• Atlas launches PlayPalz educational toys

Atlas Axillia on Tuesday (27) launched a new range of educational toys under the brand name Atlas PlayPalz. The toys support early childhood development with the products coming under three sub-brands: BlockBuddies, MindBuddies, and CraftBuddies.

The toys aim to unleash the genius in children, and according to Atlas, MindBuddies includes flashcards and puzzles, with the products helping children to learn to read, stimulating the senses, and enhancing problem-solving thinking. The flashcards cover a range of topics, such as birds, numbers, sea animals, and vegetables, as well as the alphabet in English, Sinhala, and Tamil, while the puzzles are available on synonyms, antonyms, and action words, etc.

CraftBuddies includes finger paint and colour sands, inspiring artists and visionaries. The products stimulate the senses, aid cognitive development, and encourage self-expression. The third sub-brand, BlockBuddies, includes building blocks which promise to foster creativity in tiny builders. They encourage creative, imaginative play and improve hand-eye coordination, problem-solving skills, and colour recognition.

The Atlas team highlighted the importance of the toys, saying that at PlayPalz they believed every child carried a genius within them. This genius needed to be unleashed, and it was PlayPalz’s mission to nurture them and unlock their potential.

The team also pointed out that not many parents in Sri Lanka were fully aware of the importance of early childhood development and playing. However, Atlas PlayPalz aimed at bridging this gap in knowledge and providing a solution through toys that spark creativity and enhance critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

The brand also emphasised its commitment to safety and quality, with Atlas Axillia New Business Head Shoheen Hameed saying the toys are age appropriate, taking into consideration the unique needs of different age groups. “Every single PlayPalz toy launched (on Tuesday) is CE certified, which means they comply with the safety standards of Europe. Our toys are sturdy and safe.”

The Atlas team was confident that PlayPalz toys can contribute significantly to unleash the genius in every child.

At the launch, held at Trace Expert City, Atlas unveiled not only the new range of products but also the Genius Zone app and discussed the importance of educational toys with a panel that consisted of Atlas Axillia Managing Director Asitha Samaraweera and New Business Head Shoheen Hameed, as well as educator and corporate trainer Anjalika Wijesinghe and child and adolescent psychologist Beenuka Wickramatunga.

While the representatives from Atlas spoke about the product range itself, the other panellists shed light on the importance of educational toys and how they can be useful to children.

Wijesinghe touched on the use of these toys in a preschool setting, where children can learn a lot. “They can learn about colours, shapes, and numbers. They can even practise their language skills, because it’s all interconnected, at the end of the day. Then, on the other hand, they have the sensory toys, such as the finger paints and coloured sand.”

These toys can improve their fine motor skills, Wijesinghe said, adding that children’s toys should foster creativity and imagination in a child. In addition to this, educational toys help with social interaction, teaching children how to share and work as a team.

She also explained the cognitive development involved with it when it comes to critical thinking, memory, and so on, adding: “It also can reinforce academic concepts that they have already been taught. You have flashcards, which can be used as a teacher’s aid as well for assessment purposes.”

The toys could thus be used in preschools and similar settings to develop various games and activities, which are useful in a child’s formative years.

PHOTOS Lalith Perera