Wonderlings, created by University of St Andrews first-year student Alexandra Orkin at 17, is honored alongside the world's most recognized brands for a new approach that helps children learn emotional literacy naturally, as they learn to read and write. She designed Wonderlings while still in high school.
ST ANDREWS, Scotland, Sept. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Wonderlings, an interactive social-emotional learning platform built to turn the science of childhood emotional development into experiences children can actually use, has earned two honors in Fast Company's 2026 Innovation by Design Awards.
The platform was named in both "Best Design: North America" and "On the Rise," the category for young companies, placing Wonderlings alongside designs from Samsung Electronics, Adobe, PepsiCo and Tiffany & Co. in the North America category, and Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies, as well as Fastport Honda in On the Rise.
What makes the recognition particularly unusual is the age of the person behind it.
Wonderlings creator Alexandra Orkin was a 17-year-old high school student when she created Wonderlings and is just beginning her first year at the University of St Andrews. On September 14, as the Innovation by Design honors were announced and Fast Company toasted the honorees at the official celebration in New York, Alexandra was attending her first day of university classes in Scotland.
Four days later, her new university had news of its own. St Andrews was named the top university in the UK in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2027, ahead of Oxford and Cambridge.
The Wonderlings Innovation
Much of children's emotional learning happens after the fact: after a meltdown, a conflict, a shutdown or another difficult moment. By then, a child may already be dysregulated and learning can be difficult.
Wonderlings flips that model.
The K–3 platform translates child psychology and behavioral science into micro-routines and short experiences that children can encounter as part of everyday learning. Rather than presenting emotional literacy as an abstract lesson, Wonderlings embeds it in a living, interactive world of characters and stories. Its central innovation is its "translation layer" between developmental science and a child's lived experience. That distinction is at the heart of the design.
"I wanted to build something I never had - not a textbook or a lecture, but a world. A world where emotional literacy is taught as naturally as reading and writing."
Alexandra Orkin, Creator of Wonderlings
Two honors from Fast Company
Wonderlings received recognition in two categories of Fast Company's 2026 Innovation by Design Awards:
Best Design: North America - Honorable Mention: This category recognizes entries from multi-billion-dollar public corporations competing alongside mid-size companies and start-ups across North America. The 2026 honorable mentions include work from Samsung Electronics, PepsiCo, Adobe and Tiffany & Co.
On the Rise - Honorable Mention: This category features design from companies less than four years old. Wonderlings appears among honorees that include Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies, as well as Fastport Honda.
Fast Company also selected Wonderlings as one of four projects to represent the On the Rise category in the lead artwork for its article, "The best designs of 2026 from up-and-coming companies."
About Fast Company's Innovation by Design Awards
Now in its 15th year, the Innovation by Design Awards celebrate the designers and businesses addressing today's most urgent challenges while anticipating the problems of tomorrow. The program is one of the most prestigious design competitions in the industry, spotlighting work that exemplifies originality, beauty, sustainability, user insight, cultural significance, and measurable business impact. Honorees were selected by a panel of top designers, business executives from leading organizations, and Fast Company editors.
"The Innovation by Design Awards have always recognized the ideas that challenge convention and show what's possible when design is treated as a strategic force, not an afterthought. Congratulations to this year's honorees, who demonstrate how thoughtful design can solve meaningful problems and create new possibilities for people and businesses," said Brendan Vaughan, editor-in-chief of Fast Company.
About Wonderlings
Wonderlings is an interactive K–3 social-emotional learning platform that translates child psychology and behavioral science into character-led experiences. Children aren't simply told what to do; they see it, feel it and try it alongside characters navigating the same challenges and moments of growth.
About Alexandra Orkin
Alexandra Orkin is a first-year student at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. She created Wonderlings while in high school in Los Angeles at Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences.
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Media Contact
Karrieanne Yankee, RADIOONE, LLC, 1 (818) 571-6061, [email protected], www.wonderlings.com
SOURCE Wonderlings
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