All toy companies are eager to grow sales in a stagnant $22 billion market, they want to know which toys are “hot” for the year. Invariably, the toy trends for the year are strongly influenced by movies being released that year. This year, there are some awesome icons vying for our attention – Indiana Jones, the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man and Batman. Aside from these superheroes, the hot toy trends for 2008 also include dinosaurs, robots, musical toys and of course, web connected toys!
Aside from these, “Electronics and the Internet. That’s what kids are obsessed about today,” said Jim Silver, editor and co-publisher of Toy Wishes magazine. “They have an iPod, they are on Facebook and some are e-mailing by age five.”
1. Web Connected Toys
IToysWe all know and love Webkinz, the pioneer of the “virtual toy” revolution. Webkinz is still doing very well and now has been joined by several other toy manufacturers. Russ’s Shining Stars, TY Girlz, Barbie and now even TY’s Beanie Babies. Aside from dolls and plush toys, there’s a brand new preschool game which nicely incorporates play and technology. It’s called Me2 from IToys. Also worth noting is Clickables, a wonderful line of toys from Technosource. Clickables integrates the virtual world of Disney Fairies with toys for girls. There are a lot of other web connected toys and dolls. My collegue, the Doll Collecting guide, has a great article up on the virtual doll trend.
2. Dinosaur Toys
Dinosaurs have been around for a while now, (remember the very recent Pleo?), but they certainly made their presence felt at the Toy Fair! Here is one dinosaur which was hard to miss – Kota the Triceratops from Playskool. This friendly creature is pretty tall at approximately 40 feet and is equipped with sensors, which when activated, make him move his head, tail and horns. Kids will enjoy sitting on this playful (and very pricey) creature. Another dino in the spotlight comes to use from Mattel. D-Rex, a remote controlled dinosaur with a lot of different sounds and realistic motions aims to fascinate kids this year.
3. Indiana Jones Toys
HasbroIndiana Jones is really something to look forward to this year. The movie Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is slated to be one of the hot movies of 2008. It’s no wonder then, that Lego, Hasbro and the rest have jumped onto Indy’s bandwagon! The plot of the movie isn’t yet revealed fully. Still, Lego had some wonderful sets based on Indiana Jones. The Indiana Jones LEGO sets include Indiana Jones Temple Escape, Indiana Jones Race for the Stolen Treasure, Indiana Jones and the Lost Tomb and Indiana Jones Motorcycle Chase. Some of Hasbro’s Indiana Jones offerings include Mr Potato Head: Taters of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones Sound FX Whip and of course Indiana Jones action figures.
4. Science and Nature Related Toys
Jakks PacificI noticed a large variety of Science Kits and nature themed toys at this year’s Toy Fair. Elmers (the glue company) had some really cool science kits represented by Bill Nye, the science guy. Scientific Explorer had a lot of fun kits to offer where kids can experiment with fascinating stuff like bubbles, perfumes, volcanoes and more. The biggie in the science category is none other than EyeClops from Jakks Pacific, which has updated versions(read night vision and higher magnification) available. Also, Uncle Milton of the Ant Farm fame had some cool Indiana Jones based products to show.
5. Batman – The Dark Knight Toys
MattelThe new Batman movie, The Dark Knight is slated to be released later this year. Mattel has a host of Batman related toys and action figures up their sleeve. The Stealth Batmobile and the Wayne Tech Tri Fire Blaster are must haves. Apart from those two, there are a lot of pretend play options and Batman action figures from Mattel. Lego also has some great Batman themed construction sets for release this year.
6. Speed Racer Toys
MattelSpeed Racer is another big movie franchise on which Mattel has a great lineup of toys. I know that Hot Wheels has a Morph Mach 6 vehicle and an interactive helmet to offer as well as the Speed Racer Sky Jump Track Set among other toy vehicles. The movie should spark off a craze for racing and toy cars which is going to be huge. Lego also had some great Speed Racer kits on display at Toy Fair. Personally, I think this is THE franchise to watch out for.
