Toy store owner donates popular Gravitrax to all local schools

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A local store owner is going the extra mile to ensure local school children have a shot at a popular toy this holiday season.

During the Polka Dot Penguin Toys and Treasures’ Gravitrax promotion this month, the store announced through a Facebook post on November 17th that each School District 60 school will be gifted a set. 

Michella Braun is the owner of Polka Dot Penguin Toys and Treasures in Fort St. John.  

She says she has owned the business for around four years, and recently moved into a new location at 10520 100th Avenue.

Braun says some of her most popular toys in her shop are the marble Gravitrax kits. Made by German toymaker Ravensburger, it provides children the experience of experimenting with scientific principles such as gravity, kinetics and magnetism.

“It is a modular system that you can build up on and add extra things to create as big of a marble run as you want,” explained Braun. “There is a lot of physics involved.

“It is a great thing for schools, because you can figure out ‘how do I have to have this set up in order for the ball to go down the ramp and actually cause this next thing to do what it’s supposed to do.’”

Inspired by a promotion Ravensburger was having at the start of the school year, Braun went one step beyond.

“[Ravensburger] did a promotion in September that if we ordered a certain amount of product, that we would get a free set that we could give to the school of our choice,” said Braun. “I thought, ‘how do I choose a school?’

“So I ordered enough for every school in the district, then I don’t have to make that decision.”

She says each donated kit will be given to a school’s Parent Advisory Council (PAC) to determine how to distribute it.

“‘Ma’ Murray [school] is trying to raise money for their playground,” said Braun. “They’re going to do a silent auction for it.

“A lot of the PAC executives have been coming in already. If in January, one of the schools hasn’t come to pick it up, then I will make sure that each school gets it delivered or reach out to them.”

For more details about Polka Dot Penguin Toys and Treasures, visit the store’s Facebook page.