Amid a mental health crisis, toy industry takes on a new role: building resilience
As more children emerge from the pandemic grappling with mental health issues, their parents are seeking ways for them to build emotional resilience
NEW YORK — As more children emerge from the pandemic grappling with mental health issues, their parents are seeking ways for them to build emotional resilience.
And toy companies are paying close attention.
While still in its early phase, a growing number of toy marketers are embracing MESH — or mental, emotional and social health — as a designation for toys that teach kids skills like how to adjust to new challenges, resolve conflict, advocate for themselves, or solve problems.
The acronym was first used in child development circles and by the American Camp Association 10 years ago and gained new resonance after the pandemic. Rachele Harmuth, head of ThinkFun, a division of toy company Ravensburger, and resilience expert and family physician Deborah Gilboa, formed a MESH taskforce earlier this year with the goal of getting manufacturers to design toys with emotional resilience in mind and to have retailers market them accordingly.
“We just need to educate parents and educators just a little bit to know that we could be using their play time a little bit intentionally,” Gilboa said.
The plan is to certify MESH toys by mid-2024 the same way the Toy Association did for STEAM toys, which emphasize science, tech, engineering, arts, and math. Adrienne Appell, a spokeswoman at the Toy Association, notes that MESH is an area it will continue to monitor as it evolves.
Many toys that could be considered MESH happen to already be in children’s toy chests — like memory games, puppets, certain types of Legos, Pokémon trading games, and Dungeons & Dragons. The concept was highlighted
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