7. Animated Toys/Robots
Fisher-PriceOk, so by now everyone must have heard of Elmo Live, right? Well, the animated toy trend seems to be very prevalent this year with Elmo Live, Hasbro’s Biscuit, Playskool’s Kota the Triceratops, Tomy’s ISobot and more. While I’m on the topic, let me mention that I just previewed an adorable duckling from Hasbro’s Furreal Friends line – it’s too cute for words. Just like me, it seems like everyone enjoys seeing animated animals nowadays!
8. Iron Man Toys
HasbroHasbro has a fantastic line of action figures based on the Iron Man. This is another movie franchise for this year which is going to be popular with Marvel fans.
9. Green Toys
It’s no wonder that everyone is focusing on healthy and safe play this year. The “green” theme is predominant with many toy firms promoting their eco-friendly products. One toy manufacturer which I really liked was Plan toys from Indonesia which had a wonderful lineup of natural wooden toys. There were some toys made out of recycled milk bottles from a company called Green Toys. They had tea sets, gardening sets and beach sand sets on display which looked very appealing. I also noticed the Kapla line of wooden construction planks which falls into the “green” category as well. 12. Classic Toys – Lots of Anniversaries!
10. The Incredible Hulk Toys
HasbroThe Hulk was at a lot of places at Toy Fair 2008. I specially loved the Kid Designs line of Hulk laptops and learning toys. Hasbro has a fantastic lineup of Hulk toys including the much awaited Hulk Smash Hands, a plush animated Hulk toy, conventional Hulk action figures, a Hulk power glow electronic mask, a Hulk dart blaster and much more. Looks like “green” is popular in more ways than one!
11. Musical Toys
KID Designs For the last couple of years, toys based on musical instruments have really grown in popularity. Remember Piano Wizard, Piano Made Easy, I Can Play Guitar, Guitar Hero and the other toys on similar lines? This, along with musical toys based on celebrities like Hannah Montana and hit TV shows like American Idol practically dominated the musical toy scene. This year, the trend continues with some more Hannah Montana toys, new DVD games based on American Idol (KIDDesigns has an awesome American Idol DVD game) and much more. Stay tuned. (pun not intended)
12. Keyboard for toddlers, Wallcrawler Spiderman
The portable DVD player is made to withstand a kid’s abuse. It features a 3.2-inch color TFT screen, rechargeable batteries with a two-hour lifespan, an anti-skip buffer, grip handles and a stand for hands-free viewing. The player, which plays DVDs and CDs, comes with a battery charger and wall power unit, a video output jack, and a headphone jack.
13. Wall Crawler Spider-Man
“Wall Crawler Spider-Man” is a standout innovation from Hasbro. The remote-controlled Spider-Man toy, which incorporates vacuum-pump technology, actually crawls ups and down walls.
Last, but not the least, classic toys are very much in the forefront. This year, many classics were celebrating their anniversaries. Hasbro’s My Little Pony celebrated their 25th anniversary with a lovely birthday party at the Hasbro showroom, complete with a cake cutting! Cabbage Patch Kids celebrates it’s 25th anniversary as well. The LEGO brick celebrates its 50th anniversary with a commemorative gold brick. Other brands celebrating this year include Scholastic’s Clifford, the big red dog, the Toy Company’s Wham-O and Mary Meyer (who is turning 75 this year). We’ll wind up with congratulating Hasbro’s Mr Potato Head who is turning 80 this year. Way to go!
who thinks nowadays freak out so much about exposing TV commercials to their kids much!?
I've been noticing parents recently have been freaking out about Tv commercials and thinking they will gain unhealthy eating habits and beg for toys?! Seriously!!!??? My kids watch commercials, they never changed their eating habits and they never bug me and my wife for stuff. OK, sometimes they might find a commercial or two funny…. but why the fuss!!?? kids know that commercials are for selling a product!! All you have to do is teach them at early age about what commercials are!!! I know a stupid parent… every time her son sees a commercial she asks "do you think that's a healthy choice?" or "We don't have the money" HOW DOES SHE KNOW HER SON WANTS THE STUFF IN THE F***ING AD! plus, this kid was 12 years old. his mom is a worrywart. Please Tell me why they fuss about commercials so much!! Kids know!!! But if you are overprotective about teaching them about commercials at an early age, I WOULD DO SO RATHER THEN SCREAM LIKE AN IDIOTIC PARENT!! I go to friend's houses with kids, they watch tv commercials with no bugging,consuming extra amounts of junk food, and so on! who thinks this is an outrage?!
