Social Entrepreneur Attracted to Magnetic Art for the Greater Good

July 14, 2010 - PRLog -- Gainesville, Florida. 14 July 2010--Social entrepreneur, Lynn Saunders created Fridge Artist LLC as a new social business that aims to benefit society while engaging children and adults in creating mosaic art made with magnets (http://fridgeartist.com/). Her first product Magnetic ColorsTM is currently being used in the U.S. and Canada in homes, schools, and hospitals.

Social businesses are designed to generate profits while making positive contributions to society.  Lynn Saunders recently created Fridge Artist LLC as a social business that benefits communities in the U.S. and abroad. “It’s important that in running this business we truly feel good about what we are doing and the product we are selling. This is why we designed our business model to actively promote creativity and well-being,” stated Lynn Saunders.

Saunders, with a doctorate specializing in water quality from the University of Florida, is using 1% of profits to support water projects in less developed countries. “As Fridge Artist LLC grows, we will be able to up the ante, with a goal of 50% of our profits to expand our capacity to help provide safe water in less privileged communities.”

Fridge Artist LLC’s first product, Magnetic ColorsTM, was released online in late January.  “This is a fun product with wide appeal, not only to children but to adults, educators and therapists,” says Lynn Saunders. “We are also proud that Magnetic Colors are made here in the USA.”

Magnetic ColorsTM are colorful pre-scored magnet sheets that allow the user to separate the magnets into many shapes and sizes. They may be used on refrigerators, magnetic dry erase boards and other magnetic surfaces to create colorful mosaic images, frames around fridge photos, and expressive word art.  

The benefits of this seemingly simple toy are surprisingly multifold.  Rachel Saunders Ph.D., expert in child developmental psychology, uses Magnetic ColorsTM with children in the Child and Family Laboratory at the University of Texas.  “Most toys focus on competition and a predetermined end product. Magnetic Colors promote process and cooperation, leaving the product open to imagination. This is precisely what fosters children’s cognitive and social development. Magnetic Colors provide a refreshing and fun activity that truly nurtures children’s creative processes,” said Dr. Saunders.

“Because Magnetic Colors nurture independent creativity and imagination, visual/spatial intelligence as well as concentration and focus, they are likely to hold strong appeal with people of all ages with Asperger’s Syndrome,” says Tracy Kokemuller, Mom blogger and autism play guide reviewer. Other mom bloggers such as Connie Robert from Brainfoggles.com agree, “There’s a lot of fun packed into a kit from Fridge Artist. My daughter had a ball playing around with these magnets. I love the uniqueness of this item!”

In addition to stimulating creativity, “doodling” with Magnetic Colors has been shown to relax the mind, helping to reduce stress. Kristine Sullivan, coordinator of Shands Arts in Medicine program found that Magnetic Colors are a great means of stress reduction through creative diversion for hospital patients. “Magnetic Colors have been a wonderful medium for our patients at Shands Healthcare. We are currently using Magnetic Colors on magnetic dry-erase boards at the bedside while patients are undergoing treatments such as chemotherapy and dialysis. One patient who spends his two hours of treatment intently rearranging the colorful strips once remarked ’You can’t mess up!’” according to Ms. Sullivan.

Retired special education teacher, Martha Cuipa praised Magnetic Colors as a great hands-on activity in classrooms of special needs students, “Magnetic Colors are a fantastic manipulative for any student at any level of learning, from art to math. They are also a perfect tool for fine motor therapy.” A free, downloadable document is available on the Fridge Artist LLC website that aids parents and teachers in exploring how Magnetic Colors can be used to help students to grasp mathematical concepts such as calculating areas, perimeters, and fractions in a hands-on and visual way (http://fridgeartist.com/math.html).

Free drawing guides are also available on the website. The fun images on these guides provide the outlines of blocks and strips that can be “colored in” with Magnetic Colors, offering a fun and engaging way for students and rehabilitation patients to improve their pattern recognition and fine motor skills (http://fridgeartist.com/kids.html#guides). Magnetic Colors are accessible to people of all motor skill levels because the pieces can be separated into sizes and shapes most appropriate to the user.

The positive feedback received from Magnetic Colors has prompted Fridge Artist to recently expand their social entrepreneurship to include a promotion where with every two kits a customer purchases, a third kit will be donated to art therapy programs and underprivileged schools. These donations will expand access to this creative, hands-on activity to institutions where funding is currently limited.  

For those interested in learning more about Fridge Artist LLC and Magnetic ColorsTM, please visit http://fridgeartist.com/.

Lynn Saunders, Fridge Artist LLC
(352) 505-2426
http://fridgeartist.com/
Lynn(at) FridgeArtist (dot) com

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About Fridge Artist LLC
Fridge Artist LLC is a family-owned and operated social business that serves to promote creativity and well-being. With every two Magnetic ColorsTM kits sold, a third is donated to schools and hospitals. A portion of their profits fund water projects in less developed countries.