Play It Smart &
Save Space With
Rent The ToyChest
By: Becky Henchman
When most people become concerned
about the state of education, they may
volunteer at their child’s school, join the
PTSA, or write to their state representative.
But a life-long passion for early childhood
development led Sammamish resident
Karen Whittier to start a new business.
Again.
The co-founder and former teacher/co-
director of the Plateau’s Red Gate Farm
Preschool, Karen has once again engaged
her passion with Rent The ToyChest, her
new business offering educational
preschool toys for rent instead of purchase.
“I wanted to find a way to help young
children play more,” Karen said. “Play is
the way young children learn, and yet toys
can be expensive and young children tend
to outgrow them so quickly.”
Enter Rent the ToyChest, a perfect
solution for parents, grandparents,
aunts, uncles or godparents wanting to
provide the very best for their children
and yet decrease the expense and
footprint — both environmental and
literal — of toys in their homes.
Rent The ToyChest features high quality,
name brand toys and games designed to
spark imagination, creativity, and social
development for pre-school aged
children. And the best part? Karen delivers
the toys to your front door and she’ll pick
them up when you’re finished.
The process is easy: simply go to the
website www.rentthetoychest.com,
browse though and select the toys you
want, select your preferred delivery date
and rental duration (2, 3 or 4 weeks) and
finalize your transaction. An email is
sent confirming your order and delivery.
Customers can choose from a wide
variety of games, puzzles, dress-up clothes
and costumes, Legos and Duplos,
artistic toys and more.
“Karen is the ideal person to launch
something like this,” neighbor and former
Red Gate parent Sue Lauer said of Rent
The Toychest. “My oldest son LOVED
the hands-on experiences and individual
attention he received at Red Gate Farm,
and when it comes to early childhood
development, it’s obvious Karen knows
what she’s doing simply by looking at
her own grown children.” Karen and
her husband, Gregg, have a son, who’s a
chemical engineer graduate, and a
daughter, just beginning her medical residency
as an OB/GYN.
Buzz around King County is growing
fast. Rent The ToyChest has already
been spotlighted by Red Tricycle, The
Issaquah Reporter, KOMO News
“Seattle Refined”, and KIRO Radio’s The
Ron and Don Show. “It’s so rewarding to see the
community’s interest. I’m so excited to get the
word out and get these toys and games into more
children’s hands. With today’s increasing
emphasis on over-structure and
over-testing for young
children, it just warms
my heart to see these kids
enjoy learning while they play,” commented Karen, who many
former students still refer to as Teacher Karen.
A 27-year resident of Sammamish, Karen’s initial career path
was in engineering, working several years for Bethlehem Steel
before co-founding RedGate, where she taught from 1995 until
2006. “I’ve always felt that engineering and teaching should go
together naturally — teaching develops creative problem-solvers
and engineering uses them!”
“Our three kids, now in college and high school, have great
memories of their time at Red Gate Farm,” another former
RedGate parent, Keri Greenheck, said. “There is an undeniable
connection between their love of learning that continues today
and where it all began, digging holes in the garden, creating art
or choosing one of the many toys that their beloved Teacher
Karen had set out to play!”
As an entrepreneur Karen follows the same philosophy as
she did in her teaching: hands-on learning and utilizing her
curiosity-driven love for knowledge. “Right now I’m learning
so much about web design and e-commerce, albeit slowly,” she
laughed, “and the website will evolve over time to reflect that.”
Rent The ToyChest is currently available in King County, with
plans to gradually expand to additional markets.
Becky Henchman is a writer, blogger and marketing communications
freelancer. A 15-year Sammamish resident, she is passionate about
thawing the Seattle Freeze, encouraging pro-active connection with
our neighbors. Follow her blog at eatplaythaw.com.
Plateau Living November 2015