Earlier this month, I was fortunate to get invited to Maped Helix’s head office in Kingswinford to learn about their history and test out their latest innovative products. Interestingly, they have been based in the West Midlands for over 100 years.
National Stationery Week is a celebration of the written word and encourages the nation to put pen to paper. It is organised by the London Stationery Show. This year, globally-renowned stationery Maped Helix are one of the sponsors of both 2015’s National Stationery Week and the Get Britain Writing campaign which runs from 27 April to 3 May 2015. If you would like to get involved, follow the hashtag #LoveStationery and #natstatweek
Also did you know Maped Helix are on the lookout for the oldest Oxford Maths Set tin in the country? They would love anyone of you to get in touch. You could win a £50 voucher and £25 worth of Maped Helix stationery. I used to own one but it’s a shame that it’s long since been thrown away!
I’ve known the Helix brand for their Oxford range since I was very young as I grew up with them but I had not come across the Maped range until last year. I am impressed with their wide range of fun, vibrant and colourful stationery for children! Each product has been very well thought out with much attention to detail. Take a look at this Jungle Inno! This is a smart and fun solution to have caps integrated into the soft base. It makes it so easy to tidy and transport. If your felt pen ever ran out, you could simply buy their Color’peps Jungle to replace them! Best of all, they are washable! So no need to worry about staining clothing or their tiny fingers! Or you could even wear it as a hat!
Next is their Kidy board. This is a skid-proof board which comes with a soft frame to work with comfort and prevents the sheet from sliding. It comes with a black felt pen and a cloth wipe. Both my children enjoy using it and even set their own maths questions!
The board wipes perfectly clean, leaving no marks even after repeated use. There is downloadable content with 15 additional sheets online and suitable exercises by ages and topics. It is definitely a great tool for teaching young children to learn to write.
We have also used their unbreakable Kidy’Grip ruler which has big numbers. It comes with anti-slip material on one side for perfect stability. Their eraser comes with very smart and funky covers. Also their sharpeners cater for all shape and sizes of pencils. Nowadays, pencils don’t just come in circular or hexagonal shapes, they also come in triangular shapes for a sturdier grip.
I was really impressed with their children range stationery! They are great quality, innovative and also fun! We also got to see and try the latest new product: Bunny Innovation which is coming soon. The bunny’s teeth crunch away at the pencil, sharpening it as it goes. So cute!
Of course, Maped Helix stationery range does not stop here! They also have a range for left-handed, scissors, compass, stapler, highlight and many more.
But one of the products that caught my eyes is the Helix A4 magnifying sheet. My daughter has a visual impairment and can’t read small fonts so using this sheet to help enlarge the words will help her reading. They are also good for elderly who may struggle to read.
Do check out their new Maped Jungle Adventures app. It is free to download and available in both Apple and Google stores and is packed full of colouring games while exploring the world with Leo.
Have you seen and tried the Maped Helix range before? If so, what do you think about them? Do remember to join in with the National Stationery Week and start writing!
Disclosure: I was invited to the event and received the samples for the purposes of writing this review, however, all thoughts and opinions remain our own.