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aNb Media News, May 23, 2018

The Toy Association’s “Decoding STEM / STEAM” Report Now Available

The Toy Association has released a brand-new report, “Decoding STEM/STEAM,” to help tackle the challenges, stigmas, and myths related to STEM/STEAM learning. Assembled and reviewed by a committee of experts in STEAM fields, the report aims to shed light on the meaning and history of STEM/STEAM, eradicate common myths and misconceptions, define the role of toys and play in STEM and STEAM education, and help parents better guide their children’s learning.

“Many toys and children’s products on the market are labeled as being STEM- or STEAM-focused, but in reality, there is no universally accepted system for understanding what this label means,” says Ken Seiter, executive vice-president of marketing communications at The Toy Association. “That’s why The Toy Association has embarked on a multi-year undertaking to bring more clarity to STEM/STEAM. We believe that a better understanding of this topic will help toy companies create better products for the next generation of children and drive interest in science, math, and related fields.”

The report explores how role models, stereotypes, and parental attitudes and anxieties about math and other STEM topics can influence a child’s desire and motivation to learn. It also dives into the important role played by the arts in empowering solutions to scientific problems (underscoring the value of ‘art’ in the STEAM acronym) and the top 10 ways that toys can teach STEAM.

“Our overarching goal is to help toy manufacturers, parents, and teachers encourage children to use toys and play to grow and enhance their learning – and build lifelong skills,” says Seiter.

The full “Decoding STEM/STEAM” report is now available at ToyAssociation.org.

In the coming months, The Toy Association’s STEM/STEAM Strategic Leadership Committee will look at the unifying characteristics of STEAM toys to help guide manufacturers in developing products that foster STEM/STEAM discovery and learning.

Electronic Arts Acquires Assets of GameFly Israel

GameFly, a leading console game subscription service, today announced that effective yesterday Electronic Arts has acquired the cloud gaming assets and personnel of GameFly Israel.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Israeli team for all their efforts in building the GameFly Streaming Service,” said David Hodess, CEO of GameFly. “Our USA-based games-by-mail customers can rest assured that this transaction will have no impact on their subscription. The GameFly team remains in place and looks forward to providing the same excellent service we have offered since 2003.”