Moms create School Buddy to help children transition to school

MACOMB TOWNSHIP/NOVI — The transition from home to school is often difficult for young children. Many tear up or cling to their parents and guardians and refuse to go into the school.

Two sisters, Callie Moylan, of Novi, and Carrah Wilczynski, of Macomb Township, put their heads together and came up with a solution to this challenging situation that they faced as moms — a transition item. And thus School Buddy was born.

School Buddy is a small stuffed toy that children can put into their backpacks to go with them on adventures where their parents can’t, such as at school or swimming practice. The child is taught that their school buddy is new to the world, really wants to go to school or practice, and needs someone to show them around. However, School Buddy has rules and must remain in the child’s backpack throughout the school day.

“It’s not something that is meant to be out; it is just something to help get them through the doors of a place they can learn and grow,” said Wilczynski.

  The School Buddy Adventure Support Set was inspired by Moylan’s Daughter, Kinsley, who had difficulty transitioning back to school at the Novi Early Childhood Center after Thanksgiving break in the fall of 2021. Moylan said that dropping off her daughter was getting more and more difficult and she had debated possibly taking her out of school, but really didn’t want to do that. Moylan said she would talk to her sister, who works as an occupational therapist in a school setting, and that Wilczynski suggested Moylan buy Kinsley a transition item. Moylan said she gave her a small stuffed bunny and explained to her that the bunny was her new buddy and she needed to show it around school and the world. Moylan said it worked beautifully.

“I’ll never forget seeing her walk into school with her buddy in her backpack with, like, a whole new level of confidence,” Moylan said. “She wasn’t focused on hanging onto my side or my husband’s side. She was more focused on helping her buddy. So she walked in with a little more pep in her step.”

After seeing how well this worked for her daughter, Moylan was inspired, and with the encouragement of her husband and the help of her sister, they came up with a story and activity book and worked with a designer to create a School Buddy plush toy for kids. The story and activity book helps parents explain to their children what their role is in helping show their School Buddy the world.

“We saw that repetition is key, so a lot of the activities help children learn the story, remember it, and then there’s activities that make it a part of their every day,” said Wilczynski.

The book features a caregiver checklist with some strategies to help parents introduce School Buddy. It also includes an area for kids to name it, a letter to the child from School Buddy, and an area for kids to record with stickers the types of adventures they go on, as well as several other activities.

The book also provided a space for the two moms to showcase their children’s artistic sides. Doodles done by Moylan’s four children and Wilczynski’s two children can be seen throughout the book.

This is the first school year that the sisters have been able to promote School Buddy. They said they have had people across the country purchase it, and it seems to really work. Moylan said they had a friend buy one for their child who is very timid, and the child took to School Buddy so well that he didn’t even look back on the first day.

“It’s amazing, because I feel like all kids love to help. They like to feel empowered, so when they are so focused on helping this buddy, their fears start to fade away,” Moylan said.

School Buddy can be purchased online at SchoolBuddyStory.com. It runs $32.99 plus tax and comes with a choice of a pink/purple stuffie or a blue/green stuffie and the activity book. The sisters are offering free shipping with the code BACK2SCHOOL through the end of September.

“We are so excited to introduce our School Buddy Adventure Support Set in hopes to help ease children’s fears, provide comfort and encouragement, and increase their confidence as they go to school and on other life adventures,” Wilczynski said.