What We Know:
The benefits of play are well documented. Not only is play fun, it's how kids learn. Play teaches kids the skills they need to read, share, create, and become happy, well-adjusted adults. However, as more and more kids' toys become embedded with chips, buttons, and controllers, the way kids play is changing. It is in the interest of businesses, educators, and consumers—both children and parents—to make sure that how kids are playing today, and the toys that they're using, provide them with the kind of open-ended experiences that stimulate creativity and foster critical thinking.

Our Aha! moment:
We have been playing for a long time. Claire has been ensconced in toys and media at Parents' Choice Foundation for over ten years. Wendy has been evaluating kids toys and activities professionally for fifteen years (and as mother of three for over twenty years). Two years ago after seeing hundreds of products at the New York Toy Fair, we were discussing our favorite finds and realized that nearly every toy we saw had some tie to technology. The days of jump ropes and jacks were being replaced by electronic Skip-its and Gameboys. At that moment we knew we had crossed the digital Rubicon.

However, whether it's high-tech, low-tech, or no-tech, kids want—and need—to play.  With a nod to Jean Piaget, Maria Montessori, and Fred Rogers, we know some of the most productive free play happens in the sandbox. We created Sandbox Summit™ to spark the kind of interactions that promote play for all the right reasons.

What we do:
Sandbox Summit™ is a series of conferences designed to address how technology affects the ways kids play, learn, and connect. For generations, a stick, a ball, a crayon, a doll, or an empty box were all kids needed to imagine, invent, and play. But as technology reshapes their world, kids no longer click their heels and pretend to go to Oz ... they simply click a keyboard to make Oz the first stop on a virtual tour. Everything we knew about playing, sharing, reading, and even writing is being rewired. It's time to rethink which skills are important for kids in the 21st Century, and how we can help teach them. Just as Oz seemed so mesmerizing when Dorothy first arrived, the lure of the latest tech toys and tools feels like a never-ending playground. But are these digital playthings all smoke and mirrors like the Wizard himself, or do they have the heart, soul, courage and smarts to prepare our kids for the future?

The goal of Sandbox Summit ™ is to ensure that the next generation of players becomes active innovators rather than passive consumers of technology.  Through high-energy panels, hands-on demonstrations, and thought-provoking discussions with industry leaders, journalists, analysts, and educators, Sandbox Summit™ brings an added dimension to conversations and conference tables.

The role of research:
Research is needed to ensure that the ways we use technology in children's toys and media are as wise as they are wide. Sandbox Summit™ supports and solicits academic studies and ideas that address the changing environment of play. Our aim is to present original research at each of our major conferences. At the inaugural Sandbox Summit™ in January 2008 at CES in Las Vegas, The Joan Ganz Cooney Center unveiled original research entitled D is for Digital.  Other original research is slated to be released at our September 2008 Sandbox Summit™ in New York City.

Advisory Board:
Learn more about the people who support the Sandbox Summit.