Hi everyone. Since the start of 2025, I have been working on a new project, to design and build a 'Busy Board', which I plan to offer for sale from the start of March.
A busy board is a collection of components that are designed to stimulate the senses of children, although they are also popular for use with recovering stroke patients and those suffering with dementia.
The components have been designed to offer different challenges and to alert different senses. All of the components are attached to a solid backing board and are finished with different products, all of which are certified toy safe.
The busy boards will confirm to toy safety standards proven through a process of documentation and testing, and will be marked with both UKCA and CE marks.
The boards will be available in 3 different sizes:
Small, 350x300mm containing 7 components and priced at £45
Medium, 480x400mm containing 12 components and priced at £105
Large, 650x580mm containing 16 components and priced at £155
The components are:
Abacus. 5 hand turned solid wood beads mounted on a dowel.
Chain. Stainless steel door chain. Engage the chain and then disengage by sliding the chain out and pressing the button. Helps develop co-ordination.
Clock. Practise setting the time on the clock, which is made from solid wood with laser cut hands.
Door. Turn the latch to open the solid wood door and find out what is inside.
Gears. Spin the gears to see how the two cogs mesh together and spin at different speeds. Made of solid wood.
Elastic. Pull the elastic band over the two knobs to develop finger strength and dexterity. Wooden knobs secured with a laser cut plywood housing.
Mazes. Two mazes (zigzag and curve). Move the knob along the maze from side to side practising co-ordination. Made from solid wood
Picture Disc. Spin the solid wood picture disc to reveal the pair of pictures behind.
Shapes. Fit the shapes into the right holes. The shapes are engraved with the number of sides to help learn numbers. Shape housing and shapes are all made from solid wood.
Shoe. Learn to tie the shoe lace, practising co-ordination. Made from solid wood
Spinner. See how fast you can flick the spinner. Made from solid wood.
Squeaker. press the hand turned button as hard as you can to make it squeak. Housing made of solid wood with a laser cut plywood lid.
Switch. Press the switch to flick it from side to side. Housing made from solid wood.
Velcro. Peel the velcro and seal it back again to practise co-ordination and to hear that familiar noise. Secured using laser cut plywood
Zip. Practise co-ordination by opening and closing the zip. Housing made from laser cut plywood.
Each busy board base is made from 18mm plywood which is treated with Osmo oil for hardwearing protection. Osmo is a leading brand oil which is common for worktops and flooring, and is certified toy safe. Components will also either be finished with Osmo oil or will be painted. I have selected a paint which is used for children's furniture (mainly cots) and this too is certified toy safe.
The prototype board that you can see here uses Ash as the solid wood for the components. This will generally be my wood of choice for manufacturing the components, although other woods (Beech for example) may also be used. Unfortunately I will not be offering a choice of woods at this stage. I will however offer a choice for colour scheme (blues, reds, greens).
Finally, as you can see from the prototype, each board will also include a personalised nameplate. The medium and small boards will have smaller nameplates that will be laser engraved rather than carved.
I am aiming to make my first boards available to purchase at the start of March.
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