OUR STORY

Rick "Mister Toymaker" Hartman is a former classroom teacher and professional toy inventor who started building toys with kids back in 1994 as part of an afterschool arts program.

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What began with just a small group of children blossomed into School of Toy, and before long Rick was presenting workshops at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. and appearing with his toys on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and The Discovery Channel.

 

Rick's In-Person workshops have been attended by over a million students in more than 6,000 school visits around his home state of Washington and beyond.

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In 2020, School of Toy launched its first series of On-Demand Workshops  using pre-recorded video and kits to support learning during the Covid pandemic.    

 

These virtual workshops took on a life of their own, and are today used by teachers across the U.S. to spark learning, laughter and lasting memories in students!