Frank Caplan

Frank Caplan was a youth worker, educator, folk toy collector, and pioneer in developing and manufacturing educational toys for children. He cofounded Creative Playthings in 1945 with his wife Theresa, and worked with artists, architects, and designers, such as Isamu Noguchi, Louis Kahn, Henry Moore, Robert Winston, and the Swiss toymaker, Antonio Vitali, to create innovative educational play objects and playground designs for children. By the 1950s, Creative Playthings had gained international recognition and expanded to become one of the most important manufacturers and suppliers of materials for early childhood education. In 1975, Frank Caplan founded The Princeton Center for Infancy and Early Childhood. He researched and coauthored a national bestselling series on early childhood development with Theresa Caplan, which included, The First Twelve Months of Life , The Second Twelve Months of Life , and The Early Childhood Years ThetoYear Old . Together they also coauthored The

Frank Caplan was born in Kingston upon Hull, England, on June 10, 1911, to Russian Jewish parents. In 1914, his family immigrated to the United States and settled in Harlem, New York. He graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School in 1927 and began attending City College of New York at night. After graduating in 1931 with a bachelors degree in sociology and history, he took a job as the director of the Block Recreation Project, working with street gangs to create club centers for leadership training. His interest in toys began when working as one of the first male nursery school teachers in the U.S. under Caroline Pratt, founder and director of City and Country School in Greenwich Village, New York City. Later, he worked at the Jewish Center in Far Rockaway, Long Island , where he made puppets and simple playthings for children. In 1934, he set up a cooperative farmcamp for city children.

Source: Wikipedia