Kuato Studios partners with Starlight to support the wellbeing of children in hospital through play 

Award-winning edtech games company, Kuato Studios, and children’s charity, Starlight, team up to help children in hospitals through a Nintendo Switch™ game

UK edtech company, Kuato Studios, has partnered with a children’s charity which uses play to support children in hospitals across the UK. Through their shared ethos of the power of play, 100% of the developer proceeds from Kuato’s Well-Beings: Wellness for Kids Nintendo Switch™ game will be donated to the charity.

Time in hospital can be an isolating, anxious and often boring experience for children so Starlight uses the power of play to make the experience better. The charity does this by providing toys and games to hospitals around the UK and offers children who are seriously ill the chance to escape the routine of treatment through their programme of fun breaks and days out.

Well-Beings: Wellness for Kids game offers motivational activities to help children of primary school age to understand and articulate their emotions by noticing their surroundings and calling on their imagination. The game asks children to respond to a series of simple questions about how they are feeling and then prompts motivational activities based on the information provided.

There are over 100 activities in the game, ranging from the physical and creative, to others developed in consultation with child development expert, Dr Amanda Gummer and Dr Amanda Gummer’s Good Play Guide to help children become more aware of their feelings and emotions.

Mark Horneff, CEO at Kuato Studios comments: “The past two years have been particularly difficult for young children for whom several lockdowns have meant major disruption to their education, as well as isolation from their friends and family. However, the pandemic has been even harder on the thousands of children in hospital. An illness can be incredibly isolating for children and long periods spent in hospital when diagnosed young can significantly disrupt their emotional growth”.

“We wanted to play our part in improving children’s lives no matter their predicament and we are honoured to be partnering with Starlight to do this. Our donations, through our Well-Beings: Wellness for Kids game, will help seriously ill children and their families through this challenging season”.

Sarah Woods, Director of Fundraising and Communications at Starlight comments, “We are proud to be chosen as Kuato Studios’ charity partner for Well-Beings: Wellness for Kids game, a company which is so aligned with what the charity is here to do to improve children’s wellbeing through play. Money raised through the proceeds of the game will help to ensure that Starlight can continue to provide the time, space and opportunities for vital play in hospitals for seriously ill children. Thank you so much to Kuato Studios for choosing Starlight and helping us to protect play when we need to the most.”

You can find out more about Well-Beings and purchase the game from the Nintendo eShop and show your support through a #WellBeingsDonation.

About Kuato Studios:

Founded in 2011, Kuato Studios is an edtech gaming company focused on redefining the way children learn. Harnessing the knowledge of a team consisting of award-winning teachers and top creative developers, the UK business has partnerships with household brands including Disney, Marvel and DreamWorks.

Embedded within its core game mechanics, cutting edge analytics software can pinpoint the unique position of each and every user’s learning development. With a decade of operation, the team has created 20 apps and games which have been No.1 on over 500 App Store charts worldwide. Now focused on cross-platform games including online, mobile, console and VR, Kuato’s patented Actor/Director game mechanic takes VR from a solitary activity to a shared experience.

About Starlight:

Childhood is a crucial time in everyone’s development and, when illness intervenes, it’s of critical importance to protect it. It’s when we begin to discover the things that shape our nature and start to acquire the knowledge that makes us who we are. It is a precious rite of passage for every human being but being seriously ill can take this away.

Starlight uses the power of play to make the experience of illness better for children. The charity does this by providing toys and games to hospitals around the UK and offers children who are seriously ill and their families a chance to escape the routine of treatment and restore a smile to their faces through fun days out and family breaks.

For more information visit www.starlight.org.uk

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