Pens, paper and maths tins

by Unknown - 16:38

I had a favourite pencil case at school. It looked like an ordinary case with a lift up lid, but on the outside there were lots of buttons. Each button made a secret compartment appear. The compartments flipped up, spun out and popped open. There was a hidden pencil sharpener, a special compartment for your ruler and even a hidden magnifying glass.

Can you remember the rulers that folded in half and you flipped them open to use the full 30cm? What about the Oxford maths tins? My husband still has his. I find it interesting how we remember the stationary we used in our school days, how a simple pencil or pen can bring back so many wonderful memories.

A few weeks ago now my daughter and I headed over to Maped Helix headquarters. I must admit to feeling very giddy when I arrived and in slight awe at all the products around me. There was everything you can think of, stationary heaven. My daughter was made to feel at home and given some colouring pencils. They were so easy to use and coloured so smoothly.

Maped Helix showed us the latest products, pencil sharpeners that moved, erasers that spin and pop out felt tips where you can never loose the lid. My daughter loved these and her personal favourite was some scissors. These scissors are fantastic, they cut through paper allowing you to do craft activities but they do not cut through clothes, hair, skin or electric cables making them great for a 2 year old to use.

Something really stayed with me after the event and that is handwriting. It occurred to me that we rarely send handwritten notes anymore and that in some countries handwriting is no longer part of school education. I find this upsetting as handwriting is such an important skill. It also helps with other areas of development. During this National stationary week 27 April - 3 May I think it would be really amazing to promote handwriting. I would love to get a group together and us each send a hand written note to one other member in the group, be it a card, post card or something similar. It would be lovely to receive a little note from someone, what do you think?