Hey Reader,,

A couple of months ago, I mentioned that my son and I had started playing around with something called OffBits—and that I’d report back once we really had a chance to explore them.

Well… we did. And I have so much to share.

The tagline for OffBits is “the art of spare parts,” and honestly, that’s exactly what it feels like.

It reminded me of those bins we all seem to have tucked away somewhere—cardboard tubes, random boxes, bits and pieces we know we should save for something… we just don’t always know what that “something” is yet.

OffBits turns those “somedays” into something real.

We started with one of their character kits, and my son immediately got into building, rebuilding, and coming up with his own ideas. But what I loved most was what happened next—we started pulling out materials from around the house to extend his creations. Suddenly, it wasn’t just a build… it was a whole little world.

It’s one of those rare activities that hits so many things at once: - creative thinking
- hands-on building
- storytelling
- problem-solving

And it all feels like play.

If you’re curious, I put together a full introduction here.

But here’s the part I didn’t expect…

There’s actually a full 5-lesson STEAM curriculum designed to go along with the OffBits Group Maker Kit—and I took a deep dive into it from a teacher’s perspective.

We’re talking: - engineering + storytelling combined
- collaborative builds
- storyboarding and design
- even stop-motion animation

It’s the kind of structure that works beautifully in a classroom, but is also flexible enough to use at home if your kids love project-based learning.

I shared my full (and honest) review of that here:

Quick note for transparency: I’ve recently become an OffBits affiliate after exploring their products and curriculum more in depth. As always, I only share resources I genuinely enjoy using with my own kids and would recommend to my readers.

If you’re anything like me, this might be the nudge to finally dig out that stash of “we’ll use this someday” materials and see what your kids come up with.

Sometimes the best learning starts with what we already have.

Sustainably yours,

— Jessica

Founder of Thoughtfully Sustainable

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