Written by 2020 Midwest Shop Local Gift Guide
Thank you for using EntryPoint’s 2020 Midwest Shop Local Gift Guide! We at EntryPoint created this guide to help you support small businesses in the Midwest by providing you with information about these companies and the products they would like to promote as gift ideas – all in one place. On this page, you will find information about gifts for kids that are created and sold by small businesses in the Midwest. If you’re looking for gifts for the younger children in your life, start here!
Watch the special holiday edition of our weekly livestream series The Cackle to learn more about these companies’ stories, products and services, and what gifts they can offer you ahead of the 2020 holiday season!
SHOP GIFTS FOR KIDS
Ann Arbor Art Center • Ann Arbor, Michigan
The Ann Arbor Art Center is a nonprofit organization led by President and CEO Marie Klopf, and is located in Ann Arbor, MI. The center has been sparking creativity in people of all ages, backgrounds, and artistic abilities for over a century. Their mission is to be a forum for the visual arts through education, exploration, collaboration, and exhibition, and to engage minds, expand perspectives, and inspire growth in students of all ages, teachers, artists, and the community. The Ann Arbor Art Center is empowered to carry out this mission through the support of community members who believe in their work and in creativity’s role in sustaining and elevating the common experience of humanity. In fulfilling their mission, the Art Center serves as a regional hub for the visual arts and prioritizes the long-standing partnerships they cultivate as a keystone for Ann Arbor’s healthy ecosystem of cultural and civic life.
Black Girl MATHgic • Detroit, Michigan
Black Girl MATHgic Box – $39.95
Black Girl MATHgic is an educational monthly subscription founded by Brittany Rhodes and located in Detroit, MI. This company offers the first and only subscription box designed to increase math confidence and decrease math anxiety in girls on a 3rd-8th grade math level. Each box is curated to address the phenomena that contribute to low math confidence and high math anxiety, especially in girls.
Colorful Teez Imagine That • Detroit, Michigan
Colorful TEEZ is a commercial printing company that is led by CEO and President Zepora Starts and located in Detroit, MI. The company offers a variety of customized clothing printing options and services, including t-shirts, logos, hoodies, polos, school uniforms, and more.
Constructive Eating • Ann Arbor, Michigan
Construction Fan Bundle – $37.95
Constructive Eating is a dining ware company that is led by Owners and Founders Jackie and Carter Malcolm, and is located in Ann Arbor, MI. This company develops plate and utensil sets designed to help kids gain their independence, build fine motor skills, and makes mealtime feel like playtime. The plate and utensils have gone on to win multiple awards and have been praised by parents, speech pathologists, and occupational therapists alike. Constructive Eating sells to independent shops all over the world.
Cookie Colab • Ann Arbor, Michigan
DIY Holiday Cookie Decorating Kit – $25
Cookie Colab is a bakery that is led by Owner and Cookier Amy Lugo and is located in Ann Arbor, MI. Lugo makes custom decorated butter cookies with buttercream frosting for a variety of events, including holidays, special occasions, corporate retreats, gifts, and everyday enjoyment. In addition to a signature set that is available year-round, Cookie Colab also sells DIY decorating kits, hosts decorating parties and workshops, and offers packages that can be used for fundraising. Lugo founded Cookie Colab in 2019 after years of being inspired by her Aunt Mary’s one-of-a-kind animal cookie recipe.
Dribble Stick Training • Flint, Michigan
Dribble Stick Training is a basketball training system created by Luke Lloyd and based in Flint, MI. The training system is designed to help basketball players of all ages perfect the fundamentals of the game. The Dribble Strick Training package consists of Michigan-made hardware in the form of the dribble stick itself, access to one-of-a-kind mobile app technology with video guided workouts, and a basketball workbook with coaching tips to hold players accountable.
Halo-Heart Designs • Cleveland, Ohio
Halo-Heart Designs is a jewelry company that is owned by Lindsay Flack and Amanda Foley and is located in Cleveland, OH. The owners believe that, sometimes, the right words at the right time can have the power to unlock a person’s best self. As such, the business focuses on designing jewelry that means something, such as a personal commitment, an inspirational message, a reminder of intent, or an empowering mantra. Halo-Heart Designs is committed to manufacturing their products in the United States of America through a handmade process, and also sells their products all around the world. They also believe in giving back to the community, and have partnered with celebrities and nonprofits to provide handmade, personalized jewelry gifts that highlight and amplify their message.
