About Us

Welcome to Sparks!

We are so thrilled you've found us, and we hope that you are as passionate as we are about awesome, engaging, play-based learning for kids of all ages! 

Sparks is the brainchild of our owner, Rachel, and the incredible creative team at Brio Academy in Chatham, Ontario. As a parent, Rachel realized how desperately she was looking for high-quality, educational, creative toys, games and activities for her kids while at home during the COVID-19 shutdown that started in March of 2020. 

During the lockdown phase, it was impossible for her to even purchase a puzzle on Amazon - they were gone as quickly as they restocked. And she knew that other parents must be in the same boat. There was also nowhere locally for her to order and pick up the kind of activities she wanted for her own children.

Working from home, Rachel began to source unique items for Sparks, which operates out of its partner business, Brio Academy - an award-winning creative arts and physical education centre for kids! As a mom as well as a music and creative arts educator with years of experience, Rachel's got a great eye for toys and activities that will engage kids creative thinking, and she's excited to share Sparks with you and your family.

But toys and games aren't the end of what we offer at Sparks! There's so much more! The incredible team of educators at Brio Academy has thrown themselves into upping the fun quotient. They've been creating custom craft kits - complete with pre-cut, pre-packaged supplies, as well as instructional videos.

And the Brio team also has an answer for kids who are missing the engagement of summer camp activities! We're launching our first-ever mystery box this summer, which is an interactive, highly-themed code-breaking mystery that leads kids down the path to unearth information about the disappearance of a vast treasure lost over 200 years ago! (And since we're so keen on packing education into everything, this mystery box is based on a TRUE story!) 

So that's the story of Sparks. There's an old saying: necessity is the mother of invention, and we're a testament to that! We know how important creative, unplugged play is for kids (and grown ups, too), and we are proud of the awesome lines we carry at Sparks, and the incredible Brio-brand level of interactive, custom-made craft kits and adventure boxes! 

It is a happy talent to know how to play.

Ralph Waldo Emerson
American writer
1803–1882