Innovative toys designed with an Indian ethos, win the day at Amazon's #ToyathonChallenge2020

The winners of the #ToyathonChallenge2020, launched back in December 2020 by Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal, Hon’ble Union Minister of Education, Government of India, was announced. The pan-India ‘toy hackathon’ sought to discover some unique and innovative ideas from enterprising youth. The challenge ran across 9-12 weeks and was open for all students enrolled in Indian higher educational institutions.

We are happy to announce that three teams of bright young undergraduates and graduates from some of India’s best design institutes made it to the top. Apart from the winning team who will receive a prize money of Rs. 5 lakh, two other teams were tied at the second spot winning Rs. 2.5 lakh each. The winners will get a chance to showcase their creations to leading Indian toy manufacturing brands Smartivity and Shumee.

Lauching the event in December, Amit Agarwal, SVP and Country Manager, Amazon India, had emphasized on how Amazon India "has been committed to enabling the MSME ecosystem through different initiatives to support local artisans and manufacturers." The #ToyathonChallenge2020 he had said "is another step towards our commitment to local empowerment where the winners will get a chance to partner with a leading Indian toy manufacturing brand to showcase their creation,”

Subhendu Panigrahi, Co-founder & CEO of Skillenza, in partnership with whom this Toyathon was conducted, said, “Toyathon was one of the biggest and successful hackathons that Skillenza has hosted over the years. It was a unique hackathon, as participants were expected to build toys instead of software products. We witnessed a few marvelous ideas coming from the student communities. Our community thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience, and we are extremely delighted to have partnered with Amazon.”

All three winning entries present environmentally friendly toys that are designed to educate, entertain and engage young minds with local handcrafted and folk-inspired creations. Each of these unique and innovative designs reflect India’s rich culture and heritage, and are sure to instill young children with traditional Indian ethos, values and pride.

Team members Abha Vithaldas, Namisha Bajpai, Assissa Rachel Sam and VN Kartika are all undergrad students from the Symbiosis Institute of Design, Pune. Their creation, Vansh, is an interactive toy on wheels for children in the age group of 3-8 years. This easy to pull along creation is an interactive story-based toy that introduces a child to ancient Indian dynasties and their family lines. The team hope that their innovative design will help in inculcating traditional Indian values among children.

Team Karyr, tied jointly at the second spot, had master of design students, Richa Raj, Shruti Gupta and Raaj Anil Kumar, from Avantika University, Ujjain. The team created a unique storytelling and story building game, The Judge, for groups as well as individual players. Delving into stories like the Ramayana, Indian dance forms, festive and elements of nature, this game involves making your story using these elements. Says team member Shruti Gupta, “We have created various elements with felt, cut them into shapes, and added a thin magnetic button on the back of the same. We then created a board out of canvas and stainless steel, wrapping a cotton cloth over it. With this arrangement, players as well as teachers can go ahead and create multiple game modes using the different elements for recreation as well as learning.”

Also tied jointly as the first runners up were Sharanya Dharmarajan, Vrinda Sudrania and Twinkle Garg. Undergrad students of the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Gandhinagar, the bright young girls are studying Accessories Design and Fashion Communication. Their creation is an eco-friendly puzzle game based on the dwindling art of Kavad, a Rajasthani tradition of crafting stories in a box. The stories mainly originate from popular Indian epics and legends, such as the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Jataka tales.

Our best wishes to the three winning teams too!