Toys That Impair Imagination: The Over-Licensing of Children’s Toys

Posted on February 25, 2015 at 8:00 am

It’s always tempting to give children toys from the movies and television programs they love, and some of them are high-quality or even educational. But Melissa Atkins Wardy has a very good argument that the licensing of media tie-ins has just about obliterated any other kind of toy. We want children to have toys that help build their imaginations by giving them unlimited fantasy play, not toys that will just encourage them to replicate scenarios they have already seen.

This spells trouble for those of us looking for imaginative, open-ended toys that wait for the child to create the story line and character. Gender balance and diversity will leave much to be desired, as heroes are almost always white males and licensed characters come with easily identifiable gender roles. The negative, myopic influences from Hollywood are now packaged up for our kids. And the flip side is, we get less interesting, diverse media because a consideration for green lighting a series is “Can it sell toys ?” Play time should be an exchange of ideas from child to child, not Hollywood to child.

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What’s the Worst Toy of 2013?

Posted on November 24, 2013 at 8:00 am

The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood has come up with another list of the most dreadful and appalling children’s toys of the year. Take a look at these horrible products and cast your vote for the CCFC’s TOADY award.

2013 was a banner year for terrible toys. From the multitude promoting precocious sexuality, branded entertainment, violence and/or electronic wizardry at the expense of children’s play, we have selected these exceptional finalists: A board game with more ads per square inch than Times Square. A gun-toting . . . dinosaur?!?! An app that takes all the fun and creativity out of a classic creative toy. The most ridiculous use of an iPad yet. A brand that transforms a childhood icon into “ugh!”

Each year, the Toy Industry Association of America presents its annual TOTY (Toy Of The Year) Awards. CCFC created the TOADY (Toys Oppressive And Destructive to Young children) Award in response to the industry leading the way in commercializing childhood. So please join the fun and help us bring attention to the worst the toy industry has to offer. This year’s TOADY will join past winners Nickelodeon’s Addicting Games.com, Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader Barbie, the Vinci Tablet, and the Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Apptivity Monkey as Worst Toy of the Year.

Which will it be? The tarty, crass tooth fairy “upgrade” package that lets children use their “sparkle dollars” to give their Tooth Fairy a makeover, party in their “party room” and mock the buck-toothed, glasses-wearing fairy-wannabe Stepella. The iPad potty? The weaponized dinosaur? The all-ads Monopoly game? Cast your vote by December 4 and stay tuned for updates.

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Goldieblox Rocks! Hurray for Girls Who Think and Build

Posted on November 20, 2013 at 11:00 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFpe3Up9T_g

Hurray for Goldieblox for knowing that girls want to think and invent and problem solve and that they don’t always want everything to be pink and princessy! The company was created by Debbie Sterling, a female engineer from Stanford University. I also like the way the girls own their own version of the Beastie Boys’ song, “Girls.”

Children will also enjoy Rosie Revere, Engineer. Rosie is named for her great-great Aunt Rose, of Rosie the Riveter fame.

Dr. Toy’s Recommendations for Vacation Play

Posted on June 26, 2012 at 3:56 pm

Dr. Toy’s Best Vacation Children’s Products for 2012 report is now available to parents, teachers, caregivers, grandparents, and others responsible for children. As children enjoy the summer, these toys will help them play safely with toys that stretch their imaginations and curiousityat home, when traveling, and while on vacation.

Dr. Toy’s Best Vacation Children’s Products Awards were developed by noted child development authority, Stevanne Auerbach, Ph.D. (a.k.a. Dr. Toy) to help consumers purchase safe, affordable, educationally-oriented, stimulating toys and play products for children for vacation time for use at home or on the road.

Dr. Toy says, “The Best Vacation Products 2012 are an excellent selection from large, small, new and established, companies across the U.S.A., Canada, and around the world and will provide children with exciting new learning tools that will help them not only do better in school, but also will provide more constructive activities while at home, traveling or at vacation destinations. Parents need more help to get a head start locating new, quality, diversified products that children will enjoy as they increase learning skills and expand creativity.” The products range from low to high tech for “hours of constructive, educational, and stimulating fun. Children learn best through play,” says Dr. Auerbach, “and these Best Vacation Products encourage children to maximize their potential and make the most of Smart Play. By making a renewed focus on Summertime as a special time for choosing new products for children, parents help to improve their children’s development. This is a perfect time for parents to ‘take stock, ‘ do an inventory of what their children are playing with, what is not being used, and what they need next in their development.”

I especially enjoyed reading about Chef Cuckoo!, a board game that is fun to play as it helps kids learn about healthy food choices while they compete for the tastiest — or yuckiest — meals.

The toys in the report are reviewed for: safety, age-appropriateness, design, durability, lasting play value, cultural and ethnic diversity, good transition from home to school, educational value, learning skills, creativity, improvement in the understanding of the community and the world, good value for price, and, naturally, fun. There are products suitable for babies to older children, products from hand-crafted to hi-tech, ranging in price on the average from $10 to $50. The winning vacation products are affordable, well designed, and reflect the wide range of children’s interests. And she has an iPhone app to help shoppers, too.

Don’t Trust the Toy Lady

Posted on September 17, 2010 at 8:00 am

The LA Times reports that back to school reports on a number of national and local newscasts have included commentary from “a young mother and ‘toy expert’ named Elizabeth Werner,” described as “perky and positive-plus” in her demonstration of seven recommended toys for children. She talks about all the things the toys do in her segments on the air, but does not mention one fact parents might like to know — she is paid $11,000 for each toy she presents by the same company that is hoping you will buy them.
James Rainey points out that it is a violation of FCC rules for a news program to present a sponsored segment without disclosing that it is, in effect, an ad. It is also a violation of journalistic ethics which even chirpy morning shows are supposed to uphold.
Rainey, who by example demonstrates exactly what those standards are for, notes that

Werner is a lawyer who worked for a couple of toy companies before she went into the promotion business. She told me that the company that hires her to do the tours — New Jersey-based DWJ Television — scrupulously notifies TV stations that toy makers pay for the pitches. DWJ founder Dan Johnson, an ABC News veteran of decades gone by, said the same.

So I picked three stations and morning programs that Werner visited over the summer — Fox 2 in Detroit, Fox 5’s “Good Day Atlanta” and the independent KTVK’s “Good Morning Arizona” in Phoenix to see how they plugged the Werner segments. A spokesperson for the two Fox stations and the news director at the Phoenix outlet told me they had been told absolutely nothing about Werner being paid to tout products, which ranged from a Play-Doh press to a new Toy Story video game to the Paper Jamz electronic guitar.

He notes that the burden is not on the promoter who is being paid but on the news programs, who should always be suspicious of anyone who claims to be an expert, especially one who is touring the country without any visible means of support.
The burden, unfortunately, is on parents, who must also learn to be skeptical about “experts” who are just live-action versions of Marge the manicurist or Mr. Whipple the store manager.