Not Just Toying Around

Balancing motherhood and running a business isn’t always child’s play, but Toy Around founder Tulika Sahai manages with finesse.

Some of us may recall the fond memories and sheer joy of receiving and unwrapping a new toy at Christmas. It seems that no matter the generation, toys continue to have the power to bring a smile to kids over, and over, and over again.

As a strong believer in the role of play in a child’s development, Toy Around’s founder, Tulika Sahai, was faced with a dilemma – how could she provide her children with new toys without contributing to the environmental crisis of over-consumption? The solution that Tulika arrived at was the creation of an app that she hopes will help parents and children alike come to view toys differently, encouraging them to embrace the value in reducing toy clutter in the home. Toy Around is a new toy marketplace app that allows users to swap, sell or buy toys in just a few simple steps.

How would you describe yourself as a mom?

Perfectly imperfect.

I have as many parenting wins as I have parenting fails. I'm goofy, I’m serious, I discipline. I'm addicted-to-coffee, good at giving and getting hugs, full of laughs, honest and authentic, emotionally safe and connected, and most of all, constantly learning (especially patience). I'm really good at playing scary dinosaur!

Whichever hat I’m wearing for the day, my attitude and actions are driven by the core philosophy of instilling responsibility in my kids, and my desire to give them the tools to make responsible choices in life.

How do you raise your kids to keep environmental awareness in mind?

There are so many things we can do at home as part of daily life to nurture environmentally conscious kids without the need to drastically change our behaviours. Just as we grew up knowing about the hole in the ozone layer and global warming, our kids need to grow up knowing issues such as green energy and the war on plastic.