MESH Helps Launches "Play for Resilience™" Initiative Nationwide During Mental Health Awareness Month

ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- This May, in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, MESH Helps is launching its first national Play for Resilience™ initiative, bringing resilience-building play experiences directly to families through community-based activations across the country.

From May 1-8, families visiting more than 450 Chuck E. Cheese locations across the United States will experience how play builds resilience. Curated video messaging will be featured on screens every hour, highlighting the importance of social-emotional development through play.

Throughout the month of May, MESH Helps resources and MESH-Accredited products will be featured in nearly 300 American Library Association member libraries nationwide, expanding access to resilience-building play in local communities, and helping librarians and caregivers discover tools that support emotional growth, storytelling, problem-solving, and connection. Featured products include Rush Hour, Zingo!, and Puzzle Up from Ravensburger; Friends & Neighbors and The How I Survived Game from MindWare; as well as additional contributions from MAGNA-TILES, Pennycake, CONNETIX, and Blue Marble.

Together, these May activations represent the largest consumer-facing awareness effort from MESH Helps to date — and mark a significant step toward its broader goal of meeting families where they are by integrating resilience-building play into community spaces where they already gather to learn and connect.

"Play is one of the most natural and powerful ways children build resilience," said Rachele Harmuth, founder of MESH Helps. "Mental Health Awareness Month is an opportunity to meet families where they are and help them understand how everyday play experiences can support children's well-being."

The Play for Resilience initiative highlights toys and games that have earned MESH Accreditation, a distinction recognizing products that help children develop coping skills, confidence, communication, and emotional understanding through play.

By connecting families with these resources in both entertainment and learning environments, MESH Helps continues its mission to make resilience-building play more visible, accessible, and actionable for parents and caregivers.

Families, educators, therapists, and others can learn more about the initiative, find participating locations, and explore MESH-Accredited products at MESHhelps.org.

Toy and game companies interested in having their products considered for future MESH Helps initiatives and consumer-facing opportunities are invited to submit for MESH Accreditation year-round at MESHhelps.org.

About MESH Helps
MESHhelps.org launched in October 2022 to address the growing concern of kids' mental health in an increasingly challenging world. ThinkFun, a division of Ravensburger, inaugurated MESH Helps in partnership with resilience expert, Dr. Deborah Gilboa to support the mental health of children today. In December 2023, MESH Helps became an independent nonprofit with a mission to help kids build resilience through play by strengthening the critical skills of mental, emotional, and social health. For more information, please visit www.MESHhelps.org.

Media Contact:
Ahren Hoffman
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SOURCE MESH Helps