We’ve gotten some strange things sent to our office, but one of the strangest has to be KI (a Native American word that means "Earth Spirit"), Mother Nature’s Child from Chicago-based Equilibrium, Engery+Education. This plush toy arrived one day and we couldn’t decide what to do with it. The idea behind it is good—it’s actually six toys in one (attached with Velcro), with the head a sun, the arms dolphins, the body planet Earth and the legs pine trees, all in an effort to teach kids about nature. So we let a class of kindergartners try it out, although we didn’t have high expectations.
Funnily enough, the 5- and 6-year-olds loved this toy. According to their teacher, the kids played with it in multiple ways, with some using it as a doll and others taking each of the pieces to play with separately, such as using the Earth as a ball. Although the teacher did talk to her students about the environment and taking care of nature before she put the toy out to play with, she’s not sure the kids really got the message through playing with the toy. However, she did find it to be durable (it’s held up through some 30 kindergarteners playing with it, after all) and thought that it could lead to some deeper discussions if played with at home. So even though we thought it was a bit weird, the kids’ opinions are the most important, and when put to a vote, the majority of the students gave KI an “A.”
KI, Mother Nature’s Child, retails for $30. To order or for more information, visit www.equilibrium-e3.com.