The LEGO Foundation and Sesame Workshop have announced the launch of a five-year, $10 million initiative in South Africa aimed at promoting children's learning through play.

Announced at the first-ever Africa Play Conference in Pretoria, the initiative will build on the organizations' existing efforts in South Africa, which have created play-based learning opportunities for children and their caregivers since 2015. As part of the initiative, new Takalani Sesame segments, the South African version of Sesame Street, and parent-facing videos promoting play-based learning will be featured on television and digital platforms. The initiative also will support an expansion of outreach programs in the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, and Free State provinces designed to help teachers, caregivers, and social workers encourage meaningful play that contributes to children's learning and development.

Through the initiative, the LEGO Foundation and Sesame Workshop have committed to creating an enabling environment in which play-based learning is integrated into educational policy at the local and national levels — putting play higher on the country's agenda and creating a body of resources that can be integrated into early-childhood programs across the country. The initiative builds on earlier LEGO Foundation and Sesame Workshop projects — including Play Every Day and Play Well and Be Happy — that have helped caregivers in Johannesburg and surrounding provinces learn about the educational value of play and empowered them to engage with children in ways that contribute to their healthy development.

"There is an urgent need for rethinking how we equip children with the skills needed to successfully navigate an uncertain and complex world. Right from the outset, learning through play is the best way for them to develop skills such as problem solving or creativity," said Kerry Kassen, LEGO Foundation initiatives lead for South Africa. "To provide opportunities for children to foster a breadth of skills in everyday situations, adults must take a risk — the beautiful risk of allowing for uncertainty to unfold in their daily lives and inviting children to take agency in those occasions to connect, explore, or transform their surroundings."