Hi friends,

Last week, the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy came to Milwaukee! This amazing conference brings together creators, publishers and retailers from across the toys-and-games industry in the US and beyond.

We saw tons of amazing new ideas and innovations at the marketplace, but coolest of all was that we had three Barristers take on the Certified Play Expert program.

This two-day course is a deep dive into the science of play; hands-on exercises using play to support cognitive, social and emotional growth; plus ways to apply play theory among our trusted publishers and product lines.

We're so excited to have a trio of Play Experts on our team, and we're already looking at ways to start implementing their takeaways from the conference. So if you're at the stores anytime soon, ask Jade, Elizabeth and Renee about their new set of expertise!

Cheers,

Andy