Advertisement

As another testament to the game's success, Dr. Toy named it one of the 100 best children's products of 2007 this past Tuesday.

Paczesny grew up loving the northern Michigan outdoors and is passing that along with the outdoor-oriented "Camp."The object is to move from the campfire, around the board and back, answering nature-related questions along the way.

But the principal behind the game is that everybody can play, from young kids to knowledgeable adults, bringing families together.

"In today's society, we're getting separate -people aren't sitting eating dinner together,"Paczesny said. "This is our chance to get families back around the table, having fun."

Every card has a question at four different levels. A level one six-year-old, such as Paczesny's youngest daughter, may have to identify an animal at the top of the card. Her 12-year-old sister may have to answer what food that animal eats. Adults, usually, at level three or four, are asked more challenging questions, like how many times the animal mates per year or its scientific name.

Though momentarily out of games, 10,000 more are on the way. "By industry standards, 2,500 games in one year is good,"graphic designer Jesse DenHerder said. "We sold 5,000 in eight months -it's unheard of."

And the duo, Paczesny and DenHerder, recently released the latest project, an educational kid's activity book, using the same beloved characters from the board game.

"We want to take these characters and build on them,"Paczesny said.

Like the game, the book advances in level. It begins with simple coloring, but as a child progresses, it gets more difficult and includes trivia, connecting the dots, and lessons on how to draw the characters. The end of the book has a Mad Libs type activity, with choices for adjectives like "furry,"nouns like "antlers"and verbs like "harvested."

Creating "Camp"

Paczesny has owned the Eastport-based company, TSR that distributes wire harnesses since 1997.

But, with Paczesny's ardor for the outdoors, camping, hunting and learning about wildlife, he feels it is important for today's children to be exposed to nature and to get them outside, especially with so much activity focused on computers and television.

For two years, he started up a fishing contest for kids in Central Lake, which though successful, required too much volunteer help for Paczesny to continue.

He had another idea for a game that would teach kids about the outdoors, he just needed somebody to help him design it.

As luck would have it, in a local store, Paczesny came across DenHerder's business card as a freelance graphic designer in Central Lake. Paczesny called DenHerder and a partnership was born.

"I had to take what I had in my head and put it down on the board,"Paczesny said. "What's in your head is three-dimensional and the board is not, so [DenHerder] helped with that."

The two would get together in the evenings and sketch plans. Paczesny's two daughters would give them input on the game and helped them make up the characters, like Dawn the doe, Peter the porcupine and Bruce the moose. Several of the characters are named after people in Paczesny's family.

The idea soon become a reality and, learning a lot about marketing and sales along the way, "Camp"hit the shelves.

It started very local, with area toy stores, gift shops and other retailers selling the games. But, news quickly spread and calls started coming in from as far away as Alaska.

Outdoor enthusiasm

Paczesny wants to pass on the passion for the outdoors he nurtured growing up in Michigan, and hopes to inspire interest in others. He believes kids love learning about stuff like insects, birds and mushrooms, and according to the sales of this game, he may be right.

The theme of "Camp"is, "the game that grows with you,"and he anticipates people will learn from it.

"I hope some of these questions intrigue people and makes them want to do stuff outdoors,"Paczesny said.

Paczesny thinks part of the success of Education Outdoors, is so many people do love the outdoors and can relate to it.

"I think everyone we've met has camped at some time,"he said. "It makes you nostalgic."

More than just this game, both Paczesny and DenHerder are trying to create a new brand that encourages family, emphasizes the natural world and is environmentally friendly.

The two-employee company has a lot of room to grow and both men have high ambitions for what's ahead. They are planning on a second edition of cards, because so many people have called in saying they have already memorized all the current ones. Paczesny is also planning on two more games involving hunting and fishing. Paczesny believes there is high demand for educational, outdoor children's activities.

"We're on the brink of doing something huge,"he said. "Every day babies are born that need to learn about the outdoors."

And both are enthusiastic to have found such a calling.

"It's a dream job for me,"DenHerder said. "I'm drawing pictures for kids -how much better does it get?"

Paczesny still owns and runs TSR, but really loves what he is doing with Education Outdoors, teaching and being creative with a subject he cares about.

"There isn't a day I don't have fun with it,"he said. "It's the American dream."

Education Outdoors is having a book signing with the new activity book Sept. 29 at the Nature Connection in Elk Rapids from 11 a.m to 3 p.m.

Hadley Robinson can be reached at hrobinson@michigannewspapers.com or by calling 231-533-8523.