Mum splits time and launches new learning toy ‘Circa’
Mum of two, Melinda Holohan, is launching a new calendar learning toy - Circa. The inspiration for Circa was prompted from her son's simple question on how many days there were left to an important event.
Circa - the Circular Calendar - is a new innovative educational toy calendar specifically designed to help children understand the cycles of the calendar using the toy's innovative rotating and circular stacking design.
“I wanted to present the calendar such that children could visually understand its cyclical nature. We are taught to use the calendar reading left to right, but intuitively, for some children, this doesn't make sense, as the days seem to come to an end when presented linearly. So I thought, wouldn't it be easier to just present the calendar in a circular form to make the concept easier to grasp?” says Melinda.
The Circa design is based on ease of learning for children in a gradual progression at their individual paces. They can explore each of the different pieces individually and fit them together as their knowledge increases.
“In designing Circa, it was also important that the calendar was presented as a toy. Time awareness is one of the hardest concepts for children to learn, so I wanted it to be fun and tactile. Children love movable pieces, stacking objects and sticking things, so it was a bonus that these were all things that were integral to Circa’s design,” she explains.
Circa is divided into four pieces that represent a major cyclical event in the calendar:
the days of the week disc
the months of the year disc, including a rotating seasons sub-disc
the days of the month disc
and a perpetual year dial
Full features are:
movable markers on each disc to highlight a day, month or date
removable and reusable vinyl activity stickers to be used to emphasise an important event
colour coded days of the week to separate between weekend and week days
colour coded months of the year to correspond with the number of days in each month
seasons disc that can be rotated depending on which hemisphere you are in
days of the week nursery rhyme on the reverse side of the disc
months of the year nursery rhyme on the reverse side of the disc
“The idea and design for Circa came to me overnight but its actual development to get it ready for retail has taken almost two years. The process has been long but really worth it, as I believe in the product and that children will not only enjoy it but also benefit from it.”
For general and trade enquiries, visit circacalendar.com.
