Imagine every month, a box arrives, filled with activities that engage and teach you skills that will help you go a long way. That, in short, is what Magic Crate is all about. They are a four-year-old venture based out of Bengaluru who challenge kids between 2 to 13 years through their crates. "Before turning eight, a kid's brain is going through it's highest growth spurt. That's why it is during this age that they are able to pick up languages and skills so easily and it is this age group that we want to cater to," explains Co-founder Viswanathan R who started this with Karthik Lakshman.
And since parents are forever worried about how to engage kids in a non-digital way, this is the perfect solution to it. Even Viswanathan's two-year-old daughter and 10 year-old-son and the 50,000 children who have experienced the wonders of the crate approve of it thoroughly!
Masterclass calling
But before we get to talking about all the magic that the crates hold, Viswanathan tells us about Magic Crate's online Masterclasses they initiated on around May 10. Storytelling by the good folks at Amar Chitra Katha, creative writing by a leading daily — could kids have asked for better teachers? Last time we checked, over 600 children had already subscribed to these live classes and they were inquires from expats in the UK and US as well. "It is before class VIII that students are encouraged to pursue their hobbies because post that, it's all about academics. So this is a good chance for us to cater to them and their hobbies," he explains.
All those ideas
A multi-disciplinary team of academicians, product designers, graphic designers and more put together this monthly box that has three to four activities and a storybook too. Take for example the game Happy Hippo. The child has to feed a hippo (a cut out of one) tokens with pictures of food like greens, chocolate and more. And whenever the child feeds chocolate, they have to brush the hippo's teeth, "Implying that chocolate is not good for health," says Viswanathan, an alumnus of IIT Varanasi and IIM Kozhikode. Then there are tasks like making a fully-functional mini motorboat, understanding why different surfaces require different tires and so on. The sky's the limit when it comes to ideation and tasks. "We just ask ourselves, 'How can we help a child get to point A from point B and on the way, help them pick up a few skills too'," he explains. After the team ideates 18 to 20 activities, the list is narrowed down to seven or eight and then, an internal committee zeroes it down further and after extensive pilots, the activities are finalised.
Since there is no big brand operating in the space of catering to kids between 2 to 13, they hope that they will continue to offer fun activities that teach skills and more. The plans for these crates range from two months to 12. So next time you want to engage your children, you don’t have to think out of the 'crate', you could simply consider Magic Crate.
Some fo their kits
For more on them, check out magiccrate.in
