MESH Helps Partners with FUNdamentally Children for Toy and Game Accreditation

News provided by

May 01, 2024, 08:47 ET

MESH Accreditation Pre-Orders Open Through May

ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- MESH Helps, a nonprofit with a mission to help kids strengthen resilience through play, continues to rally the toy industry to be part of the growing MESH movement by submitting products for accreditation through May 31, 2024. FUNdamentally Children will evaluate products as a third-party accrediting body led by Dr. Amanda Gummer to provide evidence-based testing in partnership with MESH Helps.

Dr. Amanda Gummer with Rachele Harmuth, head of ThinkFun at the 2023 New York Toy Fair after MESH Helps presentation.

FUNdamentally Children is a research consultancy specializing in child development and play. Dr. Gummer explains, "Providing objective guidelines to toy companies and an accreditation for consumers to identify MESH toys is a win-win-win. Manufacturers have a framework to guide product development, retailers have products to talk authoritatively about resilience, and most importantly, children have opportunities to develop MESH skills."

FUNdamentally Children adapted the MESH White Paper compiled by resilience expert, Dr. Deborah Gilboa into a framework that focuses on the 8 critical skills of MESH. Companies submitting products for MESH Accreditation can use the 4 play patterns as a guide to select products that intentionally develop skills of resilience by design, feature, and/or instruction.

MESH Helps has received a range of submissions from companies that recognize the profound influence toys have on children's mental health. Product submissions are open through May to join these prestigious companies that recognize the significance of MESH Accreditation.

TOMY UK Director of Marketing, Claire Ridley shares, "Mental, emotional, and social health skills are incredibly important for children in today's world and Mood Bears as a brand is committed to being part of the conversation and the solution. The importance of such a program will give consumers and retailers alike reassurance and more importantly the understanding of how toys can support children's resilience."

Story Time Learning Chief Games Officer, Edward Huang adds, "We develop all our games with MESH in mind – our stories are woven into play and help kids build cognitive, communication, and problem-solving skills. We believe the rigorous framework will help our industry positively impact a generation of children toward greater mental health - such an urgent need in society today."

Rates of childhood mental health concerns have risen steadily since 2010. As mental health issues grow, the goal is not to simply understand the problem but to protect and strengthen children's resilience in an ever-changing world. Jamie Gallagher, MESH board member explains, "MESH Accreditation gives the toy industry the chance to go beyond 'what we do' and make a huge difference in the lives of children because that is 'who we are' as a community."

For more information on MESH Accreditation, please visit: www.MESHhelps.org/accreditation

About MESH Helps:
MESHhelps.org launched in October 2022 to address the growing concern of kids' mental health in an increasingly challenging world. ThinkFun, a division of Ravensburger, inaugurated MESH Helps in partnership with resiliency expert, Dr. Deborah Gilboa to support the mental health of children today. MESH Helps functions as an independent nonprofit with a mission to help kids build resilience through play by strengthening the critical skills of mental, emotional, and social health. For more information, please visit MESHhelps.org.

Contact:
Ahren Hoffman
800-468-1864
[email protected]

SOURCE MESH Helps