The Best Education

Requires more than books alone can provide.

Research shows that when children exercise their hands and minds together by building models, they are also developing critical problem solving skills that will benefit them for life.

In this video, Stuart Brown discusses the importance of play in learning serious problem solving skills. Pay special attention to minute 7 in the video.

Dr. Brown also refers to research by Dr. Frank Wilson. in his book, The Hand, How Its Use Shapes the Brain, Language, and Human Culture Dr. Wilson explains how using hands in creative work during developmental years kick-starts the brain into developing problem solving skills. This is not something that you can get from video games or typing at a computer. There seems to be something unique about building something, creating things that is key to developing problem solving skills.

Nate Johnson is a mechanic and teacher who also discovered this independantly in his shop classes. He and Dr. Wilson consulted to JPL, Nasa and Boeing, and helped those companies decide that all applicants for jobs requiring problem solving skills must have experience working with their hands, no matter how good their academic record may be.

I attribute my own problem solving skills to the models and kits I built as a kid. I built literally hundreds of models - some from kits, some from scratch, some from plans, some from my own imagination. All of them helped me become a better problem solver.

That's why I started this business. I had to solve the problem of how to earn an income after being laid off, unable to find another job. So I created one, and later created more jobs for my employes as I continued to solve problems and the business grew. I decided to manufacture wooden kits because I just couldn't find any models or kits for my own kids like the ones I had growing up, and I love working with wood. If I wasn't building kits, I'd probably be making furniture or cabinets. But I truly believe that the toys I make serve a much greater purpose.

RLT Industries model kits are a great way to help kids develop critical thinking skills and an interest in math, science and history too. And that's not just our opinion, that's the feedback we continuosly get from teachers and parents who've used our kits in classrooms, at home schools and in science projects. And that makes us very happy.