Geo Fun Boards - When Playing is Learning
Children learn as they play. Most importantly, in play children learn how to learn. O Fred Donaldson
What a year this has been!? 2021 Definitely has been a year to remember, and for all the not so great reasons. Covid reached an all-time high and hit closer to home than ever before, and “homeschooling” and working from home became our norm. As a teacher and single mom this year has been incredibly difficult, and I had to learn how to juggle so many different balls. In order to successfully juggle those balls, A got a new best friend a.k.a screentime. I have a love-hate relationship with screentime. I loved it because it gave me some free time to get the things done that I needed to get done without any interruptions from little A, but I hated the constant momguilt and the knowing that I should be using the time to stimulate him away from the screens. Then a dear friend introduced me to her new little venture – Geo Fun Boards and my teacher mom heart skipped a whole beat out of excitement. So, I would like to introduce you to the beautiful little small business Geo Fun Boards, and I want to tell you why every child and even primary school classrooms should have one.
Who and what is Geo Fun Boards?
Geo Fun boards is a new little business that was founded by Rehet during the lockdown. She decided to design and make beautiful and timeless geometric fun boards, after realizing that they were not freely available to buy in the shops and the ones that she could find were plastic ones that simply won’t last. Although geoboards are not a new concept it remains one of the most beneficial materials in a Montessori classroom and at home. It is both a Practical Life activity and a Sensorial activity, depending on how you choose to use it and holds many benefits for the learner, teacher and even parents.
Our top 10 Reasons as to Why every child and Primary school classroom need a Geo Fun Board:
Geo Fun Boards:
1.Improve fine motor skills.
To use a geoboard a child needs to pull and manipulate elastic bands over the pegs using their fingers only, which helps to develop some very important fine motor skills. Fine motor skills involve the use of the small muscles that control the hand, fingers, and thumb. They help children perform important tasks like feeding themselves, grasping toys, buttoning and zipping clothes, writing, drawing, and more.
2. Stimulates Creativity.
The geoboards give a child the freedom to explore, create and discover in a safe environment. All of this helps to stimulate and develop creativity.
3. Teaches Problem Solving
As a teacher I can tell you that problem-solving is one of the areas that more and more learners struggle with at school and throughout their daily lives. For a child this is an important life skill they will need to develop so they are able to make healthy decisions for themselves. If a child is able to solve problems on their own, they will be happier, more confident and more independent; they will not feel frustrated or disheartened in their inefficiency. This is why it is important we begin teaching children problem solving skills from an early age.
4. Develops their imagination
Albert Einstein once said “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the whole world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.” Imagination aids in the development of social, emotional, creative, physical, lingual, and problem-solving skills in children.
5. Teaches cause and effect
6. It also helps to stimulate muscle movements in their hands and fingers
This once again goes back to fine motor skills and the importance thereof.
7. Improves hand eye coordination
8. Teaches children to read from left to right and from top to bottom
9. Are designed to increase a child’s ability to concentrate
10. Working with geometric shapes is also an excellent pre-reading and pre-writing activity since it teaches a child to see and name shapes, and it prepares the child to see letters and numbers and to eventually read and write them.
What we loved about Geo Fun Boards
1. It’s design
I know that the concept isn’t a new one, teachers and therapists have been using geometric boards for ages now, but I have only ever seen the plastic ones. I love how the Geo Fun Board is handmade out of wood, giving it that extra special element and uniqueness and it also makes it timeless. There’s just something about wooden, handmade items that makes me fall in love with every inch of it.
2. The educational and developmental benefits
I only mentioned a few above, but there are so many more advantages when it comes to using geometric boards with your child. As a teacher I would definitely invest or ask my parents to invest in one of these geometric boards for my learners, because of all the educational and developmental benefits that it holds – in class and at home.
3. It’s versatility
I love how the Geo Fun Board can be used in so many different learning areas and for so many different things. I can use it to help A with letter recognition, or we can change it up and use it for mathematics, where he needs to copy shapes, make patterns or even for number recognition. We can use it as a problem-solving activity where he needs to try and copy the designs on the cards or as a free play activity where he needs to use his own imagination and create his own little designs. As a teacher I can use it in my class to introduce new concepts such as 3D shapes, patterns, area, and so much more. I also love that it is not limited to elastics. You can easily use some string in the place of the elastics to change it up a bit. The possibilities really are endless, it all depends on what you need it for at the specific time.
4. Suitable for all ages
I love how anyone, and everyone can use and benefit from the geo board, from 3 years old all the way up to 99 years old. I so wish I had this board when my grandpa was gravely ill with Alzheimer’s disease and cancer. We were always looking for ways to keep his hands and brain busy and working and this just would have been the perfect tool to have. The Geo Fun Board really is perfect for anyone, even I enjoy playing on it! It’s actually quite calming.
5. Quality
The Geo Fun Board not only has a beautiful design, but it is also made sturdy, which means it will last for years! This is perfect for parents as it can easily be passed on from one child to the next (although your child would be able to benefit from it for years anyways).
6. Size
I love the size of the Geo Fun Board. It is not ridiculously small, but also not excessively big, it is just the perfect size to fit comfortably on my toddler’s lap. This makes it perfect for long car rides or even to take along to a restaurant or a meeting where A would need to be entertained.
7. Price
As a mom I always look for 2 things in a product/toy that I’d like to buy 1. Quality and 2. Price. I want value for my money and the Geo Fun Board is just that – Value for money. The Geo Fun Board is sturdy, and comes beautifully packaged. It also includes all the elastics you’ll need and some fun design cards that you can use if you’d like. The board sells for R250 and is worth every cent.
We have been using our Geo Fun Board for a couple of weeks now and I found so many ways to work it into simple activities at home. It has helped a lot in getting A away from the screen and to occupy him on cold days when playing outside is just not an option. A loves creating his own little things from a rocket ship in space to a decorated Christmas tree. A’s 7 year old cousin also loves to join him on the fun and it entertains them for hours, and I can rest assured that they are not just playing, but also learning.
We definitely give the Geo Fun Board a double, no, triple thumbs up!
You can get yours here now! Just send Rehet a message on either Instagram or Facebook to order yours!
https://www.instagram.com/geofunboards/
https://www.facebook.com/Geo-Fun-Boards-114065174106637
Lots of Love
~ A and Mommy ~
