Pretend Play Caters to Kidult Crowd

Now that Mom uses her Blackberry, Dad has a portable DVD player and everyone’s walking around while talking on the phone, kids want their very own electronic gizmos that really work. Say goodbye to the toy ax and the toy washboard. Say hello to the juvenilization of consumer products.

What drives this trend? It’s quite simple: Much of children’s play is imitative, according to Sean McGown, a toy industry analyst with Harris Nesbitt. So, in order to respond to modern play patterns, manufacturers have created a bright array of glittery smooth one-or-two-steps-down “toys” for today’s kids, a trend probably enhanced by the ever smaller nature of electronic components and a perpetually competitive market for the next biggest — or next smallest — thing.

“The kids are smart enough to know what’s good,” said McGown. She explained that they want the real deal, not a cheap plastic substitution.

Check back in a future issue of TDmonthly Magazine to read more on this emerging trend.