Charlie’s Toys

March 30th, 2019

I am pleased and honored to announce that the “Toy Division” of the Bogin Playscape Project will be renamed “Charlie’s Toys” in honor of Charles V Parham (1945-2019).Charlie and his wife Roxy have been supporters of this project right from the start. Our first big fund raiser was a music party hosted at their home in 2012, that raised substantial funds to get the project going.  Charlie’s family has announced that they would like donations in Charlie’s memory to be sent to the project, and all funds will be used to purchase materials to build and donate toys to local pre-schools.  We have already built and donated nearly 300 “ball stomps”, “bottle baby trucks” and ball ramps to day care providers and pre-schools. This generous funding means we will have materials to keep building into the future.I am so thankful to Charlie’s family for giving me the opportunity to build and donate in Charlie’s name.  Charlie dedicated his working life to education and loved to play!  He was a wise, kind and generous friend and  will be missed by all who knew him!!

Donations to the project can be made by check to:
“Charlie’s Toys c/o Bogin playscape Project”
mail to:
The Collaborative for Educational Services
97 Hawley St
Northampton, MA 01060
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October 2020 update
Here’s a photo of this year’s batch of toys that are ready to be passed out with the workshop next week.

I am especially proud of the animal matching game that Helen recently re-designed, and made much more durable- she had the great idea to have them made into coasters (waterproof and long lasting) so they can stand up to lots of tiny hands!

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September 2020 update

Training sessions on motor development that were planned for March and June had to be cancelled due to Covid-19. These sessions were going to be an opportunity to give out toys to local pre-schools and day care programs. We finally have worked out a way to do “Zoom” trainings, and have scheduled our first Zoom sessions for October 6th and 13th through the Collaborative for Educational Services in Northampton. Every center represented will receive toys and equipment; this time it will be a combination of toys we build and several other helpful props we will purchase and give out.

Here’s a link for anyone interesting in the training sessions:

https://www.collaborative.org/events-and-courses/how-do-we-play-now

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October 25th 2019 update

Today was the day I got to give out a big batch of Charlie’s Toys- some very happy pre-school teachers went home with toys after our workshop in Northampton. It was a blast!!

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October 18th 2019 update

I took the whole batch of this years “Charlie’s Toys” for a driveway photo- Most of them will be passed out at the workshop on motor development next Friday in Northampton- 20 pre-school teachers from 10 different centers will go home with toys!! Then some will go to Amherst Montessori after another training early in November. This is the most toys I’ve been able to give away at one time, and it’s thanks to ask those who gave for Charlie!!

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April 26th 2019 update

We have now received over $1300. in donations from 17 individuals and families to Charlie’s Toys!!

We are so grateful!!

Tom Murphy

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April 19 2019 update

I am pleased to announce that we have received over $700. in donations to Charlie’s Toys. We send thanks to all who donated!! I have begun new batches of toys and look forward to sharing them. If you know a local pre-school looking for toys like these, contact me at tomnankids@comcast.net

Tom Murphy