Boba Learning Kit

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a boba fanatic. I love all things boba (so much so that I constantly set goals for myself to reduce the amount of boba I consume…which never last very long) so I was super excited to find R is for Rooster’s boba themed learning kit. With this kit, I can share my love for boba with my boys while helping them learn in a new way. 

R is for Rooster’s Etsy storefront has a wide variety of cute, minimalist educational activities for kids. Of course, the boba learning kit is what caught my eye immediately. After my boys and I played around with the kit, including writing our boba barista name tags and counting colorful boba pom-poms, I was able to learn a little more about Nancy Diep, the mom behind R is for Rooster. Nancy shared with us the story behind her storefront:

“My inspiration for R is for Rooster came from my two kids. Being a stay-at-home mom, I noticed that hands-on activities were the best and most effective way to teach my kids while holding their interest the longest. This makes learning (and teaching) more fun, but also helps me manage their attention span. Since my kids are both toddlers, it is extremely difficult to hold their attention for very long unless we’re doing something fun and exciting together. I decided, since hands-in activities helped me with my kids so much, why not extend the fun to other moms and children?

From here, I started R is for Rooster. As a creative small business owner, the initial idea was the easy part – everything seemed uphill from there! The challenge of running a small business is competing with so many others who are creating and selling the same type of product. I constantly have to think of new and creative ideas while balancing two toddlers at home. Most of my work gets done after they finally go to bed!  

Having my own small business does have its perks – I can work at my own pace, on my own time, without having to get an approval from anyone else on my design choices. Being my own boss for R is for Rooster has been the perfect outlet for my creativity and allows me to design freely. With my background in design, freedom to create is very important to me. 

Before R is for Rooster, I used to be a clothing designer. I designed junior girls’ denim for about 8 years. I left my career when I gave birth to my first child, but my creativity came with me! I thought it would be a temporary break, but, after having my second baby, I knew I wasn't going back to my design job. The knowledge that I wouldn’t be designing clothing again made me sad because I loved it so much. Having so much of my creativity bottled up with nowhere to go was a horrible feeling. I needed a creative outlet and, as I began to create new ideas for teaching my children, I thought designing fun learning materials was the perfect use of my graphic design skills.

I realized that leaving my design job didn’t have to mean I was leaving being a designer. Just like designing a clothing collection, I learned that I could create my own style within my brand, finding my niche in minimalist, fun colors. I really enjoy that I can design learning kits with a theme or concept in the same way I used to for clothing. For my first few designs for R is for Rooster, I used food as my theme. I started off by making alphabet and number posters that could be hung in and used for a play kitchen; these posters were both visual and interactive.

From that idea, I came up with an ice cream shop concept and, from there, a bakery concept. I then wanted to create something hands-on to teach counting and thought boba was the perfect idea! I started to design the cards and tracing sheets and then found small brown pom-poms for boba, which worked out perfectly! I tested the kit with my kids, and they loved it. 

I am still creating and thinking up new ideas every single day, which is what I love most about my job. Right now, we are working on adding more digital downloads to our shop. We’re hoping to include learning materials as well as minimalist décor, such as posters for the nursery or bedroom or even printable holiday items. I’m excited to continue to create for my shop, my kids, and my customers.”

Shared by Nancy Diep of R is for Rooster. Photos by Simply Adri Photography.