Sometimes when you set out to do one thing, you end up doing another. That’s how the Toobeez system got its start. It started as a toy but very quickly grew into something much larger.
Joseph A. Donahue had a vision to create a life-sized Tinker Toy for families to play with to help reconnect with each other. It took four years of business planning, market research, manufacturing trips, endless conference calls with engineers, designers and patent attorneys but finally on September 21, 2003, the Toobeez product was born!
Determined? Optimistic? Innovative? Resourceful? Mad scientist? Yes! Yes! Yes! Most definitely!
Often referred to as Giant Tinker Toys, Toobeez is a life-sized construction building system comprised of interlocking tubes and spheres that can be linked together to create anything imaginable, from a simple cube shape to a complex structure like a lemonade stand, house, airplane or submarine. Just connect, twist and create!
Initially, Toobeez was sold exclusively to the specialty toy market, but due to its open-ended nature, it didn’t take long to realize the versatility of the product and the many different ways it could be used.
Today, the Toobeez system is currently being used by educators, team building/training professionals, occupational and recreational therapists, camp counselors, Boy and Girl Scout troops, church youth groups and the list grows every day. There is even a group of forward thinking dog trainers who use Toobeez to create challenging courses for agility training (we’re not making this up)!
Armed with the knowledge that there was more to Toobeez than just a toy, Joe reached out to industry experts and educators with the goal of developing a collection of materials that provide activities, educational tools and lesson plans for use with Toobeez. Among the topics covered: team building, math, language arts, occupational therapy and special needs and senior needs.
Whether in a playroom, classroom, corporation, camp or healthcare setting, Toobeez aims to provide every participant with a positive, healthy and fun learning experience!
Since the inception of Toobeez in 2001, it has been the company’s mission to connect people, inspire creativity and foster imagination. As a testament to their roots, Joe and the entire Toobeez team continuously strive to deliver a quality product that promotes connection and teamwork to ultimately bring people together.
That’s Joe’s vision and we’re sticking to it! US Patent 6,966,813 – Issued November 22, 2005
www.toobeez.com
www.project-connect.net
