In the present economy, the childrens educational toys category is one of the few growth areas of the toy industry. I predict an even greater scramble to parade, perhaps even exaggerate, the educational benefits of toys in the marketplace as each vendor vies for a larger share of this hot category.
Retailers are challenged to sift through the claims and “edu-speak” and select items that have both kid appeal and real benefit. A key selling point for an educational toy is its ability to offer a broad spectrum of benefits, maximizing purchase opportunities and minimizing the likelihood that only a few of a child’s skills are really being developed.
The growth of the educational toy market can be traced to parents’ belief that they need to supplement school-based learning — particularly in light of the rapidly evolving job marketplace — and that toys can have at least a moderate impact on learning. These two beliefs correspond to two basic types of educational toys: “curriculum,” or content-based, and “cognitive,” or skill-based.
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