A digital therapy platform called PlaySpace has tapped Kaufman Licensing to layer popular kids entertainment brands onto its collection of toolkits designed to introduce elements of play into the therapy process.

PlaySpace launched in 2021 and is currently used by thousands of therapists around the world, says CEO Matt Cohen. It offers several tools that therapists can use to create personalized, interactive environments and make their young patients feel more comfortable with the process of therapy. Some of these immersive play-driven experiences include a dollhouse and a sandbox. 

Licensing is a very new strategy for the company. In fact, it just signed its first partnership with WildBrain to incorporate Yo Gabba Gabba! characters into its doll house and sandbox, as well as several new therapeutic activities. The plan is to study the performance data closely over the summer, and then use the insights to inform decisions around adding more brands to the platform in Q1 2026.

The PlaySpace dollhouse, which brings a staple of play-based therapy to kids in a virtual setting.

Building on this strategy, PlaySpace plans to start introducing children’s books and games this summer. And it’s also working with “one of the bigger toy licensing brands in Canada,” although Cohen is not able to share the company’s name yet. 

But Cohen says the characters from this licensing brand are already resonating well on the platform. “I can say that therapists love it. The characters we have added to our existing repository of assets are a major driver of user growth, which has increased tenfold since January.”

Incorporating elements of play and their favorite brands can make a major difference for kids in therapy, says Cohen. As a child 20 years ago, he often played board games with his therapist as a precursor to opening up about his feelings. And now Cohen wants to bring that same experience to modern therapy in order to help kids and therapists build trust and rapport more quickly. 

Therapy has largely gone virtual since the pandemic, which Cohen feels could potentially be limiting what children are getting out of the experience, since it’s more difficult to engage kids when they’re not in the same room. PlaySpace is a solution to the challenge of providing effective treatment and support in a video-call delivery system. 

Kaufman Licensing founder Sid Kaufman is a 40-year licensing veteran who has managed major brands including Jurassic Park, The Wiggles and Beyblade over the course of his career. He launched Kaufman Licensing this year as a full-service agency after leaving United Talent Agency, where he had worked for almost 10 years 

Kaufman says PlaySpace should appeal to brand owners because it represents a global distribution opportunity to create a unique kind of connection with kids in a growing niche market. According to the CDC, the number of young Americans in therapy or receiving counseling from a mental health professional doubled from 10% in 2019 to 20% in 2021/2022. 

With this market potential in mind, Kaufman plans to cast a wide net for licensing partnerships and is open to working with any brand that wants to do good. Brands with an educational bent or that tackle social-emotional learning are an especially solid fit—Disney’s Inside Out, which is all about emotions, would be a natural partnership, Cohen adds.