At Parul University, the Parul Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research Centre (PIERC) brought play and purpose together with the Vadodara Toycathon 2025. The event transformed ordinary classrooms into buzzing innovation labs and gave students a shot at turning their prototypes into real startups. Teachers, parents, students, and industry leaders, basically anyone who believes learning through play matters, came together for a day that felt less like a competition and more like a vision for the future.
The response was overwhelming. More than 2,500 individuals, among whom there were teachers, educators, mentors, parents, industry professionals, and academic leaders, participated in the event. 176 teams took part in the event, out of which 70 were selected to present their projects in the final stage of the contest. In total, there were 798 students involved, among whom there were representatives of 38 school teams and 32 teams from higher education institutions.
A platform built for real-world impact
Toycathon wasn’t just a showcase; it was a launchpad. All games and toys spanning science, mathematics, cultural heritage, emotional intelligence, sustainability, and technology were created by finalists. An expert jury comprising Mr. Purvang Panchal (Kimochis Toys), Mr. Ashutosh Jani (Krida Naturals Pvt. Ltd.), and Mr. Ashish Karkar (Todfof) brought real industry perspective to the table, evaluating not just creativity but also commercial viability.
The ideas that stood out
Feeling Factory (Team Emotion Dice): A board game that helps kids put names to feelings. Simple idea, but honestly, one of the most needed in the room.
Golden Grid (Team Golden Minds): Math, but make it fun. This strategy game pulls from the Fibonacci sequence and Pascal’s triangle and somehow makes both feel like something you’d actually want to play.
Triangular Logic Puzzle (Team Strick Nova, Anand Vidya Vihar): A clean, no-frills puzzle built to sharpen problem-solving. Sometimes the simplest formats hit hardest.
Recycled Carrom (Jwal Kataria): A fully playable carrom board made from recycled cardboard. It’s sustainable, it’s clever, and it proves you don’t need fancy materials to make something outstanding.
Dashavatara Combo Set (Team Avatar): An AR/VR board game where kids recite Sanskrit slokas and explore Indian mythology while playing. Where cultural learning doesn’t feel like a lesson but a game.
Enchanted Mind (Team 911): For visually impaired children, a gestured-based game was invented. This one stood out for all the right reasons; inclusive, thoughtful, and genuinely needed.
SpellaBOT 1.0 (Anand Vidya Vihar): An AI-powered spelling robot, for teaching literacy with a little tech magic inculcated in.
EduCatch (Team Cypher Squad): A 2D movement-based game that uses AI to make learning an active, physical experience. Less sitting, more doing.
The Exiled King: Rama (San Crafters): A digital storytelling game built around the Ramayana. It doesn’t just tell the story, it makes players live the values behind it.
More than a competition
The ₹30,000 cash prize was just one part of it. What made Toycathon genuinely different was the bridge it built between student imagination and industry reality. Young creators didn’t just present ideas, they received feedback from toy manufacturers, discussed manufacturing pipelines, and walked away with a clearer sense of what it takes to bring a product to market.
At Parul University, we promote this innovation culture where students are not just immersed in research papers but also alive in hands-on collaboration, creative risk-taking, and the kind of mentorship that translates classroom skills into real-world outcomes.
