Play it Forward

Play it Forward is a new non-profit in the South Florida area with the goal of establishing a free toy library system in which families from the community donate gently used toys and other families are able to check out those toys for free to increase child access to high-quality play.

In the South Florida area, the significant gap in income between wealthy and low-income families hits children hard. Living in poverty, children are prone to falling behind their peers as early as kindergarten due to a lack of access to developmentally stimulating activities and/or interactions. Child play, particularly facilitated and joined by an adult, holds powerful potential to teach many areas that prepare children for learning and later life, including problem-solving, conflict negotiation, fine motor skills, frustration tolerance, and many, many more. Increasing access to toys and play has the potential to improve child behavior and language, and often increase problem-solving and emotion regulation capacity.

In 2024, Play it Forward started free toy borrowing in the Main Branch of the Miami public library with 100 toy kits. In September 2024, toy kit availability was expanded to all 50 toy branches. Now families can request toys from any public library branch in Miami-Dade, and the toy they request will be shipped from the Main Branch library where they can check it out at their local branch and keep it to enjoy for three weeks! Throughout 2024-2025, the toys available have expanded from 100 to 200 and now 300 toys. This year we are hoping to get access to toys that are a good fit for children with disabilities so we can further expand the accessibility of the library and allow more kids to experience the magic of play!