Thinkfun turns their focus to the global youth mental health crisis and how play can make all the difference in protecting and strengthening children and teens. The company’s new initiative brings together stakeholders from all over the toys and games industry with the challenge: how do we build MESH (Mental, Emotional and Social Health) skills through play?
In this bi- weekly column for The Bloom Report, we will look into the different areas of this initiative in depth. This week we share an overview of the initiative.
Kids love to play. They seek it in every situation, and the adults in their lives know that play is valuable. Parents, caregivers, educators, coaches… adults who care about children are all concerned about their mental health and looking for ways to protect and strengthen them as they grow.
The US Surgeon General’s Advisory on Protecting Youth Mental Health urges adults to empower youth and their families to recognize, manage, and learn from difficult emotions in order to improve mental health and decrease risky and disruptive behaviors.
Partnering with Dr. Deborah Gilboa, ThinkFun focused on identifying the MESH skills that lead children to build resilience. These eight skills are:
Reviewing these skills, Dr. Gilboa then identified 4 types of toys and games that directly build these skills. These are toys and games that focus on:
“As we see the growing mental health issues in our youth population, we know that we (the toy industry) have an opportunity to make a real impact on kids’ lives. By helping them build the skills that can make them more resilient, we can strengthen them both for now and for the future.” Rachele Harmuth, Head of ThinkFun.
For more information on the MESH initiative, please visit www.MESHhelps.org
Toy Safety Awareness Month Shares Tips for Safe Toy Shopping this Holiday Season
Zipstring's Austin Hillam: Delivering Smiles of Wonderment one Person at a Time.
The Toy Association™ Inducts Seven Visionaries into The Toy Industry Hall of Fame
PEOPLE OF PLAY UNVEILS OFFICIAL EVENT LINE-UP FOR POP WEEK
TA's Joan Lawrence: Prioritizing Safe Play Every Day
SARASOTA TOY MUSEUM, SET TO OPEN IN AUGUST
TOMY INTERNATIONAL AND PARAMOUNT ANNOUNCE A CROWD-FUNDED STAR TREK™ U.S.S. ENTERPRISE NCC-1701 FROM THE FIRST MOTION PICTURE
Pam Mastrota: Join The Toy Foundation at “Party with a Purpose” to Bring Play to Children’s Hospitals
PEOPLE OF PLAY ANNOUNCES REGISTRATION IS OPEN FOR THE WORLD’S LARGEST AND LONGEST RUNNING TOY & GAME INVENTOR PITCH & INNOVATION CONFERENCE
Game Review: Stratego
Randy Klimpert Shares his Ukulele Collection
Steve Casino Peanut Art
Everyone's Talking about POP!
Princess Etch - a Multi-Talented Etch A Sketch Artist
Joseph Herscher of Joseph' s Machines.
Connie Vogelmann designed Apiary & Wyrmspan!
Bob Fuhrer... Is THE Crocodile Dentist!
Tom Dusenberry... Bought Atari, Wizards of the Coast, and Avalon Hill!
Matt Leacock created Pandemic... the game!
Scott Brown and Tim Swindle... are Launching a New Sport!
POPDuo: Richard Dickson, Mattel’s President & COO, and Kedar Narayan, Young Inventor Challenge AMB
POPDuo: Will Shortz and Josh Wardle
POP Duo: Elan Lee, Co-Founder, Exploding Kittens.and Jeff Probst, Host and Exec Producer, Survivor
POP Duo: David Fuhrer, MNG Director, Blue Sq Innovations & Shawn Green, past Dodgers & Mets MLB Star
POP Duo: Bob Fuhrer, Founder, Nextoy and Tom Fazio, Golf Course Designer