Toca Boca -is a play studio that makes digital toys for children. Their interactive apps are brightly colored, fun and allow children to play in a safe digital environment. The Stockholm based company has to date made 27 apps.
The Toca Boca philosophy states:
‘We think playing and having fun is the best way to learn about the world. Therefore we make digital toys that help stimulate the imagination, and that you can play together with your kids. Best of all – we do it in a safe way without advertising or in-app purchases.’
We were approached by Toca Boca who informed us that their apps had been greatly received by children with autism as well as their parents, although the apps are not ‘autism specific.’
Toca Magazine has this month been running a series of articles relating to play and the use of interactive gaming apps for children with autism. The articles can be found here. http://tocaboca.com/magazine/
One such article in Toca Magazine, Autism Awareness Month: Trains and the Human Mind states:
‘Toca Train gives kids control over a powerful machine that doesn’t stop unless they want it to. In a world that is constantly changing, calling for our attentions and demanding things of us, it sure is nice to be able to get into a mind state where nothing else matters, where things are predictable and where I am the master of my own domain.
Perhaps that is why Toca Train has become so popular with many children, some off, some on, the autism spectrum.’
Toca Boca gaming apps have been widely recognized as being a useful tool in helping children with developmental disabilities to engage in play and to further help them with communication and to engage with others.