About Author
I’d like to introduce and display an excellent selection of China fine toys and hobby products – www.eastern-toy.com to you, also give you great suggestions about gift ideas and the latest fashion art trends in China.
Posted on February 17, 2009
If I knew he would play with them. It's all video games these days.
omg im actually working on an assignment about this right now so the more people that answer this question with facts and statistics you'll basically be doing my work for me!
I am a nanny have have a similar situation – I watch two boys 5 and 10. The 10 year old is at school most of the day, but in the summer he is a rascal!! Their parents are ok with play dates, which I encourage more with the older one, cause its easier, but I do set up some with the 5 yr old.
The 5 yr old gets very very bored…. and it gets tough some days, but here are a few things we do.
Treasure Hunt – he LOVES this
Take the change from your purse or have the kids gather some change from their own piggy banks. Have them sit in one room while you hide the change in another room(s). Make sure you know how much you hid and then they have to try to add up the money to see if they found it all.
Sometimes I hide a snack bag of cookies or candy then put pieces of paper with clues all over the house. Its a hunt to find the treasure. With kids who can't read you can draw pictures. A chair, a sink, a table…. they will just have to check all the chairs to find the next clue, which could have a picture of a pillow, then they look under all the pillows to find the next clue of a bean bag. They look under the bean bag and find a treat!
Hide a "bomb"
Take a small ball or toy and hide it somewhere in the house. Then set a timer for 5 minutes. They have to try to find the toy before the timer goes off…. the 10 yr old I watch loves this game.
Hide & Seek – Modified
So I count to 30 in one room while all the boys hide in a different part of the house. When I say ready or not here I come, they try to sneak into the room I counted in, without being seen. If they are seen they are out (so there is no running/tagging in the house). I usually am always it because they love hiding so much, but every once in a while I will hide. This might seem like too much work on your part, but the kids will get so excited they won't even notice if you are just walking through the house and not truly actively seeking them. They enjoy winning anyways!
The 5 yr. old LOVES to do stuff in the kitchen. We make homemade play dough and then he creates stuff out of it. Homemade play dough is very easy and kids love to measure things.
Scavenger Hunt
I made a list of things to find outside such as a purple petal, green leaf, flat rock, etc. Give them a plastic bag and see who can find what. It can be a competition or they can all work together. With the 5 yr old I gave him a tape measure and had him find a leaf that was 3 in long and a stick that was 6 in. long….. made it more challenging and fun for him (plus educational!)
Find all the colors of the rainbow – just go outside the house or to the park and see if they can find all the colors of the rainbow outside. Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple….. and then you can add in other colors for fun… pink, brown, black, white, etc.
Find shapes outside – find objects that resemble squares, rectangles, triangles, stars, circles, etc.
You said you did arts and crafts – always good – we do lots of these things to!! The boys LOVE Harry Potter and one of their favorite things to do is make wands. I bought a pack of dowel rods from the craft store. I used a glue gun to put swirls, lines, handles, dots, etc. When it was cool they used markers and paint to decorate their wands.
Well hope these ideas help! Good Luck!
p.s. I also take the kids to my place sometimes too…. they like to play the Wii, but we only can do it every once in a while.
Make sure you don't have any liquids over 3 ounces- including anything in a toy! One of the children I used to babysit had a water-filled bouncy ball, and security at O'Hare confiscated it and threw it away (Wouldn't even let me pick it up on my way out from dropping them off at the gate).
