Blocks Rock! recently became an accepted partner at Toys with Intent! To celebrate, we decided to interview Toys With Intent’s founder, Kelli McCarty. In our conversation below, Kelli breaks down what Toys With Intent is, why she began the website, who the website helps, why she chose to partner with Blocks Rock! and more!
What is Toys with Intent?
Toys with Intent is a website designed to help parents raise children and teens to be emotionally intelligent and to learn key social and emotional skills to thrive throughout all stages of life. Our site provides a one stop shop to buy meaningful toys, books, and products that teach children and teenagers about important life skills. As a former school counselor, Marriage and Family Therapist, and Founder of Toys with Intent, I am committed to finding the top social and emotional products that promote positive self-growth for children.
Why did you found Toys with Intent?
After becoming a mother of two, I was disappointed by the lack of good, healthy, and educational toys and books that were out there for children. Instead of buying meaningless, trendy toys, I wanted parents and educators to have a place where they could buy toys that served a purpose.
All the products on our site teach children something; whether it is a book on empathy, or a game about anger management, all the items chosen for the site provide true social, emotional, and educational, value.
Who can benefit from Toys with Intent?
Although we have specific product recommendations for targeted issues such as anxiety or emotion regulation, we also have a ton of products that would benefit any child. All children can learn about having a growth mindset and about resilience or mindfulness, and all children need to learn life skills.
We also believe in teaching social and emotional skills as early as possible, so we have product ideas for babies and toddlers, all the way through the teenage years. So if you are a parent focused on raising an emotionally intelligent child, then our site is for you! And if you are an educator or professional who works with children and teens, you will also find a ton of great resources that your students and clients will benefit from.
How have you seen Toys with Intent make a positive impact already?
Although we provide a lot of helpful toys and books, Toys with Intent is about more than just pushing products. We believe parent education is a huge piece to raising emotionally healthy children, so we also offer an amazing blog with helpful information and online/social media videos for parents and educators.
Toys with Intent has partnered with some incredible professionals such as pediatricians, psychologists, and like-minded business to offer educational videos on topics like how to raise resilient children, stress in childhood, and parenting books. We have received a ton of positive feedback from our videos and blog and I would encourage everyone to give them a watch or a read. You can find these resources on our website.
At Toys with Intent, why did you decide to partner with Blocks Rock!?
I had been on the hunt for some high quality children's blocks, when I found Blocks Rock!While I initially wanted to add building blocks to our site because they are great for unstructured, imaginative and creative play, Blocks Rock! jumped out at me because of what they also offer in the STEM department.
To me, Blocks Rock! is the ultimate choice for any toy in its category because of its dual-functionality. It is an incredibly fun and engaging game but also teaches spatial skills, problem solving, fine motor skills, and even social emotional skills (which we love) such as creativity, focus, and self-esteem. Because of all the many benefits of blocks, plus the ability to use these particular blocks both as a game and then free play if you choose, Blocks Rock! is really the ultimate block set and a perfect match for Toys with Intent.
How have you seen Blocks Rock! helping children? What are the benefits?
The benefits are really endless when it comes to Blocks Rock!, depending on how one chooses to use them. When used as their original purpose, a child's attention and focus soar as they work to create the intended design. And, increased attention and improving a child's spatial reasoning through the use of Blocks Rock! can really prepare them for when they are in the classroom. Yet a child can also step away from the traditional Blocks Rock! "game" and just free play with them. With a set of good blocks, a child has the ability to create and build anything they want. So a set of blocks, especially ones with so many uses like Block Rocks!, is a must have for any child.
Check out Blocks Rock! On Toys with Intent!
Click here to go to Blocks Rock!’s profile on Toys with Intent.
