“You’ve Got a Friend in Me”.
Help your child discover a world of friends with Aboki Box (uh-bō-kee).
Aboki Box aims to fill the void of culturally immersive toys and tools in the children’s educational toy market. It offers parents and educators a thoughtful and exciting union of both "playability" and real education. We've designed an experience of "relatable" cultural discoveries about how other children around the world live, highlighting not only the unique differences in these children’s lives, but also aspects that will feel familiar. Thus, fostering acceptance and, the ultimate goal, "community". Aboki Box is designed to...make the foreign...familiar.
The founder of Aboki Box, Angela Halan, began her journey as an entrepreneur when she discovered that the educational toy market lacked options that introduced kids to their global neighbors in an intentional way. Even within the school system she found a profound lack of tools and activities addressing culture.
Knowing that technology, rapid communication and immigration has made our world effectively smaller than ever before, she believes that children with a high cultural I.Q. will simply do better in life. This includes expanding their idea of “what’s possible” and where and with whom those possibilities lie. Her desire for her young son to grow to be confident, comfortable and engaged around people who are “different” was strong. In fact, she met many parents who shared this aspiration.
The result is Aboki Box, a multi-sensory learning kit with an online companion site designed to grow awareness and affinity for people of different cultures, heritages, and groups. This in effort to help us learn about one another so that we love more, lead with empathy and help those in need. Each box will contain specially curated, and culturally significant, items like toys, games, snacks and recipes. Also included are an introduction to language, music, literature and other learning resources. The learning continues with access to a companion website housing videos, music, images, activities and more. With a variety of content, Aboki Box appeals to a both boys and girls as well as a broad range of backgrounds.
Aboki Box is designed to help positively address a child’s natural curiosity. It teaches children to critically examine stereotypes and to undermine, in a positive way, the concept of “others” and to instead see it as a false and unproductive concept to have. It is a tool for parents and teachers to introduce children to diversity both on an intellectual and emotional level with the goal of encouraging inclusionary and interactive play. While it was originally developed with elementary aged children in mind, we have happily found that those in middle, and even high school, enjoy the kit as well.
An important aspect of Aboki Box is giving back. Each box will be partnered with a specific charity that exists to help better the lives of children or families here or abroad. Not only will Aboki Box donate a portion of its profits to that charity, but we will also provide ways for our customers to get involved and give-back should they choose to do so.
For as low as $58 bi-monthly, Aboki Box brings the world to your door. With an online agenda (to help guide you through the box contents) and online activities, Aboki Box is sure to open your child’s eyes to, and expand their idea about, the world around them in a fun and engaging way.
Aboki Box is currently only available in the United States. Please visit abokibox.com to learn more.