Hi! My name is Tamara. I am the person behind TRUE TOYS.
TRUE TOYS is about empowering kindergarten teachers through kindergarten teaching, and the way I like to do it is with the help of toys and space.
My mission is to assist every kindergarten professional working in a group with children who wish to learn to arrange kindergarten rooms beautifully and correctly with confidence.
I always loved playing with toys as a child. I was moving around furniture in my room by the time I was a teenager just to see “how it looks like”. Becoming a kindergarten teacher was in a way a dream come true as it meant toys were now part of my job. To this day I walk into a room and feel if it’s “off” and could use rearranging.
But becoming a kindergarten teacher brought something else unexpectedly into my life: a multitude of remarkable human beings, many of who became friends – my colleagues.
I started making toys with my dad in 2010 as a response to working with very young children in a kindergarten. Back then, these were just basic, simple designs, play things meant to help me teach and have kids learn through play. Colleagues were always asking if my dad could make some for their groups, too.
My vision is, all children being taken care of in beautifully and correctly arranged kindergarten settings built by those working with them.
There is a type of a teacher I have been encountering and working with for many years now. In most cases these teachers are not even aware of the profound impact they have not only on children but on us working by their side. I like to call them Enlightened Kinderpreneurs.
Enlightened Kinderpreneurs embody qualities such as creativity, motivation, modesty, love for their work, studiousness, a thirst for deeper knowledge, and a search for meaning in what they do. They strive to create meaningful experiences for young children while seeking for ways to innovate and improve their practice. These individuals combine the nurturing aspect of their profession with an entrepreneurial mindset and a quest for personal and professional growth.
They have been my mentors, support system and a source of everlasting joy and laughter. I dedicate this space here on my website to these teachers wherever they are and hope that they begin to realize that there is actually a terminology for who they are professionally, and that there are others who see them, appreciate them and wish to celebrate them.
My products currently include two resources designed to help fellow kindergarten teachers enhance their classroom arrangement and teaching experience. Sketches of toys promoting child independence development for use in a kindergarten are being developed, and will be available in TRUE TOYS shop.
I am a kindergarten teacher. Working with kindergarten children enables me to observe and study childhood play firsthand, and to me, that is of irreplaceable value. In my own experience, it can be challenging to take professional advice from someone on the outside of practice. I enjoy the privilege of being on the inside.
