The Play Forum is a collection of voices from parents and people in the toy and children’s entertainment industries. Read what’s on their minds, and join the conversation.
Given how much time and money is spent on kids’ birthday parties—not to mention how it can sometimes be frustrating for parents—over the next several weeks, we’ll be looking at some solutions and tips for keeping the focus on the fun and celebration.
Yeah, I know. A kid probably thinks there’s no such thing as “too many toys.” Parents, though, well that’s another matter. We often hear about moms who bemoan the fact that their kids have so much stuff that they can’t play with it all—and they end up tripping over the toys, or some version of that.
I’m just back from the Toys & Games Fair in Hong Kong, the “official” start of the toy year and an exciting time in our business where new products are on display and we get a first look at things that may (emphasis on “may”) take off later in the year.
“Family Game Night” has become a buzzword in our culture, thanks to a successful advertising program. But how many families really do it? Not very many from our unscientific interviews, but the desire is there. Playing games with the family seems to be on many a to-do list, but not always possible to do. And [...]
I know it seems like school just started and you’re starting to think about that perfect Halloween pumpkin. The toy biz, though, is already in full holiday mode. If you’ve been in a store recently, you’ll see expanded space for toys, new items everywhere and the buzz starting to build for what’s going to be [...]
School is starting, dusk is coming earlier, and people are starting to move inside. But don’t let these warm evenings get away too soon. There’s still plenty of time to get outdoors and be active at the end of the day. Especially for that time between school and homework, letting kids burn off a little steam can also help them concentrate better when it’s time to do homework. It can also help them sleep better. All of this can help improve overall performance in school. As the Latin expression goes: mens sane in corpore sano—a sound mind in a sound body.
Virtually any time I go to a gathering and people find out what I do, I get the same question. “I have an old [fill in toy name here]. What is it worth?” Really, it never fails. While I know a lot about toy history, our focus here at Time to Play is on new [...]
We were as shocked as the nation was to wake up on Friday morning and hear of the attack on moviegoers at a midnight screening of “The Dark Knight Rises.” This senseless, random horror makes no sense to us – or anyone – and our hearts and thoughts go out to the families and friends of all those affected.
Here in New York, we’re into our fourth heat wave of the summer, and nothing could seem more distant than going back to school. Not so for retailers and shoppers, however. The back-to-school sales period is getting earlier every year, but that’s because schools are opening earlier than previously. Some states begin the school year [...]
My good friend Lenore Skenazy over at Free Range Kids tipped me off to a story in the New York Times about an alarming new product—food pouches for kids. The basic idea seems to be that when the young ‘uns are hungry, you just strap on the feedbag. Or in this case, hand them an expensive pouch with some processed foodstuff that lets the little tikes suck out a meal, rather than eating. The inventor says this helps busy parents keep their kids fed without the fuss of having to prepare a meal. He also confuses Lenore’s concept of being “free range”—learning to be responsible for one’s life without a parent hovering over every second—with being so over-schedued that there’s never time to eat.
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