terrain, but heat and cold.
The problem is large, but the solution is simple. Wearing shoes and practicing basic hygiene can prevent both infection and disease due to unsafe roads and contaminated soil. By imagining a life barefoot, we can all contribute to the awareness of these conditions. On April 8th, communities, campuses, organizations, and individuals banded together to walk barefoot for One Day Without Shoes.
Facts:
· In some developing nations, children must walk for miles to school, clean water and to seek medical help.
· Cuts and sores on feet can lead to serious infection.
· Often, children cannot attend school barefoot.
· In
Ethiopia, approximately one million people are suffering from Podoconiosis, a debilitating and disfiguring disease caused by walking barefoot in volcanic soil.
· Podoconiosis 100% preventable with basic foot hygiene and wearing shoes.
IF you have an event related to kids, toys, education, or any of the organzations above, you would like to publicize, please email us at sueplayer@amazingWIZkids.com
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Enrolling babies in $500 music lessons or lobbying for spots at the top nursery schools, & purchasing fine art for toddlers is the latest way for Hollywood parents to nurture little A-list intellects. The theory is that these youngsters won’t just be smart — they’ll be creative, unorthodox thinkers! |
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