One mum's journey into business. Learn, Play, Develop.

5 years ago

Summary:

The GameChanger Consultancy is working with Mumpreneur Clare Massey of Learn Play Develop – find out more about Clare’s inspirational story and how she set up the company after identifying the needs of her little boy Oliver and looking to find safe, suitable toys to stimulate his learning and development needs.

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Clare Massey is the owner of Learn Play Develop, a business providing Sensory and Educational Resources to families, carers, and educational settings. The products are suitable for children of all ages and abilities, as well as with adult learners and dementia patients.

Clare’s story started just over 3 years ago when her middle child Oliver (Olibobs) was born. Olibobs was classed early in his life with having additional needs. These were both medical and developmental, meaning Clare had a steep learning curve ahead in learning to parent a child with challenges to overcome.

As any parent would, and as many parents of children with development challenges have done before, Clare set about a journey of discovery about what this would mean for Oliver’s future and how she, as a mother, could best support his development and help him realise his potential. In this time, Clare learned about sensory toys and resources that could help bonding, social and physical development, and support learning through play.

Clare describes the experience of parenting and shared discovery,

“Before Oliver, who would have thought that it was OK to sleep in a square dark den and not a bed?

Oliver sees the world and experiences this differently to other children, which means we need to find creative and novel solutions to keep his interest and allow him to experience the world in his unique way. With the birth of Oliver’s sister Abigail in 2016, our last child and only girl, the toys increased a lot in our house, and I discovered the love and importance of quality and educational toys that were suitable for Oliver and Abigail’s different needs.”

After attending many events as a customer, Clare was dismayed at the quality of toys available and saw an opportunity to provide quality educational and sensory toys. A business Clare and her family can work on together to integrate their love of toys and learning through play activities for children.

One of the innovations Clare has introduced, as a responsible business owner, and partly in response to ongoing cuts in Educational Services and support for parents as council budgets are restricted, is a scheme to provide discounts to Ofsted registered nurseries and childcare providers, and CQC registered care facilities for vulnerable adults and the elderly. This is receiving a great response from providers.

As Clare shares,

“Our belief at Learn Play Develop is that all children deserve high-quality toys, that sensory resources can benefit all, and educational resources should be fun. Messy and explorative play should be encouraged, that computers have a place but that imaginations should be allowed to grow away from the screen. Above all we believe that we as adults should let children be children for as long as possible.”

Clare is available for comment, and events and can be contacted via The GameChanger Consultancy or directly by email : clare@learnplaydevelop.com

Learn Play Develop

Clare Massey

01822 609970

clare@learnplaydevelop.com

www.learnplaydevelop.com

www.facebook.com/learnplaydevelop

The GameChanger Consultancy

Laura Trendall-Morrison

020 8798 3273

laura@thegamechangerconsultancy.com

www.thegamechangerconsultancy.com/our-philosphy

About The GameChanger Consultancy

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