Learning Resources Toys Win in Creative Child Magazine's Toy Awards!

Creative Child Magazine has a 2-day event where hundreds of moms and early education professionals review all products. Only one product per category can win a Toy of the Year award and the remaining finalist receive a prestigious Preferred Choice award. New Sprouts Cook It! won for the category Kid’s Role Play Toys and the Plant & Grow and ABC & 123 both won in the Educational Toys category!

The Gift of Learning

Employees from across all our companies took time to enjoy our annual Gift of Learning event on Wednesday12/18/13.  Our guest speaker, Nicole Price from Cy Wakeman, Inc., presented an engaging program entitled Reality-Based Rules of the Workplace.  Lots of great conversation, employees connecting across organizations, and a sled load of real-time information was followed by a catered lunch and more conversation.  The event was a great success!

The excitement over Learning Resources STEM products grows!

Learning Resources products Rainbow Fraction Tiles (LER 0615) and Zoomy (LER 4416) featured prominently during a special segment on HLN (a CNN sister network) focusing on fun STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) toys that can encourage kids to get excited about science and math. The segment aired Sunday, December 8^th on the show Weekend Express three times!  View the clip below. Rainbow Fraction Tiles is featured starting at 1:37 and Zoomy is featured starting at 3:07.

"Small Change" adds up to big donation from Educational Insights

We collected $72 in our Change It Up! station in November for a valued employee's charity – Swipes for the Homeless. With the EI match, $144 will be donated to this important organization.

Swipes for the Homeless is an international coalition of universities and colleges. Students “swipe meals” in their dining halls. The donated meals are transferred into non-perishable goods and delivered to local homeless populations. The organization has been recognized by the Obama administration as one of 5 “Champions of Change” from among thousands of applicants.  

Our Gift to You from ETA hand2mind

BIG savings on Hands-On Materials
50% off all VersaTiles^®, plus use code GIFT4U at checkout and get 10% off your order!  Follow this link for more details - hand2mind holiday sale

Mental Blox by Learning Resources featured on Chicago’s Windy City LIVE!

Laurie Schacht, The Toy Insider Mom, stopped by to show off some of this year’s hottest toys from companies based in Illinois. Mental Blox (LER 9280) from our very own Learning Resources made the list!  View the November 28^th clip below. Mental Blox is featured starting at 3:16.  Very Cool!
 

We need your votes!

Educational Insights has two toys in the running for The Toy Industry Association’s Toy of the Year (TOTY) Awards (the Toy Industry’s “Oscars”) and we need your votes!  Pick your favorite in the Preschool category by following this link: http://bit.ly/1bQ32cQ

Dino Construction Company                           --  OR  --             Shelby's Snack Shack

Dino Construction Company is on Amazon's Top 100 Toy Vehicles List!

Educational Insights has been getting some great kudos for their Dino Construction Company. In fact, T-Rex currently ranks in Amazon’s Top 100 Toy Vehicles, showing up as #59 amongst some tough competition in this category. We're very proud of our kid-powered, creative play toy!   Check out the video below to see the Dino Construction Company in action.

Earnest - Our Spirit of Innovation Award

Every month, our employees have the opportunity to nominate a team mate for a special award that recognizes out-of-the-box thinking and the courage to champion new ideas. We call this honor the Earnest Award, which is recognized by the very distinguished monkey you see below. Award winners keep Earnest with them for the full month, and as you can see, Earnest has a blast! Between helping to shape new ideas (like helping to solder new laboratory equipment), testing products (like the Nancy B Binoculars), and making sure products are carefully packaged, Earnest keeps us focused on what's new and next!

ETA hand2mind takes to the road

We love trade shows and the chance to share our innovative products with educators across the country. Here are a few pictures from recent events. By the way, Ron our adventuresome STEM-in-Action armadillo is featured in every picture - see if you can spot him!

Meet... the inside sales team at Daigger!

Members of the sales team gathered to meet our new Director of Sales.

 

Holiday Toy Sale!

If you're looking for great toys for the holidays, Learning Resources & Educational Insights has a fantastic sale coming up November 14-16 - we'd love to see you there!
(9am-4pm - 375 N. Fairway Drive, Vernon Hills, IL 60061)

 

Puppets on a Stick from Educational Insights

For those of you who are fans of Educational Insights and The Walking Dead, here's some fun news for sure!  We were thrilled when AMC's hit show approached us with the request to add our fun puppets to a central scene in the show for the kick-off of Season 4.  It seems the puppets are quite a favorite of the crew!  In the scene below when Glenn (played by Steven Yeun) is walking through a store, our puppets are featured on the shelves behind.  Puppets on a Stick are fun for everyone!
http://www.educationalinsights.com/search.do?query=puppets+on+a+stick

 

Halloween Fun

Members of our team had a great time at our Halloween & Fun Run event.  Even though the rain prevented many from walking/running outside, we enjoyed games and activities in our gym!

A few members of the marketing team at Learning Resources

Our Facilities Manager enjoyed having a team member dress as him!

 

The customer service team at ETA hand2mind... Gru & his Minons.

 

Getting ready to enjoy taffy apples with the gang.