2020 Earnie Awards Winner – Kids’ Activities: eeBoo

Kids’ Activities

eeBoo

Est. 1995

Mia Galison, Founder, President & Creative Director

First paying job: Baking and selling muffins

Greatest fear: The far right

Pet peeve: Companies that make soulless products for children.

Hobbies: Planting, swimming, looking at old things

Best advice you’ve ever received: Never let anyone force you into making a decision on the spot.

Favorite quarantine snack: Pretzel shells

Last book you read: A Joyful Noise by Jan Gillespie

Last movie you watched: Knocking Down the House

One fact few people know about you: I refuse to read instructions.

Personal motto: If you want something done right, do it yourself.

The Initial Puzzle This year started out very pedestrian but soon became an upside-down world of twists and turns. By the summer, our activities for children were down as smaller specialty stores scrambled to figure out how they would survive the many challenges surrounding COVID-19.  However, Piece and Love, the division of eeBoo that produces high-quality jigsaw puzzles saw a huge surge. The pandemic sparked a crazy puzzle trend that had our business booming. By the end of summer, our mom-and-pops were up and running again, ready to supply quarantined families with educational games and activities that are screen-free, made of recycled materials and often encourage intergenerational play.

Right On Trend We grew exponentially this year in both our eeBoo and Piece and Love brands. Our company encompasses much of what people are valuing these days: 1.  We’re woman-owned and mother-run. 2. We use 90 percent recycled materials. 3. We create low impact, beautiful products that encourage intergenerational, screen-free and independent play. 4. We have a 25-year reputation in our industry for being accessible, reactive and innovative. Not to mention, we have always been wary of mass market, so our decisions are very much driven with specialty stores in mind.

Employee Benefits Our office is in New York, and we were able to move very fast in getting everyone and everything wrapped up and out of the office and re- situated into people’s homes in the space of a week.  We lost no time in setting up full meeting schedules and communication across departments because we were already a very close-knit crew. We supplied everything our employees needed for their home work spaces. We also gave a quality-of-life bonus for people to do whatever they wanted to ease their stress or discomfort.  We even offer to pay for cable station subscriptions.

New Challenges We have recently added a number of employees and are seeking new markets and greater depth in our international business. We want to capitalize on the success of both our brands, developing more high-quality learning activities as well as more social and emotional tools.  In 2021, we’re expanding our roster of top quality international female artists. We also see an opportunity to offer more screen-free alternatives in an increasingly digital world. Kids need more classic activities that foster the development of empathy, communication and other essential social skills.