Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kaeley Clark-Reed. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Kaeley, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
Like a lot of people, Covid drastically changed things for me and my family. In 2020 I was teaching 2nd grade, and at that time, I had no idea that when I packed up my classroom for spring break that March, I would never be coming back.
All of a sudden, I was virtually teaching 8 year old students while sharing a home office space with my husband, and juggling different ways to keep our toddler entertained. It quickly became apparent that the easy answer was screens. Whether it be an iPad or the TV, we knew that was a sure fire way to keep her busy while we got some work done, but we also knew that was not healthy or sustainable for the long run. Around that same time, our daughter was also diagnosed with a speech delay, so I started to search for not just screen free ways to keep her entertained, but ways to keep her engaged in her therapy as well. In came sensory play.
I quickly learned how important sensory play was for our daughter. She was (and still is!) a real sensory seeker. Anything that she could dig her hands into that allowed her to explore her senses seemed to be the best way for us to get some work done, and keep her happy at the same time! Sensory play encourages learning through exploration, develops problem solving skills, and nourishes creativity. It is also important for building nerve connections in the brain, and encourages the development of language and motor skills, making it crucial for our specific journey through speech development.
At first, we would fill bins up with rice and beans, letting her hide and dig for toys. It was so much fun, but so incredibly messy! We found that playdough was a great option, but it was being left out to dry all the time, and was expensive to replace. It finally dawned on me that we could make our own playdough at home, and the rest is history!
The idea behind our sensory kits is that we could have the playdough and its corresponding accessories all packed up in one kit. This allowed us the opportunity to teach our daughter responsibility in packing up her kits to keep the dough fresh, and it also became really fun to make different kits, taking turns playing with each one.
Now, we are blessed with the ability to share our kits and encourage learning through play in kids all over the country, our favorite community being the one we have right here in Greenville! You can find us at local events like farmer’s markets, mommy and me classes, even birthday parties! We love any chance we get to share our family’s passion for learning through play. Hope to meet you soon!
Kaeley, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Absolutely! I am Kaeley (I often go by KCR) and I am a busy and over caffeinated mom to two kiddos (Eva, almost 5 & Owen, almost 2). Before I started KCRCreativeKits I worked in financial technology, and before that, I was a 2nd grade teacher! I love spending time with my family, exploring the beautiful upstate, and catching Pokemon! As both a mom and a former teacher, early childhood development is my whole world. It’s so important to give young children all the tools they need to grow & learn. There’s the obvious learning colors, counting to ten, and knowing their ABCs, but it’s often overlooked how important it is for them to have sensory play, as it allows them to have fun while learning. I’ve witnessed the power of open ended sensory play and what it has done for my own children … the unique creations they make, the peaceful faces they make when their hands are in the dough. The thing is, we don’t always have the opportunity for them to have open ended sensory play.
I jokingly say I always have parent’s backs because of the compact nature of our kits. I share with every parent I meet: “the rule in our house is when you are done playing the dough goes back in the jar, and the accessories go back in the bag so we can play with it all again & again!” I’ve made everything as portable as I can, so put kits can be road trip activities, classroom activities, they are even perfect for restaurants!
When I design a new kit I spend weeks, countless late nights, searching all over the internet and my local craft stores to source what goes into our kits. I don’t pick anything I don’t think would be useful for my own kids. I also purposefully pick accessories that will allow parents to engage with their children and make it a learn through play(dough) experience, and each batch of dough is tested to make sure it is perfect for play.
My favorite part of what I do is absolutely when a parent sends me picture of their child just looking so happy playing with one of our kits. No two kids play the same way, and it’s so heart warming to see!!
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
Seeing is believing, and that is why you will find us out and about as much as we possibly can be! I believe we talk the talk AND walk the walk. Each time you see us at a craft market, local event, or even our own shop, you will see demo kits and are likely to see at least a few kids playing with them (often times, our own kids!). Any and all kids (and adults) are ALWAYS welcome to “stay and play” for free when we are set up somewhere. Either myself, or my husband James, “Mr. Dough Maker” are around to tell our story and answer questions. You are also likely to meet our #1 salesperson & spokesperson, our 4 year old daughter Eva.
I think that when you have a tangible product it is super important for folks to be able to see it, touch it, and experience it. I think between that, and being able to share our story in person & online, people can see that we know what we are doing, and understand my background in childhood development, and get excited to buy our product. We are starting to have a loyal little “kit collector” base, and people get very excited when we “drop” a new kit. It just warms our hearts!
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
KCRCreativeKits has been an established business for over a year now, but it has not always been “full time” for me! After teaching I worked in financial technology, this time, teaching adults! I loved my work for a long time, but I kept having an itch to do more with our little business. The truth is, I missed teaching and being around students so very much, and realized when we were on the road selling kits and meeting kiddos, my heart was so full. We thought long and hard about it, and decided it was a good time for us to take the plunge. It has allowed me to be more available for my children, most especially the different therapies our youngest is in.
It has been a scary transition to go from a steady paycheck to the unknown..I had to shift the way I was doing everything, and figure out how to find balance. For example, I had figure out how much time to spend on marketing versus product development, etc. It has been a crazy transition, but I’ve loved every minute.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.learnthroughplaydough.com
- Instagram: Learnthroughplaydough
- Facebook: KCRCreativeKits
- Linkedin: Kaeley Clark-Reed
Image Credits
Ashley Garcia, Branding + Photo GVL