presents

The mobile revolution has not only changed the tools of play; it's changed the rules.

From toddlers to tweens to twenty-somethings, life is an ebook, ready to upload. Kids can—and do—play, connect, and communicate 24/7. The kind of device they own is secondary; a keyboard and fingers are really all they need. The rest is just i-candy.

Sandbox Summit will make sense of what this real-time technology is teaching our kids. And what their usage is teaching us. Come hear the latest research, touch the newest devices, and discover what happens after Gen Z.

April 17 and 18, 2012
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA

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As technology fuels an increasing number of products and places where kids play and learn, it is crucial that we design digital media to challenge and engage. Sandbox Summit presents a roster of innovators who are constantly raising the bar to ensure that today's kids become key players in the 21st century.

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First there were blocks. Then there was LEGO. Now there are apps. Kids today move seamlessly through multiple dimensions in their pursuit of fun. Today's tech play will all-too-soon become tomorrow's traditional play. What impact do emerging media platforms have on how play evolves? What role do young players have in shaping their playthings? Can a Wii teach playground rules? Is an ebook a phonics friend or foe? Is an avatar real? Hear what the innovators in children's media, books, toys, virtual worlds, and education said about 21st century play.

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It’s no secret; play is how kids learn. Nowhere is this more true than in preschools. But even there, play doesn’t escape the presence and influence of technology.

Sandbox Summit cofounders Wendy Smolen and Claire Green led Maggie McGuire, Vice President, eScholastic, Kids and Parent Channels Online, and Dr. Alice Wilder, Chief Content Officer at KIDOS Corp. and Co-Creator, Head of Research and Education at Super Why!, in a lively discussion that addressed the need for parents, educators and media creators to integrate media literacy into kids' daily lives by finding a balance between pixels and real people.

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The Sandbox Summit panel at ToyCon 2009 addressed ways to extend the fundamentals of play
by translating a toy's basic form into new languages. Guiding the panel were Sandbox Summit
cofounders Claire Green and Wendy Smolen. The panelists were Laura Seargeant Richardson,
Principal Designer, frog design, Inc., who specializes in thinking out of every box she's ever
encountered; Carly Schuler, Fellow Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, whose
groundbreaking studies D is for Digital and M is for Mobile have changed the way we view
everyday tech "toys;" and Scott Michaels, Vice President, Client Services at Atimi Software, Inc.,
who has literally and figuratively helped put technology and play in the palms of our hands.

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We’re taking the subject of play so seriously, that we’re zapping all the fun out of it. Do kids really need to know their ABC’s at age 2? Does every toy need to have a formal learning component? Does every TV show have to be interactive? Do playgrounds need to have “facilitators”? Sandbox Summit cofounders Claire Green and Wendy Smolen addressed these questions to an esteemed  mix of panelists to get to the crux of why and how kids play today. 

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