FocusZen® Challenge – Why Did I Start Creating Educational Teaching Aids?

Education doesn’t have to rely solely on textbooks, worksheets, and presentations. Sometimes, a single question, a single image, and a well-guided conversation can leave a stronger impression than pages of written material.

That simple idea became the foundation of FocusZen® Challenge.

I didn’t want to create just another card game. I wanted to create a series of educational teaching aids that could support teachers, therapists, and educators in their daily work while giving them complete freedom to adapt each activity to their own teaching style.

One Card – Endless Possibilities

Each card presents a single topic. It might be mathematics, geography, colours, animals, planets, everyday objects, or many other categories that will continue to grow over time.

The cards are not designed to replace teachers or provide ready-made lessons.

Instead, they are conversation starters.

A teacher can use a card as a warm-up before class, a quick review at the end of a lesson, a discussion prompt, or the starting point for an unlimited number of questions connected to the topic shown.

One simple image can inspire a five-minute activity—or an entire lesson.

That flexibility is exactly what makes educational resources so valuable.

The First Teacher Edition

The very first FocusZen® Challenge Teacher Edition has just arrived.

It contains 60 large A5 cards, specifically designed for classroom use.

The larger format makes every illustration clearly visible to the whole class, allowing teachers to present each activity without students having to gather around a desk or share a single worksheet.

One unexpected design decision became one of my favourite features.

Instead of a standard card back, the Teacher Edition includes a QR code on the reverse side of every card. This provides instant access to online resources and allows the project to grow over time with additional materials, instructions, classroom ideas and future updates—without changing the printed cards themselves.

An Idea From Steven

One of the most practical ideas actually came from my son, Steven.

He suggested that teachers could award points for correct answers or active participation while using the cards.

It is a very simple element of gamification, but it has the potential to increase motivation and classroom engagement without adding unnecessary complexity.

Sometimes the best ideas come from children themselves.

Where Did This Project Begin?

FocusZen® Challenge was inspired by our everyday experiences.

As the mother of a child with AuADHD, I have often noticed that combining a visual prompt with a clear question can make it easier to capture attention and build meaningful connections with new information.

These are not scientific conclusions or universal claims about every child.

They are our personal observations, and they became one of the reasons I decided to develop this project.

Rather than presenting answers, the cards are designed to encourage curiosity, conversation and independent thinking.

More Than a Classroom Resource

Although teachers were the first group I had in mind, I believe these educational teaching aids could be useful in many different environments.

In my opinion, they may support the work of:

• classroom teachers,

• special educational needs (SEN) teachers,

• teaching assistants,

• educational psychologists,

• speech and language therapists,

• occupational therapists,

• sensory integration therapists,

• tutors,

• homeschooling families,

• learning support professionals,

• specialists working with neurodivergent children,

• workshop leaders,

• and professionals working with older adults through memory exercises, cognitive stimulation and conversation-based activities.

Every professional approaches learning differently, yet all of them benefit from engaging resources that encourage interaction instead of passive learning.

This Is Only the Beginning

FocusZen® Challenge is designed to grow.

New categories, new decks, online resources and classroom activities will continue to be developed over time.

I don’t want these educational resources to be created only from my own perspective.

I would like them to evolve together with teachers, therapists and educators who use them every day.

Their experience will always be more valuable than assumptions made behind a desk.

Let’s Build Better Educational Resources Together

If you are a teacher, therapist, psychologist, speech and language therapist, educator, teaching assistant, or someone who works with children or older adults, I would genuinely love to hear your thoughts.

Perhaps you will discover applications that I haven’t considered yet.

Perhaps you have ideas for new categories, new activities or different ways these cards could be used in practice.

I believe the best educational teaching aids are created not only for professionals—but together with them.

I’d love to hear your perspective. As educators, therapists and specialists, what do you think about educational teaching aids like these? How would you use them in your own work?