Diane Clark: Screen-Free, Active, Fun Learning That Uses Technology

Ladderworks is a publishing platform of diverse picture books and online curriculum with the mission to empower over a million kids to become social entrepreneurs. Our current series features interviews by our interplanetary journalist Spiffy with inspiring Social Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Builders, who are advancing the UN SDGs.

Hi folks! I’m Spiffy, your interplanetary journalist reporting from Planet Earth, back with a new guest, this time from London! Diane Clark, the CEO of Stepping Stones Games Ltd, is an entrepreneur committed to making a difference in the world. Let’s see how she’s doing it!

Spiffy: Welcome to the blog, Diane! What challenge is Stepping Stones Games addressing?

Diane: Thanks for having me, Spiffy! Did you notice how during the pandemic nearly everything we usually did transferred over to a screen? Even school? For most of us we were using a screen for work, school, entertainment, and staying in touch with our friends and family that we couldn't see during those difficult times. But, whilst we all appreciate screens, it's also really good to get off them when we can and be as active as possible! We thought that it would be a great idea to create something fun and active that helps our learning but also has technology involved. That's when we thought of Rock Stepper. The technology allows us to connect with and compete with our friends, measure our movement and progress, but without the heavy reliance on a screen!

Spiffy: Fun and active—sign me up! What motivates you to do it?

Diane: When the pandemic arrived, parents were juggling a lot of things! Our founder Nathalie quickly saw that she could find lots of things online to keep her girls occupied, but they were all screen based and it felt like their screen time was really adding up and it wasn't good for them. Nat wanted them to learn in a fun, creative way that was also screen free. She wanted to create something that could complement the school curriculum at home and transform homework from a sedentary (and sometimes boring!) task, into one that was active and fun!

Spiffy: What is the impact of your work, would you say?

Diane: When an idea has potential for a product, research is key in every aspect in order to create the best possible experience for the people that will be using it. The lengthy and detailed research that has gone into producing Rock Stepper has, of course, looked into how children learn and how they are supported to learn. This is when we discovered the brilliant work that is being done by The Children's Literacy Charity for disadvantaged children who experience significant barriers to their learning and struggle to close their literacy gap. We believe that we can help children to learn and be active at home using Rock Stepper, but we can, also, as our business grows, help The Children's Literacy Charity support other less fortunate kids to learn!

Spiffy: Is there anything else you would love to tell our audience?

Diane: We are very much looking forward to the Rock Stepper mat arriving very soon!

Spiffy: Thanks for speaking with me today, Diane—it’s been an honor!

Diane “Di” Clark is the CEO of Stepping Stones Games, the company bringing us Rock Stepper, the interactive, fun, learning playmat. Di was brought in by the founders for this role due to her passion and belief in the product and her previous involvement in start up and ed tech companies. (Nominated by Charlotte Michailidis at Parenthood Ventures. First published on the Ladderworks website on January 5, 2023.)