Ambessa Play

Ambessa Play designs educational kits and crafting tools for children, built on the idea that children should be able to make the things around them. Its first product, the DIY Kinetic Flashlight, is a kit for ages eight and up with a manual co-designed with children, all tools included and lessons in circuits, kinetic energy and LEDs; walkie-talkie, radio and camera kits are announced as next.

The company was started by Sara after children asked her to build a DIY torch during a volunteer coding workshop in East Africa; during her MSc in Child Development at Oxford she met engineer Leo and soon after designer Meghna, and a Kickstarter in 2023 brought Ambessa to parents and teachers in 32 countries. Kits follow a one-for-one model, donating one to a displaced child without school or electricity through partners in 13 countries.