Toys with a Purpose' Ready to Help, But It Needs One Thing — Toys

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 19, 2022) — Shelley Ferrin remembers exactly when everything started to make sense — the idea, the need and the simplicity of the solution. It all came together at once and seemed so clear.

It was last fall when she and Patrick Kitzman had met to discuss the progress he’d made regarding Toys with a Purpose, a lending library that supports child development and promotes learning through play by improving access to free adapted toys in eastern Kentucky.

Kitzman, Ph.D., is a professor in the University of Kentucky Department of Physical Therapy and the founding director of The Kentucky Appalachian Rural Rehabilitation Network. For years, he has been organizing and bringing on people to help like Ferrin, a health education coordinator and interprofessional health education specialist at the UK Center for Interprofessional Health Education.

Suddenly, one thing Kitzman said made it all fall into place.

“He talked about how some children can’t turn the pages of books,” she said. “And he described how we can put popsicle sticks on the pages to make them easier for the children to turn. This was a ‘light bulb’ moment for me — it just became so clear how we can all help and how easy the solutions can be.”