In the Grand Ballroom at Navy Pier in Chicago, Laurie Peterson, the Founder of
Build & Imagine toys, shimmered with excitement as she ascended to the stage to receive the award for "Rising Star Toy Inventor of the Year" at the 8
th annual TAGIE awards honoring toy and game inventors on November 20th! Her magnetic building sets called
StoryWalls, have only been available for a year and have already made a big impact.
Laurie created Build & Imagine to get girls building in order to help them develop foundational STEM skills like spatial reasoning, design, and problem solving. Laurie took several play mechanics she knew most girls have loved and mashed them together in an innovative way (think building blocks meets dollhouse meets magnetic dress-up doll). Along the way Laurie discovered that both girls and boys love her colorfully illustrated magnetic building sets, and that these budding builders are developing language skills alongside STEM skills as they whisper stories as they play.
Laurie was nominated for the Rising Star award by Stevanne Auerbach (affectionately known as Dr. Toy) and Sherry Artemenko, a toy reviewer and language learning expert, both of whom have praised and awarded her building sets for their educational benefits. For the final award selection, Laurie received votes from industry experts, retailers and YOU! (a big thanks to our friends and family for voting).
As Laurie took to the podium to accept her award she seized the opportunity to recognize other female entrepreneurs in the toy industry who are driving much-needed change to expand the definition of toys for girls and reduce the pink/blue gender divide:
"The last few Rising Stars have all been independent entrepreneurs, in particular female entrepreneurs! I think that is important to note because we have a lot we need to change in the toy industry. I'd like to see a world where it's not so pink and blue. I want to dedicate this award to the other independent female entrepreneurs who are really helping to drive that innovation and change."
One such entrepreneur, Lucie Follett creator of the Lottie doll, shared Laurie's table at the award show and was nominated for the "Toy Innovator of the Year" award for creating an empowering doll line with a "child-like" body, designed to encourage children to embrace their individuality.
Past Rising Star winners include Debra Sterling of GoldieBlox, and Alice Taylor, creator of Makies.
ALL 2015 TAGIE AWARD WINNERS
- Rising Star Toy Inventor of the Year: Laurie Peterson from Build & Imagine for StoryWalls
- Game Innovator of the Year: Matthew Inman and Shane Small for Exploding Kittens
- Toy Innovator of the Year: Mark Boudreaux from Hasbro for Battle Action Millennium Falcon
- Young Inventor of the Year: Duncan & Hayden from Two Brows Bows
- Digital Toy Innovator of the Year: Adam Wilson and Ian Bernstein from Sphero for Star Wars BB-8
- In Memoriam: Richard Knerr and Arthur "Spud" Melin, the co-founders of the Wham-O
- Lifetime Achievement Award: Richard Maddocks from Hasbro for Furby, FurReal Friends, and more
- Hassenfield Family Humanitairian Award: for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Chicago
