“When a thing is wick, it has a life about it
Now, maybe not a life like you and me
Hiding down below a spark’s asleep inside it
Waiting for the right time to be seen.”
-Lucy Simon
We Bring Living to Life™
Our Mission
We believe that everyone is WICK, waiting for the right time to be seen. And it is time that our children are provided the necessary tools to become great storytellers, limitless make-believers and open-ended creators.
Access
All kids deserve WELCOMING ACCESS to the same outcomes, regardless of race, gender, age or ability.
Our only request is that you be CURIOUS, patient, and between a six-year-old and a centenarian!
Expression
Our cultures define us; they become the stories that bind us. And those stories are meant to be SHARED.
All the Archamelia™ illustrations include content for everyone. EXPRESS your own voice, while LEARNING from the voices of others.
Invitation
Archamelia™ was designed for all DOLLS, ACTION FIGURES, PLUSHIES, and even SMILING CUPCAKES! Invite them all into your story. In this home, EVERYONE BELONGS!
While a house is made of walls, a child’s imagination should have none.
What makes a house to a kid without a home?
Early partnerships with Journey House Foster Care and a relocated Syrian Refugee Community (through Mosaic Church) helped to answer this question.
Extended playtime with foster kids and refugee children taught me that a house is more than four walls and a roof. It’s any place where we feel seen, heard, appreciated and loved. It’s where we laugh, explore, create and learn.
It's where we feel
free to be.
A refugee child explained that home is anywhere the smell of mom’s cooking fills the air. A foster child said it was a photo of Dad. And for me, it's in a dance studio.
Home means something different for each of us. And shouldn’t toy houses offer the same?
Thank you, Journey House and Mosaic Church, for being the first pioneers to move into our neighborhood.
The Future of Archamelia™
In the Future, and with your feedback, we hope to build a truly spectacular neighborhood of Nutritious Play. Here is some of what we're thinking:
• A 100% recyclable version of Archamelia™
• Dozens of new storyrooms with themes like Frida Kahlo’s Art Studio, Duke Ellington's Jazz Club - Inside the Human Brain, Fairytale Forest - Indian Stupa, Turkish Market, Mesopotamian Ziggurat - Hippo’s Hideout, Penguin’s Playhouse - Daredevil Dirigible, Lightning Train - Cosmetologist, Archaeologist - Bird Watching, Flea Markets - Antique Store, Alley Way, Library Attic - Kangxi Blue and White, Post-Impressionism - Tennis, Traveling Circus and more!
• An open-ended figurine who lives inside.
• A series of chapter books that guide, not prescribe, creative possibilities for children.
• A digital app that allows for easy, sustainable and customizable updates to Archamelia™.
• And interactive packaging (already designed!)
** Figurine Coming Soon