Infusing early literacies into all our products
Giving children a good start, what TotSpark calls “a smarter beginning,” is what we’re all about. Our integrative play learning tools nurture children’s curiosity while helping develop literacy and thinking skills during the crucial early years. They promote those fascinating Aha! moments of discovery that make learning fun. They also present some lovable, captivating animal characters whose adventures and antics appear throughout our products. We call these characters the TotSpark “Friends.”
The TotSpark “Friends”
Each animal “friend” occupies center stage in one of our play learning
kits which are grouped into 4 developmental levels ranging from
10 months to 6 years.
Worm in search of a
home in an apple
Benny and Coco, two hungry
bears who wake up in a cave.
Let’s Look! Turn & Learn Picture Boards
Let’s Find Out! Discovery Cards
What Do You Think? Storybook & More
Magic Carpet Build-A-Scene
Puzzlies
3-D Definitely!
Puppetini
Our Play Learning Tools
Edie and Maude on the
beautiful African savanna
Oriella the owl and her two
little owlets, Isabel and Pete
Fiona the fox and Alfie
the rabbit in the forest
Liam the lion and his
two cubs, Lily and Ted
Our Integrative Play Learning Tools
TotSpark has developed a unique early learning method and 7 lines of original, integrative play learning tools for parents, teachers, grandparents and older siblings to teach, talk, play and bond with young children while having fun together. Not least, we’ve infused the various early childhood literacies into all our products: language development and vocabulary, basic concepts, numbers, geometric shapes, natural science, spatial relations, physical phenomena.
Making connections and gaining insights with TotSpark is real fun.
“Let’s Look!” Turn & Learn Picture Boards
You bet young children can read! Right now! No preparation!
They can read pictures and tell you about the story they contain. They can also make up their own stories based on the pictures and the characters on the boards.
“Let’s Look” is a toy and book in one. Consisting of a set of illustrated boards in a specially designed box, “Let’s See!” contains 2 or 3 multilevel “movable sculptures” of the story’s main characters on the final board.
The text has been carefully prepared to encourage the children to inquire about what’s going on, to observe, to gesture, and to talk about what they see with a supportive adult. “Let’s Look!” combines the experience of reading a storybook with hands-on physical activities and creative narration.
“Let’s Find Out!” Discovery Cards
These are bright, cheerful illustrations along with interesting information and concepts on a set of twelve 17cm by 22 cm (6.7 in. by 8.7 in.) cards. Each card contains, front and back, an illustration and short text to be read to the children about what is in the illustration. These illustrations and texts are directly related to the vocabulary, concepts, and observations made in the “Let’s See!” Story Boards and the “What Do You Think?” Storybook.
Because TotSpark relates the information and illustrations on the Discovery Cards to the real world, children’s knowledge is expanded and their understanding and enjoyment of the story in “Let’s See!” and in “What Do You Think?” is expanded and integrated.
The Discovery Cards are also a beautiful stand-alone product that children can use independently or in small groups by creating stories about the images or explaining to friends what the images are about.
“What Do You Think?” Storybook and More
“What Do You Think?” Storybook and More contains rhyming text, bright illustrations, important concepts, and interesting information about nature and the world around us, plus exciting “extras” at the end of the story that include an amusing comic strip related to the story which enables the children to “read” the pictures, a mask of the main character for imaginative play, and opportunities for drawing.
The book also contains stimulating, open-ended thought and talk subjects related to the story in order to involve the children in active, creative, independent thinking and learning through shared reading with discussion.
Magic Carpet Build-A-Scene
The Magic Carpet has two background scenes on opposite sides of a board. Both scenes are related to the stories and illustrations in “Let’s Look!” “Let’s Find Out!” and “What Do You Think?” Also included are 20 to 25 cut-outs of objects and characters that can be placed wherever the child wants in the scenes to create colorful, exciting pictures.
Magic Carpet encourages children to tell, discuss and act out the new stories they create by physically placing and changing characters and objects in a scene. The child imaginatively becomes both the set designer and the stage director using hands and imagination. The possibilities are many and the child is in control.
Puzzlies
Jigsaw puzzles have been around for hundreds of years. People enjoy them, including children. They’re engaging, challenging, and they can be done independently or with a friend, or in the case of a young child, with a parent. They can also be seen as an educational toy with benefits that include shape recognition, hand-eye coordination, problem solving, and just plain fun. They’re a challenge and solving them is accompanied by a sense of satisfaction and self-confidence.
Our Puzzlies are all that and more!
For the youngest children, we’ve created developmentally appropriate puzzles that are uniquely constructed, colorful and attractive, many with images of the TotSpark friends.
Then for the older children, our Puzzlies teach shapes like the hexagon Puzzlie below.
And let’s not forget our open ended Puzzlies which give children’s creativity free reign. Since there are no set “right answers” or solutions, children are free to create many different combinations of puzzlies’ pieces into designs of geometric and color patterns of their own making. The creative possibilities are multifold.
3-D Definitely!
3-D Definitely! Introduces the third visual dimension, depth, to children by rendering 2-D images into 3-D scenes without the use of an electronic screen. With two sets of transparent, framed inserts which children can arrange in the holder in flexible order that they decide, 3-D Definitely! provides the stage for the creation of a character or a scene with the stereoscopic visual effect of 3-D.
3-D Definitely! is a natural light theater where a child can develop a clearer and better understanding of position and space. This results in lots of creation, lots of fun, and the enhancement of spatial reasoning skills.
Puppetini
TotSpark has created captivating hand puppets based on the TotSpark “Friends.”
Puppets capture children’s attention by bringing stories to life. They strengthen storytelling skills, creativity, and listening skills, and even make it easier for children to express feelings and thoughts which are hard for them to share. Besides encouraging imaginative play, using puppets to tell stories promotes the development of narrative skills such as the sequencing of events, predicting what will happen, and using vocabulary.
Lots of good stuff here, but most of all, Puppetini are so much fun.