Hi! I'm Stacey and I’m the founder of Our Friends Afar, a children’s educational company that promotes all things sensory play! Have you heard of sensory play? If not, it’s THE powerhouse of learning through play. These types of activities encourage little ones to practice scooping, pouring, transferring, grabbing, pinching, climbing, balancing, imagining, communicating, listening, counting, comparing, and SO much more. At the most basic level, sensory activities stimulate the senses. They encourage us to explore through touching, tasting, smelling, seeing, and hearing. Besides that, these activities help us with fine motor skills, gross motor skills, language development, cognitive skills, problem solving, social interactions, hand-eye coordination, exploration, creativity... the list goes on.

How does sensory play work? Well, you simply set up activities that require the use of these skills. For example, you can practice "cutting" in the kitchen, pushing pom poms through different sized holes, transferring various items from one bowl to another. We promise, these are all educational. And they strengthen your little one's hand muscles for school!

At Our Friends Afar, THIS is what we're all about. We believe that play-based education is invaluable. In fact, we believe that all play is educational. So when you join our community - through classes, parties, or products - play is what you'll see. Our goal is to allow your little ones to have the freedom of being kids, while practicing life skills and independence, all while having fun.