Healthy Roots Dolls • Detroit, Michigan
Healthy Roots Dolls: Zoe – $79.99
Healthy Roots Dolls is a toy company founded by Yelitsa Jean-Charles and located in Detroit, MI. The company creates dolls and storybooks that empower young girls and represent the beauty of our diversity. They go beyond just painting a doll brown. They create an educational play experience with curl care.
Hopscotch Children’s Store • Grand Rapids, Michigan
Jellycat Perry Polar Bear – $30
Hopscotch Children’s Store is a retail company that is owned by Mark and Emily Tobin and is located in Grand Rapids, MI. The store offers unique, modern and classic books, toys, and other gifts for babies and kids. In particular, Hopscotch Children’s Store specializes in products that are locally-made, eco-friendly, educational, unique and, most importantly, fun!
Hudson Music Center • Dexter, Michigan
The Hudson Music Center is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that is led by President and Founder Gordon Darr and is located in Dexter, Michigan. The long-term vision of the center is to provide “Music. For Everybody.” The Hudson Music Center prepares people of all ages to enjoy the expression and appreciation of music. Their highly-qualified teachers are professional educators and musicians in their own right. Many of them operate their own music studios. The Center offers private lessons, group classes, ensembles, and is the producer of the Dexter Community Choir. The Hudson Music Center also engages in fundraising activities to expand music opportunities to all people everywhere.
LearnTools, Inc. • Westlake, Ohio
LearnTools, Inc. is an education company that is led by Owner and Product Developer Ray Herrman and is located in Westlake, OH. The company produces supplementary educational materials to help young kids understand math and science. For example, LearnTools, Inc. offers a curriculum package called Mac’s Abacus Basic. This curriculum is meant to supplement math education across grades from Pre-K to Fifth Grade. Mac’s Abacus Basic is unique in that it melds a special Abacus with a carefully designed series of wordless Picture Lessons to present each small concept needed to understand counting, addition, subtraction, the decimal system, and money. LearnTools, Inc.’s curriculum is not just a compilation of activities; it is a sequence of colorful, appealing Lessons carefully designed to impart an understanding of each concept. Applications such as lengths, time and budgeting are also presented.
PBA Royal Performing Arts and Training School • Detroit, Michigan
Performing Arts and Sports – $30
PBA Royal Performing Arts and Training School is an educational institution led by Director Pageant Atterberry and located in Detroit, MI. The school services the Cody-Rouge District of Detroit’s west side, providing students with after-school classes in dance, music, acting, modeling, cheerleading, and sports. They work with youth aged 4-18 and also provide them with academic tracking services. Students attending classes Monday-Friday are provided with supper and snacks.
Produce Puns • Ann Arbor, Michigan
Produce Puns Positively Journals – $24
Produce Puns is customized products company led by Creator Mary Lemmer and located in Ann Arbor, MI. The company specializes in creating hand-drawn food pun illustrations, and applying those illustrations to a variety of products, including journals, t-shirts, mugs, and more gifts.
Sensory Box Family • Zeeland, Michigan
Sensory Box Family is a handcrafted retail business founded by Rachael Windemuller and located in Zeeland, MI. The company seeks to bring affordable joy into the daily life of all families, especially those who are differently-abled, have sensory challenges, or live with mental illness. The Windemuller Family is no stranger to the unique needs of children with autism and sensory processing disorders (SPD). In fact, Sensory Box Family was originally sprung from the desire to provide meaningful work for their oldest child, Jay. Living with autism, anxiety, and depression, can make working outside the house challenging on the best of days. But, passionate about art, amazingly creative, and looking to earn money, they started looking for things to create. Jay’s artistic sense, combined with a mother with a knack for crafts, and a father with a love for woodworking, and Sensory Box Family was born.
The Little Seedling • Ann Arbor, Michigan
Zoo Bark-Ista Cafe Pretend Playset – $44
The Little Seedling is retail store owned by Molly Ging and located in Ann Arbor, MI. The shop specializes in products for children in the age range of newborn to early elementary. The Little Seedling offers a full range of goods from car seats and strollers to clothing to toys and games.
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