🪴What if the classroom looked more like a playroom?
Did you know that most children in the US spend more awake time at school than they do at home? School is one of the most formative environments in childhood and for a good reason. It's where our children learn, grow and form some of their most important relationships.
And did you know that just as every child is entitled to the right to education, every child is entitled to the right to play? It's all there on Article 24 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights.
Then why is it that children today, especially while they are at school- play less than ever? It's not just recess that is becoming shorter, it's also the classrooms themselves that match the ideologies of over a century ago, when the world and our understanding of education was quite different; we lit buildings with the sun, we build schools that resembled the factories of the industrial revolution, and children were to be seen and not heard.
As an architect turned play designer, and a mom of two little humans - I think about these questions a lot. As someone who also spend a career working in the public education and social impact world I do know first hand that systemic change is needed to transform the education build environment to a more playful one.
That is why we are so thrilled to launch Follies Class Packs today. A simple way to bring the joyful well-loved design of our best selling Playsets to a school, after-school or even home-school setting.
Designed to outfit a small classroom and can serve up to 10 students at the same time. This pack includes 90 pieces in total that work like a whiteboard: kids draw, then wipe away and store flat after they are done. Made out of 100% non-toxic recyclable plastic.
Plus we are offering free lesson plans and 1:1 support if you are looking for some help on how to get started.
So here's to making the classroom look more like a playroom, one Follies piece at a time.
In Play,
Chloe Varelidi, Founder & Designer
ps. look out for some special announcements for Teacher Appreciation Week on our Instagram & TikTok @playfollies