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KAYSVILLE — To combat "screen overuse" in an age where digital devices can consume kids' attention for hours at a time, a Davis County couple has designed and developed a toy set aimed at connecting children and parents, along with serving some kids with special needs.
An elementary school educator by training who home-schools her six kids ranging in age from 1 to 12 years old, Kaysville resident Catherine Reed learned early about the importance of teaching young children ways to express their creative energy.
To that end, about a year ago Reed and her husband started a company called BizyBeez and developed MagStix, a 41-piece magnetic building set that allows young children of varying abilities to use their creativity in any way that seems possible to them, Reed said. The building set includes a play board to travel with, which she said is helpful to some kids with physical disabilities.
"This is really wonderful for children with spina bifida or cerebral palsy," she said. "They can have it in their laps when they are in the wheelchair or kids can take it in the car."
The toy set is also helpful to kids with cognitive, emotional or behavioral issues, she noted.
"It is so calming when you are building with this magnetic play set," she said. "And sometimes the mom gets down on the floor and connects with them or the therapist connects with them."
Reed said so many kids spend an inordinate amount of time on screens that they miss out on opportunities to develop their creative skills and imaginative abilities. This toy allows children to open their minds, she said.
"When they build a castle or build a robot, they're happy and they have that pride," she said. "No one tells them what to build, they just build whatever they want."
The magnetic toy set sells on the BizyBeez.com website and Amazon. As part of the company's mission, 20 percent of their net proceeds go to nonprofit organizations, including some that help children with special needs, she said.
Reed said the ultimate goal of the toy set is help kids, parents and grandparents to "build together" and make lasting connections that will last over time.
"It is so calming when you are building with this magnetic play set. And sometimes the mom gets down on the floor and connects with them or the therapist connects with them." — BizyBeez co-founder Catherine Reed
For medical professionals like occupational therapist Lori Maughan of Matt's Place in Centerville, the toy provides a useful tool to help young children with some deficits, such as low fine motor skills, to gain confidence in their ability to accomplish challenging everyday tasks.
"(These are) kids that have difficulty with handwriting, fastening buttons, holding a pencil or stacking blocks," she explained. "The nice thing about MagStix is that they help kids be a little more successful with a task that is really hard for them."
She said because the MagStix have magnets, children can stack the sticks together and they will hold. It's a big accomplishment for kids with motor planning difficulties who are unable to write or dress themselves.
"Because the feedback they're getting from their sensory system isn't good, they don't have good body awareness, therefore they have poor motor planning," she said.
The toy also helps the kids in therapy work on their socialization skills, she noted.
"When I have the kids work with them, they're working on turn-taking (and) eye contact while they're reaching for the pieces, so it's not just for motor skills," she said. "It's also for cognition and social skills."
Maughan also said the building set is a "safe toy."
"It doesn't have little parts (that) can go into kids' mouths, it doesn't have sharp edges and it's easy to manipulate — to hold and grab, which can sometimes be a challenge for some of my kids," she said.
And as kids build with the toy, they build self-esteem, she said.
"A lot of these kids are not successful at doing fine motor tasks, so by including that magnet into the toy, they see some success and it motivates them and they are more willing to try to do things they normally wouldn't," Maughan said.
