‘Party with a Purpose’ to Support the Benefits of Play on Mental Health
August 19, 2024 | Over the past decade, the mental health of children and teens has drastically declined, with 40 percent of young people reporting feeling sad or hopeless almost every day1. The emotional and communicative benefits play provides to children are well researched, and The Toy Foundation’s (TTF) Children’s Hospital Play Grants program is the industry’s opportunity to deliver play to children’s hospitals responding to mental health crises every day.
“Party with a Purpose,” taking place September 9 at TAO Los Angeles, is the industry’s night to fundraise for this critical need. Show your support by joining us (secure your ticket here), plus enjoy a performance from Blues Traveler, networking with industry leaders, and more.
To discuss how play improves patient care, Sara Rosales Montalvo, senior vice president of communications at Jazwares, led a conversation with child life specialists at Children’s Hospital Orange County to discuss the impact of “coping kits” – funded by a TTF grant – for their patients in the Mental Health Inpatient Center. Below is an excerpt of their conversation; the full interview is available on YouTube.
Sara Rosales Montalvo: Tell us what the grant from The Toy Foundation has meant for you and your patients.
Children’s Hospital Orange County: CHOC’s mental health inpatient center provides trauma-informed care to children ages three to 17 years old who are in crisis. They often do not know what a coping skill is and the coping kits we created with our grant helps us introduce and practice these skills with our kids. Often our kids get very overwhelmed, and the kits are critical to make them feel more comfortable, share their feelings with our specialists, and feel empowered by deciding what play tool in the kit they want to use to cope.
SRM: At The Toy Foundation, The Toy Association, its members, and Jazwares, the need for play is why we are in business. I’d love to hear how you’re incorporating play into your treatment.
CHOC: Play is a vital component to facilitate our core values of care – safety, choice, collaboration, trustworthiness, and empowerment – and remind our patients that even in a scary place like a hospital, they are still a kid, and we can have fun and play. We recently had a patient who was struggling; we presented the coping kit to them and the patient immediately started playing with a compound, which led to a fun conversation about slime, and you could see them go from such a heightened state of anxiety to their baseline. Once they feel safe, and are safe, we can begin to provide the care that is needed.
SRM: How can the toy industry support and accelerate the success you’re seeing?
CHOC: The grant from The Toy Foundation has allowed us to provide a coping kit to every patient in the Mental Health Inpatient Center. With additional funding, we hope to sustain and expand the distribution to other areas of the hospital. We frequently see kids in the emergency department going through a mental health crisis, and sometimes they can be stuck there for hours. It would be amazing to have coping kits to present to those kids as well.
All proceeds from “Party with a Purpose” will directly support TTF’s work funding play therapy programs like this in 2025 and beyond. Tickets are available for purchase here. The event will take place during The Toy Association’s LA Fall Preview market week.
To learn more about The Toy Foundation and get involved, visit ToyFoundation.org or contact TTF staff.
1CDC. Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data Summary & Trends Report: 2013-2023.