Together For Play

Growing inequality and a global pandemic plunged education and learning systems into crisis. And across Brazil, Colombia, Rwanda, and South Africa, inequality and segregation have turned play into a privilege. Many parents and caregivers face social vulnerability, competing priorities and a lack of knowledge about the benefits of play for their children. The LEGO Foundation asked us to help turn this around — and we responded with a powerful array of locally contextualized on- and offline interventions.

Together for Play was a 2-year model that focused on organizing interventions across 4 countries, tailored to local context and need, that mobilized parents and caregivers to value and demand playful learning through digital campaigns, in-person events and experiences, and advocacy campaigns. We took a movement-building approach — growing an ecosystem of partner organizations and building capacity to win and sustain systemic cultural and political changes that would make play a cornerstone of children’s learning and development.

We designed and named the Together for Play brand using colorful splashes that evoked polish balanced with playfulness and youth. Then a unique local brand was created for each country, with a distinct color palette and design scheme to tie into cultural norms, traditions, and aesthetics. We also built a website that served as a hub for the project and the country initiatives. 

Interventions Summary, Play for Success (RW) shared playful learning through traditional games and media, with parents sharing videos of playing with children; Agenda for Play (CO) worked with the NiñezYa coalition to advocate for childhood development in political dialogue; Play Express (BR) promoted play through a traveling campaign with community events and decision-maker engagement; How I Played My Way Here (SA) raised awareness with 54 radio shows on SABC and influencer partnerships.