How the Idea of "Flockmen Family" was Born
“Being a family means you are a part of something very wonderful. It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life.” – Lisa Weed
For our little ones the world is a new place! Some days can be full of joy and excitement, but some can also be very frustrating. Even for us it’s not always easy to express our feelings. As parents we wanted to help others to communicate with their children, let them "speak" while they are playing with a fun, natural, open-ended toy for role play.
The idea of Flockmen Family set was in our minds already for a while. But it wasn't brought to life until the day, when we attended a casual meetup with participants from the Investment and Development agency of Latvia, where we met Ilze Sedliņa.
Ilze is a clinical and educational psychologist with 20 years experience as a specialist in cognitive psychotherapy. In our meeting she talked about herself and her professional activities, and she mentioned a very interesting fact:
"When consulting or conducting psychological research, we psychologists are often lacking practical work tools, especially when working with children."
Variation in size for a human-looking figure that does not have a gender, distinctive features or emotions was exactly what Ilze had been looking for.
We would like to use this opportunity to say: “Thank you, Ilze, for being open and honest! We meet people for a reason. Together we have the power to make the world a better place!"
Ilze uses Flockmen in her daily work now and she has shared with us her opinion and experience so far: “In my work, the Flockmen Family is a great tool in the counseling process. I use it in my daily work with children to solve school-related situations and to better understand the child's relationship with family members.
Usually I give a set of figures to a child with a task to present his family or recreate a situation, like a dispute in class. I give them the whole surface of a table with free choice where to place each figure. Such posting of figures gives me information about what status the child gives to the particular associated person and what the emotional distance between them could be.
I like the fact that Flockmen Family figurines come in different sizes, but without any other distinctive features. It allows the child to attribute both gender and emotional state to each chosen figure. The Flockmen Family set also realy helps in the first consultation, especially if the child has difficulties in making contact and communication.”
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“Flockmen Family” perfectly fits in a Montessori or Waldorf prepared environment. They are open-ended, undefined wooden toys, designed to enrich playing experience. You can use them for pretend and role-play to develop social skills. This is a perfect tool for teachers and psychologists to attract attention, start conversation or understand kids’ feelings through characters.
MAKE AN ORDER OF FLOCKMEN FAMILY SET FOR A SPECIAL PRICE UNTIL END OF THIS MONTH (31/01/2021)!
Best wishes,
Flockmen Team