Years ago I was listening to CNBC financial commentator, Jim Cramer, discuss how his children enjoyed going to stores such as Michael’s and AC Moore versus Toys-R-Us.  Not having children at the time, I found this hard to believe.  Now, eight years later, I completely understand.

Yesterday, my family and I had to make a stop at Michael’s to pick up a gift for a birthday party.  After about seven thousand attempts to get my daughters out of the store, they were finally able to pick something to bring to the party.  Then it hit me why kids love these stores so much – the possibilities are only limited by one’s imagination.

What can a person make with a silk flower, stickers, and a balsa wood bird house? Personally, I have no idea. My kids, however, seemed to have endless suggestions. This is when it hit me. While Toys-R-Us does have thousands of games and toys for kids to play with, many, if not most, come with instructions – or dare I say, rules. How you play or what you do has already been suggested by the manufacturer. Craft stores, on the other hand, are like the wild west when it comes to creativity – there are no laws, rules, or boundaries.

What we do at iCreate is take it a step further. Not only do we encourage kids to learn what they can make and share with silk flowers, stickers, and a balsa wood bird house – we bring what they make to life. In a sense, the term inanimate object does not exist in our vocabulary!

By Rich Trombetta