If you are looking for a company that will help provide your with hiqh quality, wooden products to keep your kiddos busy throughout many years and stages of their growth and development you have to check out Two Sticks! Two Sticks was created by Melissa and is an eco-friendly, non toxic modern wooden toys, furniture and play structure company for kids.
Do you have kids? If so how many & age? Yes. 1 and she is 2 years old.
What's one thing people probably don't know about you? I love hobbies and learning new things. I find something I like and I spend hours figuring it out. I buy books and all the gear for whatever it is I’m doing. And I just teach myself how to do it. I have recently completed a baking course where I made all kinds of cakes and baked goods. By far my family’s favourite hobby I have ever picked up.
Are you a stay at home mom? No, unfortunately I was not able to stay home.
What is your favourite thing to do for yourself? Bake and cook. I love to create something new and delicious from a few ingredients. My Husband bought me a book on the science of baking and it’s my favorite right now.
What is your favourite date night activity? Wine and some good conversation. Preferably in the back yard enjoying some fresh air. I’m a homebody.
What's one thing you couldn't live without? My family. We are a tight knit group and they help keep me grounded. And when I say my family, I also mean my extended family. My aunties and uncles and my 20 first cousins. We are so close that our Social Media Manager, Suzanne, is actually my first cousin (our moms are sisters). When I first signed up for social media to promote the business, it was really out of my comfort zone. She quickly jumped on board to help out and I am so grateful. I am really looking forward to being able to gather again, I miss my family a lot.
Who's your IG inspiration? As mentioned, social media is a bit out of my realm, but I have been meeting so many amazing companies through Instagram and they have such wonderful profiles.
What advice would you give your younger self? Whatever you are doing just keep doing it. One day all the dots will connect. You will realize you are exactly where you are supposed to be.
Where is business located out of? Brampton ON
How did you choose the name for your business? Everything in our business starts with trees and wood. Our core business is restaurant and architectural development for large scale projects. When we did our first prototype of the pikler, the running joke was, it’s just a couple of sticks.
How do you balance having kids & running a business? The balance is really tough. I love my work so much but my daughter is my entire world. So I now have very specific work hours. It doesn’t matter what is happening I shut down and dedicate my evening and weekends to her. If I have work that needs to be done I get up really early and work before she gets up. Then I can relax and just hang with her.
Where can people find your products? Our website is Two-Sticks.ca. On social media people can find us at @twostickscanada on Instagram and Two Sticks Canada on Facebook.
What advice can you give someone looking to start up their own business? Buckle in, it’s a wild ride. It takes a lot of hours and so much dedication. Be ready to roll with the punches. You will have setbacks and don’t get discouraged.
What sets your business apart from others alike? Quality and lead times. We put in so many hours in developing. The team here has spent years developing and engineering large architectural structures. We put the same value and time into these play structures. We want the best possible product. We have about a 10 business day turnaround on our regular orders because we have the capacity to do large amounts of orders all at the same time.
What is the most challenging part of running your business? Time. It often feels like By the time I get to the office my day is already half over. Making sure I’m out of the office at a reasonable hour is so important because it means I’m not missing my time at home. So I pack in everything I can during the hours in the office. Some days I feel like I’m on a game show and I’m trying to beat the clock.
What does a typical day look like for you? I spend a lot of time on the phone with Suzanne. She lives in a different province so we spend a lot of the day communicating over the phone. We go over the schedule of the day. What orders are ready for shipping, what products are up and coming, and what projects we can move ahead. We’re always planning for the future.
Favourite song: Not my favorite but the one that is stuck in my head ALL THE TIME is the theme song to the Wiggles show.
Dream Vacation: Quiet cabin in the woods. Nature walks and cooking on a fire.
Favourite Book: This Perfect Day by Ira Levin
Dream Job: I already have it.
Favourite Podcast: Criminal by Phoebe Judge
Dream Car: Don’t care as long as it gets me where I need to go… and then back again.
Favourite Smell: Lavender.
Dream meal: Chicken stew with dumplings. It was my mom's favorite so I made it for her all the time.
Favourite item of clothing: Anything as long as it has pockets.
Facebook: Two Sticks Canada
Instagram: @twostickscanada
https://two-sticks.ca/
I've realized how important it is to have stimulating, high quality, and engaging activities for our children in our playroom. Ones that will help do the following;
- challenge them
- keep them active and moving
- encourage them to use their imagination
- are age appropriate for all 3 of our kids Finding toys that meet all the above criteria can sometimes be daunting because our children are at 3 very different stages. That's why I was so excited when I learned of Two Sticks Canada. One of the only companies that I have come across that checked all the above components off of my list. Currently our kiddos are the following ages;
Violet is 1 years old
Mason is 2.5 years old
Lily is 4.5 years old
As you can see all very different ages and stages of their development. We chose the Large Pikler Triangle and the Rock Ramp (rocks on one side and smooth on the other). The reason I chose the Large Pikler is that it will last our kids the longest. While it is too advanced for Violet currently, it still challenges her a bit and with supervision she can start to learn how to climb. But Lily and Mason are old enough to challenge themselves and get more use out of the larger triangle. I chose the ramp with the rocks because I thought it would provide a good foundation for Violet to encourage her to crawl on it. While again still being challenging for Lily and Mason and encourage them to use their imagination. But what I love most is that the structures are big enough for all 3 of our kids to play together at the same time. Whether they are playing together with their action figures, one on the slide, one climbing and one underneath, or taking turns going down the slide there are so many different opportunities for each of them to explore together and independently. While teaching them important life skills;
- using their imagination
- turn taking
- sharing
- fostering independence
- challenging themselves
When you look at their website, the prices of the products may shock you. And that is okay, they are pricy but you need to think about the following factors;
- they are high quality products, eco-friendly and made out of wood (my husband and I can even climb on them!)
- these are activities that are going to last your child a long time. It is an investment that you won't regret - these activities will help with their growth and development
And when in doubt, my recommendation for higher priced toys and activities for my kiddos - ask family members to chip in on it and that helps to reduce the cost per person by a lot! Then instead of your child getting a bunch of little gifts that they probably don't need, they get one gift that will help encourage them to explore, develop and challenge themselves.
If you are wondering about assembly and storing them let me put your mind at ease. They are easy to assemble and while they may be large, you can easily fold it up and store away if need be. Make sure you check back in the upcoming weeks as I show how we've used the Pikler Triangle and Ramp so far. I will be outlining activities that you can do for infant, toddler and school-age children and sharing more of our adventures.
