What Can the World of Social Impact Learn from Toys?

Talking toy-making, play, and change-making with Ilana Ben-Ari, founder Twenty One Toys

Why It Matters

Social entrepreneur Ilana Ben-Ari makes toys to teach empathy and failure. Learning through play isnโ€™t a new concept, but there are emerging ideas here that could punch up social impact leadership.

What did you play with during the holidays when you were a kid?

My mom is this wonderful combination of feminism and brilliance. She studied chemistry at Oxford, so I got all those terrible gifts that were all about learning. As a kid, I didnโ€™t fully appreciate it, but now as an adult I appreciate how much the toys I play with shaped my view of the world, which was both about being curious and learning.

 

The whole toys in the workplace thing โ€” it was a tech trend. Now, more serious skill-building toys are making inroads in the workplace. Why is this?

If we look at what the future of work looks like, itโ€™s not about excelling in reading, writing, and arithmetic, itโ€™s skills like creativity and collaboration.

Play unlocks such an incredible level of understanding and learning that is not just individual, but is shared and collected and continually prac

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