Dan Klitsner, renowned inventor of Bop It, is launching a Kickstarter for a new yard game... Sling It! Is it medieval cornhole with a sausage-slinging twist? Find out in this special episode, where Dan discusses the storied history of sausage tossing and the secret to inventing a fun and satisfying game! --- Get notified when the Sling It Kickstarter launches on June 4th! http://slingitgame.com/ &nbsp&nbsp/&nbspplayslingit&nbsp --- Hidden Role Podcast is also available on most major podcast networks! https://linktr.ee/hiddenrole --- Visit our website and sign up for our newsletter to get a sneak peak at our upcoming guests: https://www.hiddenrolepodcast.com/ --- Have an idea for someone who should appear on the show? Leave a comment below OR make a suggestion at: https://www.hiddenrolepodcast.com/sug... --- Hidden Role: The Brains Behind your Favorite Games

MESH Helps started with a question, “How can we strengthen the skills kids need for their mental, emotional, and social health and build resilience through play?”. ThinkFun inaugurated this initiative in partnership with resilience expert, Dr. Deborah Gilboa who prepared research and built the MESH White Paper. &nbsp MESH Helps is proud to be a nonprofit organization as of December 2023 with a mission to help kids build resilience through play. &nbsp This weekly column will share insights on MESH Accreditation and provide details on the MESH play patterns to select and submit products for evaluation during the pre-order sale through May 17, 2024. This week’s column share’s insights on one of four play patterns: bridging play. &nbsp When kids have secure, positive relationships with trusted adults it allows them to make more sense of changes or challenges - key to building resilience. It is important for children to play with peers for development, but nothing compares to the joy, satisfaction, and mental, emotional, and social skills a child builds from playing with a caregiver. Bridging play between kids and adults helps build a child’s self-esteem, learn about the world, and provides opportunities for them to learn new skills while building a bond. &nbsp Bridging Play as defined by MESH encourages children and adults to play together and connect which is critical to build mental, emotional, and social health skills. &nbsp We recommend using the 4 play patterns as a guide to select and submit products for MESH Accreditation. Through the research and expertise from Dr. Gilboa and the accreditation framework built by Dr. Amanda Gummer, founder of FUNdamentally Children, we found that a majority of toy and game products within these play patterns encourage multiple skills of resilience. To pass MESH Accreditation, products must intentionally develop at least two MESH skills of resilience by design, feature, and/or instruction to pass evaluation. The following play patterns are a good reference for selecting products for MESH Accreditation: &nbsp Overcoming Obstacles - Encourages the skills needed to identify and solve problems Example MESH Skills: problem solving, cognition, adaptation, perseverance &nbsp Storytelling - Encourages the skills needed to express experiences Example MESH Skills: communication, self-advocacy, adaptation, cognition &nbsp Increasing Challenges - Encourages the skills needed to adapt and comprehend Example MESH Skills: perseverance, adaptation, self-regulation, cognition &nbsp Bridging Play - Encourages children and adults to play together and connect Example MESH Skills: communication, conflict resolution, self-advocacy &nbsp FUNdamentally Children is the expert third-party accrediting body for MESH Helps which is led by Dr. Amanda Gummer with over 20 years' experience in child behavior development and a PhD in Neuropsychology. The organization provides an independent, evidence-based approach to testing and accreditation. Each product submitted for MESH Accreditation will be reviewed by FUNdamentally Children staff that have credentials in child development and/or education. &nbsp Pre-orders for MESH Accreditation end on May 17th and are prioritized for review. Products can be delivered to FUNdamentally Children in the US or the UK by May 31st. MESH Accreditation reviews for pre-orders will be completed by September for holiday marketing. Check out the MESH FAQs Sheet for more information.&nbsp &nbsp Will you be at ASTRA’s Marketplace & Academy or Toymaster trade shows? Contact info@MESHhelps.org if you would like us to stop by your booth to learn more! &nbsp For more information on the MESH Accreditation Program, please visit www.MESHhelps.org/accreditation or email info@MESHhelps.org. &nbsp &nbsp

&nbsp For the month of May, we're reaching out to individuals to support the Young Inventor Challenge's mission to inspire the next generation of toy innovators. Watch the inspiring/fun video and please donate today to help these designers of tomorrow. &nbsp &nbsp$25 provides a scholarship for 1 young inventor to submit their toy or game to the YIC &nbsp &nbsp$50 covers a partial month of hosting for the young inventor virtual submission platform &nbsp &nbsp$135 provides 1 table for young inventors to pitch and display their toy or game in-person at the YIC &nbsp &nbsp$275 covers the cost of 1 microphone for the in-person YIC awards ceremony &nbsp &nbsp$480 covers the cost of the YIC winners’ trophies &nbsp &nbsp$1,000 covers a portion of the public relations coverage to illuminate the young inventors and their creations for the YIC &nbsp &nbsp$2,500 covers a portion of the stage techs and A/V for the in-person YIC awards ceremony &nbsp Contribute to the YIC here:&nbsphttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycm3Mb60rIA&t=2s &nbsp Thank you for supporting this incredible program and check out the video below to see some of these amazing Young Inventor Challenge kids. &nbsp &nbsp

Storypod Has The A For Audio, B For Bedtime Bliss And C For Curated Content At THE Trade Show For The Juvenile Products Industry Miami, FL (May 10, 2024) – The hunt is on in Las Vegas from May 15 to 17 to uncover something so special for tots that customers will say thank you! We know the story (https://www.storypod.com/pages/reviews) and have the happy ending from thousands of consumers! Discover Storypod at Booth 571 at ABC Kids Expo®. Here specialty retailers, sales reps and baby store owners can play with the palm-size wonder that engages kids with multisensory stories, music, and skill-building at every stage through magical touch-to-play yarn audio characters, books, trivia cards and more!