Avoid sugary snacks- this will make them hyper and they will have a hard time sitting still during the flight. Try popping microwave popcorn and putting it in little baggies, granola bars (again, make sure they don't have too much sugar!), and goldfish crackers. Does each child have his own lunchbox? Maybe pack them each their own, or a little brown baggie to put in their carry-on. Having a special thing for themselves will be entertaining.
Does your 9-year-old have a DS or portable game player? This should keep him busy on the plane. Let the 5 and 6 year olds each pick one or two toys each (They don't to lose their favorites!), to play with.
Bring a notebook and play Dots and Tic-Tac-Toe. Do they know any card games? Bring a deck- they are small and travel well. Or, if you have $10 to spare, pick up a travel version of Pass-the-Pigs (but be careful not to lose the pigs!).
When you are on your layover, try taking a long walk through the terminal. Don't go past security, but it will help if they all get up and stretch their legs. Have them do a little exercise routine! Raise their hands, touch their toes, etc. Make it a game of Simon Says, and make them do really silly things. If you can get them to burn off enough energy, they may end up sleeping on the second leg or your journey.
Most of all- prepare them for the trip through the airport. Practice taking off their jackets and shoes, and make a game of finding any hidden change in their pockets. Give each one a special "Airport Assignment," like making sure they all get their shoes off and on, making sure the bags are all on the x-ray belt, etc. Have your youngest count the number of people and bags, and make sure that every person, and every bag, is present and accounted for.
If you can convince them that something boring or mundane is fun, they will be excited and compliant!
Good luck, and have fun!!!
(But again- remember the on-board liquids rule! You may want to purchase a small bottle of water once you are past security).
Now I've tried not to change your draft too much.
Two points I'll make is:
You're not clear in how you are going to fix the problem.
You seem to be taking sides with Subway, a competitor of Mc Donalds. This gives the reader the impression that you do not understand that the toys/playgrounds are aimed at smaller children and not school age children to which your argument is directed.
I would suggest you concentrate more on the quick meal deals that include coke and chips for your argument.
Always balance your thoughts throughout.
Dear Editor,
It’s Our Future. Ryan Hardy. 7th September 2009.
My topic is the overweight and obese Kids with-in Australia.
Many hard working parents in Australia don’t have the time to make lunch for their children. This usually leads to parents having to give money to their child so he/she can buy food at the canteen. This gives the child the opportunity to buy something that tastes nice and will go down well. Most food sold at the canteen is filled with sugar.
Imagine a little boy buying the same kinds of sugary snacks on every school day for six or more years every day, would he be a Healthy boy?
Fast food advertisements such as one from Mc Donald’s has a short but Effective kick on kids. The ads. are advertised during popular programs and are designed to target families, but what they are really doing is giving the impression that fast food stores are fun. The child has a brand new toy to play with and even a play ground outside which would appear fun for the child.
Fast food places even have big signs in front of the store that advertise playgrounds and toys. If you look at the healthier fast food stores such as Sub Way, there are no play grounds, toys or even big signs.
Which fast food stores would your child prefer to eat at?
A place with fatty but tasty food and play grounds to play around in? Or a store with a healthy option of food with a possible cookie after?
Even statistics show that kids are becoming heavier and overweight. It is estimated that in Australia, 20-25% of children and adolescents are overweight or obese. This equals a total of one million overweight or obese children and adolescents. The percentage of young people who are overweight has more than tripled since 1980 among children and teens aged 6-19 years.
How much longer can this happen?
When will we as a great country take a stand to prevent this from happening?
It’s us who can stop the percentage of kids becoming heavier, if it becomes successful, maybe other countries will follow in our footsteps and make the world a better place.
Signed ______________ Scoresby, Melbourne
Welcome to married with children.
Guess what big guy. You are on children hold.
It will get better when they are going to college, then the challenge will be tuition.
Based upon our experience your marriage will be reborn with the empty nest.
My kid pretends to make commercials.
By on the other side is how she reacts to the commercials. Her dad thought it would be funny to say, "I want that" to just about every toy commercial he sees. Of course she says that now as well. Yes it drives me crazy that he thought it would be funny. But she also knows that she can't have everything she wants – that's just the way life is, which is a good lesson.
