Naperville Mom Develops a Board Game: Brave Champs

There are so many reasons to love Naperville, and among them one that stands out is its budding women entrepreneurs. So much talent in this small town!

Today we write about Niketa Jhaveri, a Naperville momtrepreneur who developed a non-fiction, educational board game inspired by her five-year-old called Brave Champs.

Brave Champs is a mom-invented, non-fiction, educational board game. A fun learning technique, Brave Champs is visually appealing and helps kids recognize community champions including firemen, police officers, mail carriers, and many more.

Why Brave Champs:

• Introduces kids to the world of non-fiction
• Lays a strong foundation for future learning
• Develops social and emotional skills such as teamwork and communication
• Nurtures creativity, curiosity, and builds awareness of the world around them
• Enhances vocabulary, reading comprehension, and listening skills

The game has found its way into public and private schools as well as to caregivers of kids with special needs. It incorporates elements such as role-play, storytelling, hand-eye coordination, and cooperative play.

Niketa Jhaveri answers our questions:

What prompted you to make this board game?

My 5-year-old inspired me to create this game. He would keep asking me about the people he met in everyday life, such as: Who is the gentleman who drives around in the cool car with the flashing lights? Who is the person who cuts my hair? The who-are-they and what-do-they-do questions were never ending. I realized there was a lack of fun learning techniques that teach kids about these different professions and present them with strong, positive role models. What started out as a game of questions played with my kids evolved into a full-fledged board game.

How did you go about from idea to fruition?

A trained user experience designer with over a decade of experience working with Fortune 500 companies in the IT industry, the concept and design of the game came naturally to me; manufacturing it was a whole new ball game. Dedicated market research, a failed prototype, and a few sleepless nights later, Brave Champs was born. When I held the first manufactured product in my hands the feeling of satisfaction was invigorating.

How have the sales been?

Really good, considering we just started and only do word-of-mouth advertising.

Any testimonials?

Yes — you can find reviews and more about the game in this profile of Niketa, where she talks about building Brave Champs alongside raising her two young boys.