A Clever Way to Stencil: Magna Stencil

Does your preschooler like to stencil? If given the task of holding a stencil and drawing at the same time, most young children want to focus on drawing and end up either frustrated by the task or asking for help from mom or dad to hold their stencils steady. Enter parentrepreneur Mary Constantino. Social worker by trade and mother of two, Mary was cooking dinner one night and kept having to stop every couple of minutes to hold her childrens’ stencils steady while they were drawing. After looking online for a magnetic stencil set to no avail - she decided to create her own.Clever Parents: Tell us about your product.
Mary Constantino: Each stencil set comes with a very sturdy, heavy white steel plate and 6 brightly colored magnetized stencils. Younger children particularly, can become overwhelmed when faced with too many choices so we limited the stencil selection to 6. Our product is made in the USA of high quality magnetic material and steel. In addition to household use, our sets have been used in preschools and residential facilities that serve children who are developmentally delayed and they hold up well. The sets work very well for family trips in the car because the stencils and paper do not move around! We sell 3 designs; Shapes, Dinosaurs, and Sea Life.

CP: What ages are the stencils appropriate for?
MC: The Magna Stencil is appropriate for children over 3. They work very well for children ages 3-6 who want to stencil but are unable to hold the stencils without the help of a grownup. They build confidence in young children and also help them with their fine motor skills. Children over 6 enjoy creating cards, wrapping paper and detailed pictures with the Magna Stencils.
CP: What made you want to start your own business?
MC: I came up with the idea and then decided to take it to market. I wanted to see if I could make it happen.

CP: Do you make the stencils yourself or are they outsourced?
MC: We buy our materials, come up with the designs and give them to a local manufacturer in who cuts the stencils for us. We hope that we can continue to manufacture in the USA and stay competitive.

CP: What challenges did you encounter entering the children’s product market?
MC: We required data sheets from all our suppliers, so we were sure prior to any manufacturing that our stencils were not toxic. Our biggest challenge was product packaging for children. We wanted to be sure that we voluntarily complied with any and all consumer product packaging requirements. I did very thorough research to educate myself on requirements. We then engaged a law firm that specialized in product packaging to tell us exactly what our packaging should to say.

Mary Constantino is a Social Worker by training and spent many years working with low income women and children. Mary continues to volunteer with the Social Work Department at NC State University in Raleigh NC, as editor of their newsletter on their Field Advisory Council. Additionally, she serves as a Deacon at her church, and volunteers at her children’s school and preschool. Mary is married and has 2 children ages 6 and 3. ‘They all inspire me everyday to do my best and have fun!’

Magna Stencil sets are $17.95 each - buy them by calling toll-free 800-659-8875 or e-mail sales@arjmservices.com.