Kids Toys
Knowing what your kids are into
It should be easy to know exactly what your kids go nuts over, but life isn’t always as easy as it should be.
The problem is that parents just don’t have the time to spend with their kids that they used to. Twenty years ago, the world economy was in nice shape, and it wasn’t hard to support a family on a single income. Today, that’s not really the case. Stay at home parents are becoming working parents, working parents are becoming two job parents. When the economy takes a hit, the family tends to get hit hardest.
Throughout toy sites, you’re going to find hundreds of options and plenty of recommendations for all different kinds of toys, but here’s the thing; we can’t tell you what your kids like. We can point you towards toys marketed for girls, or toys marketed for boys. Toys for this age group or that age group, toys for outdoors kids, toys for indoors kids, etcetera, but we can’t suggest something and then guarantee that your kid is going to love it.
Blockbusters (toys from recent movies, etc)
Every year, there will be at least one or two big movies with licensed toys packing the shelves. These are the Hot Toys, the ones that every kid absolutely HAS to have.
Sometimes, these toys have a real lasting appeal. Some of us still treasure the memories of playing with our Ninja Turtles, or we still own our Jurassic Park dinosaurs (Geez, are we really parents already?!).
But then, there are some toys that come and go in the blink of an eye. These ones wind up in the bargain bin at the toy store a month after the film leaves theatres, and most kids lose interest just as quickly. Remember the movie Congo? Yeah, neither do the kids who owned all of the action figures way back when.
Toys to encourage sharing (Games, etc, toys that more than one kid can play with at a time)
Playing is one of the most important parts of growing up. Even kittens and puppies play. Through playing, we learn basic motor skills, we learn how things work, we learn to use our imagination, to build, to function in daily life, and, we learn to share.
Unfortunately, some kids hate sharing.
The solution is to encourage playtime that is most fun when there is more than one person on hand. What this basically means is games. Sports, board games, video games, if it’s more fun with two people than it is with one, you’re on the right path.
Toys that work for both boys and girls
Okay, girls love Dora the Explorer, and boys love action figures. But, there’s something to be said for toys that brothers can share with their sisters and vice versa. The way kids spend most of their free time is playing, and if you can give your children some toys based on a common interest, you can encourage sharing, and playing together, which can strengthen the sibling bond and make for a more harmonious household.
One of the real hurdles for brothers and sisters playing together is that most girls really don’t care about Batman, and most boys wouldn’t be caught dead playing with Barbie dolls. So, more often than not, you’ll need to provide your kids with some “gender neutral” toys if you’re hoping to see them getting along and learning to share.
Giggling, bouncing gizmos (toys that bounce, sing, etc)
There are a lot of reasons why you might want an animated kind of toy. Something like a tickle me Elmo, a bouncing Tigger, or a flashy mobile for the baby. Infants, of course, really enjoy toys that make sound, lights, or movement, as this is very helpful to their sensory development. Some younger children love toy guitars that can make songs at the press of a button. Or maybe, you just have a whole bunch of headache medicine going to waste!
Whatever the case may be, there are plenty of options for these kinds of toys, and it’s all a matter of knowing what your kids need, and what they like…
The Appeal of Dora the Explorer
To be honest, most children’s television shows are off the air before long. Oftentimes, a show is started to catch in on a fleeting craze, or else the appeal of the concept just isn’t that timeless. Once in awhile, though, we get a show like Sesame Street, The Wiggles (perhaps one of the most popular franchises in Australian toys and television), or Howdy Doody, which winds up hitting upon just the right idea at just the right time, and becoming not just a flash in the pan half hour of daily entertainment, but an integral element of the cultural landscape.
As anyone with a daughter, granddaughter, little sister, or niece knows by now, Dora the Explorer is probably going to be one of those shows. Having first aired in 1999, the show has run for nearly a decade by now, and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. In 2004 alone, the franchise made $1 billion in revenue from television and toys.