Idea Galleria was started by me, a mom inventor, along with my dad, a true visionary and think-tank at heart.  With the help of my dad, children and husband, who continue to provide the inspiration and support necessary for these products, I began creating the line of products offered at Idea Galleria.    

Although the Boredom Bag was the impetus for Idea Galleria, the Prayer Bag has become a real favorite with our customers.  Both bags have the same basic concept which is a take off on the idea of a grab bag.  Kids reach into the Prayer or Boredom bag and pull out a plastic disc on which different prayers are written, or in the case of the Boredom Bag, different playtime activities are suggested. 

The Prayer Bag was created to encourage children to begin a relationship with God at a young age that will last them a lifetime.  It offers an element of surprise since they never know which prayer they’ll pull from the bag or if they’ll get to make one up on their own, and it ends the repetitive and uninspiring nature of saying the same old prayer over and over again without giving it any real thought.   

The Prayer Bag is not just for children anymore.  We’ve extended its use to husbands and wives by offering A Hug & A Prayer bag which combines prayer and action together.  Using the bag the same way children do, spouses can choose discs from the bag that suggest different ways to express their love for each other while offering a prayer to God to help strengthen their relationship.

The Boredom Bag, on the other hand, began as a way to keep my then 5 year-old son Michael away from the television.  In its original version, the Boredom Bag was not a bag at all.  Instead, it consisted of an empty tissue box with scraps of paper inside displaying different activities Mike could do around the house instead of watching TV.  When he couldn’t find anything to do on his own, he pulled out a piece of paper from the box.  He loved being surprised at what activity he got, and usually after starting one activity, he spun it into something else that held his attention.  Now, many years and one more child later, Michael and his sister Lauren still like the surprise of picking an activity from the Boredom Bag.    

We expanded the scope of the activities to cover more than just things to do around the house.  With over 250 activities among all the 11 Boredom Bag themes, parents don’t have to come up with things for their children to do – we’ve already done that!  All you have to do is sit back and enjoy the experience of watching your child’s creativity come to life.

Idea Galleria is a family-run business and as such, promotes activities that encourage families to play and talk together.  Computer and hand-held electronic games have their time and place, but instead of turning to them, why not turn to each other?  When your family is sitting in a restaurant waiting for their table, or when you’re taking a long drive in a car, or even when it’s a rainy day around the house, the activities in the Boredom Bag foster communication in a fun way between parents and children or among siblings themselves.   

We hope you enjoy our products as much as we enjoy creating them!