Background
Lexi and Simon creations was inspired by our son Simon who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at eleven months old. His birth at eight and half months was a miracle because the doctors found out that the fluid around the baby had considerably reduced and an emergency operation had to be carried out and was delivered safely weighing 1.8kgs. He was later discharged from hospital after a week and he seemed okay not until the family later realized that he had not been achieving his milestones as expected.
This sparked off a rather painful and intense journey of daily sessions of physiotherapy and by God’s grace he was able to start walking at two years. As we increasingly worked with his right hand the doctor recommended the use of Play Clay which was not readily available and we started looking for a solution.
This journey would not have been possible without the help of family and friends who supported us both physically and financially. On this journey with us was Lexi’s mother and together we embarked on how best we could get this product and after many trials we developed the product and took it to our physiotherapist who was not only excited but also encouraged us to go further and just like that Lexi and Simon creations Ltd was born.
According to the research we carried out, we discovered that PLAY CLAY was not only enjoyable for children to play with but also very educative especially by tapping in to their creative potential and we decided to have it availed to other children as well. It also aids in the development of children to be able to achieve their full potential and help them explore the world around them. PLAY CLAY that has the following benefits detailed below;
- Improving pre- writing skills; as the young children begin school at 3 years, their muscles are very fragile and soft and as they play with the clay molding, squishing and squashing their muscles are strengthened and they are able to have a firm grip and use their pencils and cut out shapes and sizes.
- Developing hand – eye coordination in children which goes a long way in aiding their study and helps then learn and identify colors. We so far have play clay in a range of ten colours.
- Increases curiosity and knowledge in children for arts and crafts projects at school and home.
- Promotes creativity and innovation, incorporating play clay in children’s games helps them become creative and can easily bring to life anything that comes to their mind.
- Play clay too has a calming effect on children who are very active and cannot settle down and concentrate. Continuous use of the clay in the child’s play routine will help calm the child and the skill to calm down will be achieved overtime.
- Improving literacy and Numeracy skills in children. The use of clay will help children learn faster and easily relate with shapes and sizes as they make them.
- Enhances fine motor skills. Play clay is also used in therapy to help manage paralysis especially in the hand muscles. As one continuously squishes and squashes the play clay the nerves slowly begin to respond to the stimulation.
- Play clay helps in improving social skills in children as they play, share, relate and learn from one another.
- Play clay can also help relieve stress in older people because as one squishes and squashes the clay it brings with it a very good feeling that helps them calm down and relieve their stress.
As Lexi and Simon Creations we would like to use this company;
- As a platform to create awareness about our children born special and also give hope to those parents that endure the same pain every day as they watch their children undergo such physical and mental challenges.
- Empower the children born with these challenges through building their self-esteem and know that they have the potential to achieve anything.
- Give back to society especially medical fees to children born with these physical and mental challenges as part of our CSO.
- In future seek for more specialized treatment for Simon to be able to improve on his well-being.
Update on Simon
He is currently in top class and he is fairing very well in his academics. Previously as we tried to enroll him at school the teacher had asked us to give him an extra year and enroll him at four years but as parents we felt we wanted him to study with his age mates given that he could just say a few words at 3years. Fast forward by middle class he was a darling at school very jolly, ever smiling and social with everyone. In his school their directors visit their classes and randomly pick pupils to asses learning and it was no surprise that he was picked and guess what!! His stream was the best out of eight and he won them a cake to celebrate!! Saying I was overjoyed is simply an understatement for me as a parent and this gave me so much hope and courage to keep fighting for my son and doing everything possible for him to get better.
Friends of Lexi and Simon Creations — Bravo to Bravo shoes
Last week on a shared group Lexi and Simon creations responded to a call for brand collaborations with Bravo shoes and we responded as to why we think we should be given a chance to benefit by telling our story and members voted us overwhelmingly. The few days I have interacted with Bravo shoes I have learnt that online marketing goes beyond creating a page and reaching out to the audience and I have been challenged to embrace it and seek professional help on how best I can grow our small business, we truly grateful to Bravo Shoes and applaud you for your kindness towards reaching out and freely sharing your business knowledge with us towards making us better in these COVID times, Bravo!!!