Best advice, look at http://www.guinealynx.com. They have everything you need to know about guinea pig care.
Quick advice
Cage: check out http://www.guineapigcages.com. Guinea pigs need a lot of space, and they have cheap, easy ways to build a cage that is big enough.
Bedding: there are a lot of choices, and it's entirely a personal choice, but never use cedar, and never use pine, unless it's been kiln-dried. These both contain aromatic oils that are bad for their health. Personally I use fleece in the main part of their cage, it's cheaper than regular bedding, and all you have to do to clean it is throw it in the washing machine. I also use carefresh in their hayloft, since it's easiest to just throw out.
Toys: I wouldn't waste my money on toys bought in a store, some guinea pigs like them, but most don't. The best toys I've found are a small paper bag, a toilet paper roll stuffed with hay, or a cardboard tube used for mailing posters and stuff.
Health Care: start weighing the new piggie daily for a while, to make sure he's gaining weight properly, or at least not losing any weight. As soon as you're sure he's not sick you can go to weighing once a week. Guinea pigs hide the fact that their sick very well, so the best way to tell when they first get sick is to monitor their weight. Also, make sure and find a vet that is good with guinea pigs. Most vets have no clue, but there is a list on guinealynx of vets in different areas who are good.
Treats: Don't buy treats from the store. There aren't any I've ever found that are actually good for guinea pigs. The best treats are small bits of fruit, or a baby carrot.
Diet: Make sure to get a high quality guinea pig pellet. Oxbow or KM's (found at kmshayloft.com) are the best, Kaytee timothy complete will work in a pinch. It has to be a plain pellet with no nuts or seeds. These pose a choking hazard and they're not good for them anyway. They also need unlimited access to timothy hay. My girls have a hayloft on their cage that is constantly filled with huge piles of hay, and they love it! The other part of their diet is fresh veggies. Guinea pigs should get 1-2 cups of fresh veggies per day. Guinealynx also has a list of appropriate veggies, and how much to feed. My girls get 1-2 cups of a mix of red and green leaf lettuce every morning, and again in the evening, along with a couple pieces of kale in the evening and either some cilantro, a baby carrot or some cucumber. Guinea pigs need vitamin C since they can't make it themselves, but as long as you're feeding them a proper diet they should be fine. If you're going to give them a suppliment, don't use vitamin drops in the water! Oxbow makes a vitamin C tablet especially for guinea pigs, or you can use childrens chewable tablets, break them up and only give them about 20mg per day.
As for the hair loss, I would treat him for mites. If you take him to a vet, don't let them do a skin scraping to test for mites, just treat. Skin scrapings are unreliable and painful for the animal, and the treatment won't hurt if there are no mites, but it will help if their are.
Lastly, if you decide to keep him, you should get another. Guinea pigs do best in pairs! They are a social animal, and can get depressed if left alone. You just have to make sure they are either same sex pairs, or one of them is fixed. You can find adoptable guinea pigs at http://www.petfinder.com.
If you have any other questions feel free to e-mail me! I got my two girls, one in January and one in February, and I've done a ton of research on them since then. The guinealynx website is the best info that I've found so far!
My son plays with all the things you mentioned above. We have a play kitchen, a tea set and a stroller for dolls as well. He also enjoys playing with traditional boys toys such as tools,cars and action figures. Now we have a baby girl and we plan to allow her to play with everything. Currently she's into whatever he's into.
I think that if you would like to have a well rounded child you shouldn't put up a barrier between girls toys and boys toys. Toys are toys. It's the adults that decided to give gender specific assignments to them. So what if a boy likes pink things and a girl wants to play with tools. They should be allowed to play with whichever toys they choose, even if they're not the "correct color choice". My son loved pink when he was 1.5 years now he is 3 and he likes blue. Toddlers will always change their minds and move on from toy to toy along with their color preferences. And it's great to see what they'll be into next.
