Elif Atmaca – Toyi
Of the close to 22 million children living in Turkey, nearly seven million of them come from low-income families. Disadvantaged children do not have access to games and toys. Moreover, children are unable to use their creativity due to urban lifestyles, guidance from their parents and the restrictions of the toy industry. As a social enterprise that designs gaming experiences to support children’s imagination and creativity, Toyi offers a creative play kit that enables children to turn everything around them into toys. Suitable for ages 6 and up, the kit consists of wheels, feet, eyes, joints, sticks, flexible connectors and sticks so that kids can turn bits and pieces around them into any toy they imagine. The Toyi play kit doesn’t come with any instructions or rules. It’s all up to the imagination of children. Offering an open-ended game experience, with Toyi children can create an infinite number of toys using their creativity. This way, Toyi develops creativity, upcycling and 21st-century skills that children need. In addition, to reach out to disadvantaged children Toyi has partnerships with NGOs working in this field.
