Can you believe it's almost the end of the month again?
Me neither.
(Confession: I totally had to google whether it was “me either” or “me neither” and I am still not sure I got the right one!!)
But it does mean its that time again…
Time to shine a big, bright spotlight on yet another one of our AMAZING Kent Mums in Business!
Because our local area is bursting at the seams with talent and I think it is so important to support and celebrate that.
This month, I'm beyond excited to introduce you to the fabulous Ellie Benfield, Mum of two and the very proud owner of Little Rainbow Play, the home of activity cards and educational resources to help you support your child’s learning and development through play.
I recently spent a lovely morning with Ellie and her adorable (and cheeky!) sidekick!
We caught up over a cuppa, I got to see her doing what she loves and she told me how she aims to make life that little bit easier through simple play ideas.
Tell us about your business and what services you offer?
I started Little Rainbow Play in August 2020, at that time it was all about painting wooden peg dolls. My first son had just turned One and I wanted to make something he would enjoy playing with.
My maternity leave had just ended but I decided not to return, we were in the middle of Covid and on and off lockdowns, so painting provided a great distraction!
A few years later when I was pregnant with my second son I hurt my back and was almost completely unable to paint or do pretty much anything.
It was hell.
I spent a lot of time on the sofa, unable to even go to work, so my brain ran away with me and I decided to actually put into action a business I’d been too scared to create!
That’s where Little Rainbow Play as it is now came from!
I wanted to use my years of experience from teaching little ones, to help parents like me with energetic children who find it hard to think up play ideas on the spot!
I still paint some dolls now but the main part of my business is selling play idea Activity cards and educational resources.
I have phonics and maths cards with more in the making behind the scenes.
I also have a maths bag to go with the cards full of resources to help the games be played.
I worked really hard to source UK products and printing companies so everything is of beautiful quality.
A product I’m really proud of is my Positive Affirmation flash cards.
I drew all the images myself and worked hard to make them as inclusive as I could.
Positive affirmations were something I started with my eldest after learning about how gender stereotypes can have such a negative impact on little ones.
I wanted to do something to counteract that for my boys and let them know they can be whoever they want to be.
Is there a story behind the name you chose?
There’s a little bit of a story behind the name Little Rainbow Play.
When I was pregnant with my first son I became obsessed with rainbows.
We didn’t know what we were having and I was just constantly drawn to rainbows and forever hunting for rainbow baby grows! We decorated his whole room with rainbows so ‘Little Rainbow’ just seemed to be an obvious choice for a name.
The first thing I did business wise was set up an Instagram and that name was taken which is why I added ‘play’. I’m now so glad I did as my business has changed and developed to be all about play!
What do you offer your clients that no one else does?
One thing I wanted to add to my cards was colour coding so it was really easy to see just how quick an activity would be!
When you’re a busy parent some days you’re hanging on by a thread and you need the quickest set up you can do, those days are for green cards!
Other days you feel like superwomen and can multitask and feel on top of it all, those days are for a pink card! It makes it so clear and easy to see, so you can grab one quickly, because time is always of the essence with little children!
I also hope that my love and passion shines through in everything I've created which I hope makes my products a bit special!
Where does your inspiration come from?
My boys and my work as a teacher.
Play is my passion and it always has been.
I have been an early years teacher for over ten years now and play has always been at the heart of that.
In teaching you often have to fight for the power of play so I feel like I got quite good at helping others to realise how amazing it is, which set me up quite nicely for what I do now!
On top of this, when I became a mum I learnt the hard way just how easy it is to quickly become overwhelmed and your mind to go blank!
It probably didn’t help that our eldest spent a lot of his toddler years in lockdown, but I found play set ups a life saver for making our days go more smoothly and happier! So having the activity cards on hand was game changing!
What is your favourite part of your job?
Getting to use my products with my boys!
Bringing something to life that you created is just beyond exciting, but then seeing your children enjoy and benefit from it is a feeling that’s hard to explain.
It brings me so much happiness to make my passion a reality and know that little children across the country are learning and playing as a result of the cards I've created.
And hopefully some parents are also getting to enjoy a tea or a sneaky biscuit while their little one plays!
If you are looking for some beautiful, activity cards and educational resources for your own little one(s) or as a gift idea for someone close to you, please visit Ellie’s Etsy store here and give her your support on social media:
Claire xx