Cabbage Patch Kids makes a variety of boy dolls. They're not anatomically correct but still cute.
We have a red stroller by the way, and a blue play kitchen not that color makes a difference but we let him pick. He's also extremely good with his baby sister. I contribute it to his nature along with playing with baby dolls and practicing being gentle with them.
Actually, our livers and kidneys really do an amazing job of filtering toxins out of our bodies throughout our lifetime. So, most of those things do not worry me.
I do agree with you about the growth hormones, though. I only buy hormone free dairy, and limit the red meat in our house.
i find that humor and kindness works best, I DO NOT SPANK…. if my 14 yr old is snotty at me i make her clean something…..
if my 7 yr old wont wake up in th emorning (she sleeps like a rock like i did at that age)
the only thing that wakes her up happy is if i act like a big baby and yell HEY MOM GET UP I NEED A DIAPER AND A BOTTLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
she wakes up laughing.
I had the same problem with my collie.
We ended up keeping that toy for "special use".
When we are doing agility training the toy comes out and it the biggest motivation for her. When she completes an exercise well we throw the toy. She quickly learned that the way to get her toy was by listening.
In other words to use the favourite toy as a training aid??
Well I agree with the first answerer. There has to be rules and boundaries for it. But the fact is that our society relies mostly on communication. This is the age of technology and communicating and so it is a necessity. But it can also be harmful if it becomes an addiction or an uncontrolled habit. For example when a child becomes addicted to video games or 'leapsters' as you put it, that is really unhealthy and the child should be monitored and should not be allowed to do it all day. Regardless of what year it is or how far advanced we are, children still need to interact and play with other children as well as to get a lot of physical exercise daily. So I am all pro tech toys as long as chores have been done, naps taken, and playing outside has exhausted itself. The use of these items should be limited to certain parts of the daily schedule and not the entire daily schedule. Just like tv should be limited to only 1 hour a day etc…
I grew up with guns. RR play guns as a little kid, BB guns when I turned 6, a pellet gun when I turned 10 and a deer rifle when I turned 12. It wasn't just me either, it was every boy around where I grew up. They would even give us time off from school to go deer hunting. None of us grew up to be killers. I didn't even carry one as a tramp when most everybody else did.
We were taught about guns from the time we were babies. we would never point a gun at someone so yes, it is the person's fault who doesn't teach their children about guns and gun safety. How do you know they aren't going to be around them just because you won't allow it in your home? Guns don't kill people, people kill people!
I already have a dog but, I just wanna say that it's really nice of you to do that for the animal.
yea, just look at what he did to Job.
he really screwed up Job's life just to prove a point to the devil.
Hi Joan, I just wanted to say hi. I am sure that Angel is very healthy, as Om Himself has insured me that she is normal and all is well. Take care and have fun on your vacation.
Short answer, no. Marijuana does almost nothing bad for your system. It can stop the growth of cancer, halt Alzheimer's in its tracks, help those with Asthma, allow you to philosophize, calms you down, etc. etc.
Its only the government and the propaganda that has made marijuana out to be a criminal. Alcohol and tobacco are much worse drugs then marijuana, and nobody gets their kids taken away for just that.
Marijuana has never killed anyone in recorded history, and yet it's still illegal.
Basically, no. Marijuana should not cause the courts to take her kids away, it might depending on what state you live in, but it shouldn't be the "taking your kids away" factor. She isn't choosing drugs over her kids, in a sense that she's doing something that every sourced study done on marijuana has said causes very little harm to your system.
Marijuana is NOT a gateway drug. The only connection that could cause marijuana to be the "gateway" drug is that people could be in contact with dealers that deal harder drugs, and that might somehow get them to try those harder drugs. If it were legalized and controlled, sold like cigarettes in 7/11's, then there would be no gateway effect.
You were right to make them wait. Baby rabbits are very hard to bottle feed because they don't take to it as easily as a kitten or even a dog might. I have had rabbits who have abandoned their babies but it didn't help when we tried to bottle feed the babies. The kid can wait you definitely did the right thing.