A Broader View was formed in 2001, when Roger Andresen made it his mission to spread geographical awareness and knowledge across the globe. What emerged was a variety of award winning educational geography products. The initial product lines included The Global Puzzle™, which is a 600-piece puzzle of the world that is unique because it actually has pieces shaped like countries, states and provinces; The Continent Puzzles™, which utilizes the same concept but narrows the focus to one continent at a time, allowing for a younger age group and a quicker in-class learning experience; The Global "Animal" Puzzle™, that features over 100 exotic animals located in their indigenous regions; and The WorldWise Geography Card Games™, which provide both educational and interactive family fun.
For the 1st couple of years, we focused on products that promoted geography awareness and other methods to teach the world geography.
One highly successful endeavor was the creation of the GeographyZone.com—a free interactive website. The website includes the Geography Challenge, the largest online geography competition ever. Since the launch of the website, a review of participation has revealed just how powerful Andresen’s concept is as an educational force. Over 2 million people representing 192 countries have participated in the Geography Challenge and heightened their interest in geography. In addition, thousands of emails have been sent from those who appreciate in this great way to learn geography.
Others have taken notice of A Broader View’s impact as well, as we have received press coverage from hundreds of different media outlets across the globe, including USA Today, CNN and Fox News, just to name a few.
In addition, our geography line has prospered finding homes in over a thousand specialty shops across the globe and mass market chains such as Wal-Mart, Barnes & Nobel, Costco, Borders, & many others.
With a solid base of products and growing reputation as a creator of novel, entertaining, and educational products, A Broader View decided in 2005 to expand our focus to a wide range of new products. Our mission was to add entertainment and educational value to new and existing products. And we’ve succeeded tripling our number of lines in the last two years. Our goal is to launch 100 product lines within a decade.
A Broader View now offers a wide range of exciting new product lines including:
The Zoo Crew™, a line of animal shaped, spill proof, insulated sippy cups that are invading dishwashers across the world. These cups entertain toddlers at the dinner table making mom’s life easier.
Magno Markers™, sets of bold color, washable markers with magnets built into the marker. Magno Markers turn ordinary markers into toys and they make it easier to pick up and store.
The Color Doodle, a magnetic doodling surface in full color. Black & white was for the 1960s, let your kids doodle on these mess free writing surfaces in full color.
The Perfect Skipping Stone™ makes a great gift, stocking stuffer, or party treat. These stones were designed by a team of engineers and the world’s record holder, Kurt Steiner, to skip over 30 times. Reminiscing has never been so much fun.
Make Your Mark™ Floor Mat is the 1st ever floor mats that change color with changes in temperature. These mats allow kids to explore their imagination by make designs using their hands, feet or mess free water pen.
WorldView "Veritical" Puzzles are vertical jig-saw puzzles that highlight some of the world’s prettiest sights.
Plus, more to come….
Now in our 6th year, things couldn’t be more exciting. The company’s team of skilled, passionate employees continues to grow as we push to expand. Triple digit growth, an impressive collection of awards and accolades have been our rewards and we push to do even better into the future.
