Top Toy Trends at the 2015 NYC Toy Fair

I had so much fun last week visiting all of the adorable booths at the NYC Toy Fair! We made lots of new friends and played with tons of toys ~ some are already available for sale... and others will be coming out soon!! 

As I browsed through the thousands of exhibitor booths, I noticed some clear trends in the toy industry:

1) Lots of toys incorporate play and learning
2) Toys are encouraging girls to develop science/technology skills
3) Toys incorporate real-world items along with digital play

Since there's so much to cover about all of these incredible toys, I will share about these topics one-by-one throughout the week, starting here:

Toys that are fun... and educational!

In both the Toy Fair and the Digital Kids Conference, there was a lot of discussion about the fact that from very early in life through about age 6 there is a great emphasis on toys that teach and promote learning through play. However, as kids get older, a division seems to form between learning & play such that it starts to become either one or the other for kids: many older children either spend their time learning and studying, or they spend other "free time" playing games & toys designed more for their entertainment than educational value. 

There isn't necessarily anything wrong with this, just an observation. But it leads us to think about why this may happen as children get older. And how traditional educational methods approach the learning process. Fortunately, there are definitely a lot of fun study-methods and games that are quite educational for older children too!

Check out this one from Magic Forest --  
You can make your own record player!
I didn't get to see it in action, but I wonder how it sounds??
It would be so fun to build one of these...

sound amplification principles + a good vinyl
= family dance party!

EV3RSTORM from lego

Lego is a classic brand that is well known for its emphasis on educational play with something that takes creativity to the next level. They've continued developing their Mindstorms robot line, with their latest bot on display. Lego even has software available to help kids code and bring their new creations to life after building them!

Another robotics building kit comes from IQ Key (click to visit their site for a cool demo video!) which is a more open-ended building kit that allows kids to really use their imagination to create different designs and cool robotics. They have a nice variety of pieces & inspiration to allow kids to develop something unique each time.

The "Innovative Toy of the Year" award actually went to a robot - a little guy named Mip whom you can train to do all kinds of things (check out Mip's site for a demo)! Instead of building this one, you focus more on the programming & training side of the experience. 
When I stopped by their booth, they gave us a peek at their upcoming next-generation of robots that were out to roam... this time they've newly designed the dino-bot!! Responsive dinosaurs that you can train to play with a smart-ball and do tricks with - scheduled to launch around May. 

A science kit makes a great gift for an inquisitive mind. 
I loved this Tronex 72+ Amazing Science Workshop kit!
Full of all kinds of electronic, radio, magnetic, and other science experiments....

:: disconnect ::
:: reconnect ::
:: wire ::
:: re-wire ::

... all of which produce different results that are delightfully seen and heard!

For younger children, there are also some simpler ways to build and explore --

I loved this building set from Magformers for little ones to construct & re-construct their trucks and toys. The ability to piece these vehicles together into almost any shape/size and to mix & match sets to create totally new shapes, brings a whole new level of excitement to "playing with trucks"!

As for educational games, I was really impressed by all of the cool options from Blue Orange games. One of my favorites is called Doodle Quest -- new in 2014! You are challenged to draw things from a unique angle/perspective to see only afterwards if it lines up with the challenge that's on the board. 
Blue Orange has a whole line-up of educational fun for the whole family!

You might have noticed that the majority of the toys above are more traditionally bro-oriented in nature. If your child wouldn't really be interested in building robots and trucks, don't worry, there are plenty of other fabulous ways to develop interest & skills in science and engineering!

There was a lot of talk at the Digital Kids conference about the content of "the blue aisle" compared to "the pink aisle" and how the industry typically creates & markets toys differently for boys and girls. Fortunately, there is a rising emphasis on quality educational toys that appeal to the feminine side for learning about science & technology....

Our next blog post this week will be about some amazing new toys and opportunities for the other kids in your life - so stay tuned for more from Tiny Tastes World on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram or sign up to receive posts in the right side-bar of our blog!

Yours,
Tiny


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