Hi I'm Jen . That's me in the big glasses below on the left :)
I am a mum to three children and I absolutely love ideas and all kinds of creativity, especially illustration. There is something wildly fascinating about drawing, how different both the ideas that are expressed and the way things are drawn make each one so beautifully unique.
Dyslexia as a superpower
My eldest daughter has dyslexia, and seeing the world through her eyes and contemporary thinking has taught me to see it as a superpower rather than a challenge. It is amazing to witness how her different way of thinking and problem-solving opens up new possibilities and ideas that we would have never considered before. The limitations of traditional education have become apparent to me as I watched my daughter's journey through her English GCSE. The emphasis on the 'expected path' often stifles creativity and discourages alternative thinking. It is crucial to empower children to explore their ideas and challenge their thinking from a young age.
The impact of lockdown on children
My youngest daughter is 4. She like many others was mostly at home in her early years due to lockdown and like many other preschool and early years children there has been a noticeable impact on their speech and language development. During this time, I discovered the beauty of open play and small-world play, which have helped my youngest daughter in her development. (Check out this amazing guy's work in this area well worth a read (100 toys)). The concept of empowering children to use simple objects to create small worlds is widely embraced.
I was interested in those small passing moments of connection. When they occasionally give you an insight into their world you see them joining up the dots and building their perception of the world. Their bedrooms seemed fundamental to these moments and I began to focus on wall art and decorating these rooms with conversation pieces & phrases to reinforce a sense of their own space and confidence. I wanted those pieces to be special and not watered down or babied in any way.
Empowering children through wall art
I love everything in the collection haha! But my 3 favourite pieces are:
The House - an easy way for a child to either play or discuss things. From deciding what's in the letters at the door or where you would go on the bike, or why Granny has a dinosaur in the loft terrarium to a walk through familiar routines and learning the names of objects, pointing out colours.
Forever fearless - I love this for my daughter's room as we tend to encourage boys to be fearless and girls to be good. In a world where it's sometimes easy to feel fear and tell our children to be careful and say how dangerous the world is. I like the gentle reminder in this poster to be fearless. The world is an amazing place and we are capable of amazing things. For a child, there are so many firsts and new experiences that we have to help them jumble those strangely interconnected feelings of fear and excitement and as parents, we have to remember that too.
Be cool or leave poster - This is a big thing in our house 'my room , my rules' vibe and it feels me with absolute joy to see them fill the space in their room , it is their safe place. They get to be Boss and arguments are decided by whose room they are in. Magical.
So who is Minibeau?
If you read this far - I am amazed but also so pleased you were interested in the whys of our business. I say 'our' as we have a small but dedicated team of people who make any of it possible. Even in a teeny micro business, there is so much to do. At Minibeau, we believe in fostering creativity and individuality in every child. Our team is dedicated to providing unique and inspiring products that encourage children to explore their world and discover their potential.
This post is about my personal journey and the reasons behind creating Minibeau. If you want to get to know the Minibeau brand better, click here.