16 | APRIL 15 • 2021
W
hile so many pan-
demic educators
turned to computer
platforms, one early childhood
specialist began thinking out-
side the digital box and devel-
oped learning experiences that
fit inside a plastic box.
Jamie Gans, who grew up
in Michigan and taught pre-
school classes in New York for
11 years, returned home to
Franklin for isolation and came
up with activities she packaged
together according to different
themes.
Marketing each container
as a Busy Box 4 Kids, Gans
planned experiences so young-
sters could have fun with arts
and crafts while enhancing
their motor skills and hand-eye
coordination to prepare for kin-
dergarten.
Gans has used social media
and direct contacts to sell some
200 boxes that span the themes
of rainbows, winter and spring.
Each box is personalized with
the child’s name prominent on
the outside.
“Every box has 10-15 skill-
based activities,
” said Gans, who
has worked closely with young-
sters ages 2-5. “They’re learning
while doing but not necessarily
knowing what they’re learning.
I know what they’ve learned
because I planned it all that
way.
”
Each activity comes in its
own plastic bag with adult
directions on what is to be done
and an explanation of what is
to be accomplished. Glue, twee-
zers and other necessities also
are included, and some activi-
ties can be enjoyed repeatedly.
One activity, for example, has
youngsters adhering colored
stickers to the appropriate col-
ors on a rainbow.
“I love all the different proj-
ects,
” said Karen Kelman of
West Bloomfield, who looks
after a 3-year-old grandson and
heard about the boxes from
a friend. “Everything is super
colorful and purposeful. I have
seen the progression as he
repeats the activities.
”
Kelman is also impressed
with the way her grandson is
learning to be neat by putting
the activities back into the right
plastic bags.
Lacey Foon of Bloomfield
Hills, the mom of 2-year-old
twins Phoebe and Eloise, was
researching activities when she
came upon the boxes.
“The girls love the arts
and crafts,
” said Foon, who
realized that what was being
learned through the boxed
activities was being applied to
other developmental growth.
“They liked doing the activities
together, and they learned off of
each other.
”
Morgan Kaufman of
Birmingham has bought all of
the boxes for 2-year-old Sophie.
Mom and daughter became
acquainted with Gans through
a home-based preschool group
of four that Gans was teaching
during the pandemic.
“These boxes have been fun
ways for me to interact and
engage with my daughter,
”
Kaufman said. “I enjoy watch-
ing her accomplishments and
the way she is learning to orga-
nize.
”
Gans, 33, who graduated
from Andover High School and
attended services at Temple
Beth El, spent summers at
Camp Walden, first as a camper
and later as a counselor, extend-
ing her interest in youngsters.
At the University of
Wisconsin in Madison, Gans
majored in child development
and had field experiences in
schools and day care centers.
After graduation, she moved to
New York, where she could be
with college friends.
While maintaining work as a
synagogue teacher, she earned
a master’s degree that spanned
early childhood learning, both
for general studies and special
education, from Bank Street
College of Education.
HELPING CHILDREN
“In early childhood, you
find out if a child is strug-
gling or has a developmental
need,” said Gans, who will be
remaining in Michigan as edu-
cational director at the new
Lamplighters Preschool, open-
ing this fall in Royal Oak with
Chabad sponsorship.
“In early childhood, brains
have the most plasticity, and
that’s when you can see the
most change. I’m a huge advo-
cate for students with special
needs, and I have worked with
therapists in order to best sup-
port special needs students in
my classrooms.”
Gans, whose resume
includes positions at many
New York preschools, includ-
ing Shaaray Tefila Nursery
School and the Acorn School,
counts some of her most
impressive experiences at the
My Little School (Chabad
of Tribeca) located in lower
Manhattan.
“Most of the families
were actually Reform or
Conservative, and it was a
warm and accepting commu-
nity dedicated to families and
children,” Gans said. “That is
the community we are looking
for in the Royal Oak pre-
school.”
More information on con-
tinuing and upcoming boxes
are available on the Gans web-
site, busybox4kids.com. The
next box will have the theme
of animals, and she intends
to design boxes for specific
Jewish holidays.
OUR COMMUNITY
Preschool educator creates
craft boxes to build skills for kids.
SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Art in a Box
Jamie Gans