We believe in the power of play. We believe it is essential to the well being of everyone, young and old. That’s why we created The Chicago Toy and Game Fair, seven years ago. It is the only non-hobby toy and game fair open to the public in the USA.

Play is a fun and it reinforces learning, strengthens social skills and stimulates concentration and strategic thinking. Play helps connect, interact and inspire team building and leadership skills as well as transcends age, gender, racial and ethnic lines. In addition, play builds denser webs of neural connections that can last a lifetime keeping the mind sharp and delaying diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Since founding CHITAG we have added events such as TAGIE: The Toy and Game Inventor Conference and The Toy & Game Inventor of the Year Awards Dinner. The Toy & Game Inventor of the Year Awards are the first event to honor the minds behind the play, the toy and game inventors. These are people that have brought us and our children great joy through the years. They deserve our support.

We have also started programs to bring play into the schools and libraries. Our new website, www.gamesforeducators.com is supported by our Games in Education newsletter reaching over 250,000 educators and librarians. We have teamed up with the American Library Association to bring games into all the libraries. We host an Educator Forum at CHITAG giving educators teaching credits in the State of Illinois.

Our most recent venture using board games in fundraising – FunRaisers! Forget the candy, cookies and gift wrap! How about something you can use for years to come and play with family and friends. Check out www.gamesforfundraising.com.

We are serious about play!

Mary Couzin
Executive Director

www.DiscoverGames.com :: The World's Largest Co-Op of Game Inventors
www.Chitag.com :: The Chicago Toy and Game Fair
www.Tagie.net :: The Toy and Game Inventor Conference
www.tagieawards.com :: The Toy and Game Inventor Awards Dinner
www.g4ed.com :: Games for Educators and Games in Education e-news
www.GamesForFundraising.com :: The FunRaiser that is Good for You and Yours!