Like many parents spending a summer day at the Jersey Shore, Steven Holland found himself pulling his young children through the shallow water on a boogie board. But after watching the board drag through the sand and repeatedly fail to do the job, he started wondering if there was a better way.
That simple beach frustration eventually led to the creation of the Wooder Board, a new beach toy that’s a cross between a skimboard and boogie board, designed for children ages 3 to 8 to sit on while an adult pulls them through shallow shoreline water.
“I have three kids, and all they want to do is be pulled around on a boogie board, but they’re too little to actually boogie board in the deeper water,” Holland said. “We were in Ocean City — that’s where we go — we were driving back home… and I was just thinking about the boogie board and dragging it around, and how it’s made of foam…and then how a skimboard is made for that part of the water, right where it’s just a thin film of water there.”
Holland said he had seen plenty of other parents dealing with the same issue.
“I’ve seen a lot of other parents using boogie boards that way, and the leash will pop out of it because it’s not meant to pull anyone,” he said. “I saw a dad last summer… and the leash had popped out. So he was walking, holding a dangling leash in one hand and a broken boogie board in the other.”
The idea stayed with him after the drive home, and he decided to see if there was a solution to his problem. After researching online and finding nothing similar to what he was looking for, Holland decided the concept was worth pursuing.
For his first prototype, he purchased a skimboard, added marine-grade eye loops from a hardware store, and attached rope handles and a tow rope himself.
As development continued, safety became a priority.
“I wanted it to be like a real handle, not just a rope,” he said. “For the tow rope connection to the board, that took a lot of thinking to try and figure out what is the safest way the tow rope can connect to the board.”
The final design replaces metal hardware with a fabric connector secured between plastic pieces and features reinforced tow points and sturdy side handles. Holland said the board also glides much better than a traditional foam boogie board in shallow water because it uses a skimboard base.
In order to make sure the prototype was up to his standards, Holland’s kids, along with friends and relatives, spent the entire summer testing it.
“All three of my kids tested it extensively,” Holland said. “They were riding the prototype… and they would be laughing and wanting to go again, which led me to believe that it was a good idea.”
To bring the product to market, Holland turned to Kickstarter. The crowdfunding campaign reached its $6,000 funding goal in less than a week, and ultimately raised more than double that amount by the end of the month.
“I was nervous when I went to click the button to launch the Kickstarter,” he said. “That was when I was going to find out if it was a good idea to pursue this… and then [within] the first six days, just getting fully funded… was really exciting.”
The campaign also helped confirm there was demand beyond his own family.
As a first-time entrepreneur, Holland said the experience has involved constant learning.
He found manufacturing partners online after searching for skimboard manufacturers willing to produce smaller quantities for a startup.
Now, with Wooder Boards in customers’ hands, Holland says the most rewarding part has been watching other families enjoy them.
“So far, it’s been all positive,” he said of the feedback he’s received. “People [have been] sharing videos of them pulling their kids on it, and the kids are laughing and having fun. So that’s been the best part of this whole thing — to just see other kids having a great time on the boards.”
“I’m just a dad with an idea, and trying to bring that idea to life has been such a journey, and I’ve learned so many things,” Holland said.
Wooder Boards can be purchased on wooderboard.com.
Julia graduated from Rider University in 2024 with a BA in multiplatform journalism and minor in social media strategies. In addition to reporting on local news for Shore Local, she is a social media strategist for small businesses. Connect with her: shorelocaljulia@gmail.com or @juliatrain on Instagram.
