Learning Materials Workshop today announced that it has won both the 2011 Toy of the Year Award and the 2011 Seal of Excellence Award. Creative Child Magazine awarded Learning Materials Workshop two selective awards in recognition of their excellence in creative toys for children. MAD Constructs, an open-ended building toy designed in collaboration with the Museum of Arts and Design NYC won in 2 categories- Toy of the Year Award in the Builder and Construction Toys Category and Seal of Excellence Award in the Wooden Toys Category.
‘Creative Child Magazine's Awards Program is unique in that all products submitted are reviewed by moms, music educators and early education professionals. Products are not reviewed by any one person. They are reviewed by many people-the very people who purchase them. The products are judged based on the criteria for nurturing creativity and education in children’ said Creative Child Magazine.
Karen Hewitt Designer and CEO of Learning Materials Workshop designed MAD Constructs in Collaboration with the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City. It includes 12 beech hardwood blocks and one hardwood tray. These open ended construction blocks appeal to builders of all ages.
‘I was very pleased to hear Learning Materials Workshop was selected once again for The Toy of The Year Award and now the Seal of Excellence Award. It is always a great honor to be recognized by an organization that highly values creativity and play in children. Thank you to Creative Child magazine and the individual educators and parents that selected Learning Materials Workshop for these awards’ said Karen Hewitt President/Designer Learning Materials Workshop.
About LMV:
Learning Materials Workshop (LMW) is a small, woman-owned company in Burlington,
Vermont that designs and produces unique, open-ended building toys that stimulate play
with color, light shadow, and three-dimensional forms. Our award-winning hardwood
blocks are contemporary in look- their designs refer to modern and contemporary art and
architecture, yet they fit into the long history of open-ended educational building toys.
Our block sets appeal to young children, playful adults, artists, architects and designers,
ages 3-103.
Karen Hewitt founded Learning Materials Workshop in Vermont in 1979. Her
background as an artist, early childhood educator, and toy historian has informed
her award-winning designs. An emphasis on the importance of open-ended play as a
generative experience and rich source for fantasy and form making is ever-present in her
work. Her innovative blocks have won national recognition and are enjoyed by children,
teachers, parents, artists, architects, and designers in the United States and throughout the
world.
LMW blocks are beautifully designed and precisely crafted. They meet the highest of
standards and we use only sustainable hardwoods and superior quality acrylics. LMW
blocks provide opportunities to play, learn and create for generations of children.
Source: LMV, 7/5/2011