Leading Child Development Through Play
Our Cause
We aim to mainstream play and make play an integral part of children’s learning through advocating for the Right to Play
Our Impact
We take Play to 150,000 children across Maharashtra everyday and have supported 7,600+ teachers to transform them into Play Practitioners
Our Approach
Our unique Conscious Play® approach empowers children through a transformational impact on childhood experiences and outcomes
Our Play Programmes
We transform classrooms into play spaces, thus enabling a safe space for children to develop 21st century life skills such as critical thinking, communication and socio-emotional learning
200,000+ children access our play programmes every day.
PLAY IS CRUCIAL TO A CHILD'S DEVELOPMENT
The Power of Play
Play is a life-affirming spark that keeps children spirited and joyful even in the face of adversity. Play drives us to live in the moment. Play needs no language; Play is the language for a child to communicate and explore.
Toybank, the flagship project of The Opentree Foundation, a non-profit organisation, optimises the power of play to ensure happier, healthier and fulfilling childhoods. Our play programmes create safe spaces that empower at-risk children to grow, learn and express themselves.
Play enriches childhood in ways that lead children to grow into confident, responsible and compassionate members of our society.
It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken [adults].
– Frederick Douglass
The Numbers at Play
Toybank’s 3-year impact study with over 8,000 children shows how Play changed children’s lives in Mumbai’s urban informal settlements.
10x increase in Curiosity
5x increase in Honesty
2x increase in Attention span
Behavioural Progress
(Period: April 2017 - March 2020)
Our reach
Play Changes Lives
We have grown our Play programme presence to 12 districts across Maharashtra, India. It has successfully helped at-risk children develop greater cognitive, socio-emotional and critical thinking skills.
200,000+
Children actively learning through play every day
650+
Play Centres
423+
Government school partners
10,000+
Teachers trained as Play Facilitators
Impact Stories
Our Play Advocates
What Supporters Say About Us
what's new
The Opentree Foundation News
TOF Transforms Learning Through Play
In 2004, while working with children in difficult circumstances, our Co-founders, Shweta and Vikram discovered that play could do what traditional systems couldn’t, it could unlock life skills and build confident, well-rounded individuals.
This led to The Opentree Foundation, which uses its Conscious Play® approach to empower children from vulnerable communities with essential lifeskills. Today, TOF has reached 200,000+ children, trained 10,000+ teachers, and supported 600+ schools across Maharashtra.