Pretend Play Heralds the Lost
Art of Creative Playtime
By Paul A. Paterson
November 2003
Amid the emergence of toys designed to make children smarter, there appears
to be a renewed appreciation for toys that encourage make-believe playtime.
Long recognized for its therapeutic benefits, pretend play also develops
the so-called “left brain,” which psychologists believe controls the more
creative and artistic thinking processes, areas not usually stimulated
by the plethora of academic learning toys.
"There is a school of thought that is in direct opposition to this
[ideas about conventional learning toys]," said Mark Carlson,
director of sales and marketing for Creative Teaching Associates
(ToyShow),
a company specializing in learning toys. "It says to develop more
healthy individuals, you need the kids to have their playtime to develop
the left side of the brain, that we are pushing the kids too quickly."
"What children need to do is play with open-ended toys," agreed
Karen Hewitt, president and designer for Learning
Materials Workshop (ToyDirectory).
"I worry that children are not just allowed to play. Parents are
almost obsessed with doing everything faster. Have a 6 year old do what
a 6 year old can do. They need time just to spend dreaming with children
and letting them dream and play, too."
"What children need to do
is play with open-ended toys. I worry that children are not just allowed
to play. Parents are almost obsessed with doing everything faster.”
There are signs that parents and toy buyers are embracing creative play
and unstructured toys. For example, Toy Industry Association
statistics show sales in the arts and crafts category topped $1.4 billion
in 2002, up more than 16 percent from 2001.
"There has been such innovation in the arts and crafts area,"
agrees Shannon Eis, spokesperson for Toy Industry Association.
"It's doing an activity that leaves the children with a toy they
can play with after, letting children create things that they want to
use and share."
Eis points out, however, that toy manufactures and designers are not
the ones discovering the benefits of toys that encourage pretend play.
"Innovative and creative play has always been an important part to
the toy manufacturers," she notes. "Parents’ thinking shifts
on this."
Outside of the arts and crafts area, products that set the stage for
children to create their own make-believe worlds are finding a foothold
with consumers. "The truth is, it's all theatrical," said Susan
Podshadley, owner and designer of Fairytale Fashion,
a Massachusetts-based company producing high-quality children's costumes.
"Kids love to pretend to be something or somebody else." Specializing
in child-sized princess and fairy dresses designed to fit right over regular
clothing, Podshadley's line offers young girls an entrance into their
own make-believe world.
"Princesses, fairies and Little Red Riding Hood are just starting
points for kids to create anything they want," she explained, recalling
with a chuckle a time when her own niece donned a costume. "I said,
‘You're a beautiful princess,’ and she said, 'I'm not a princess; I'm
a queen.'"
Available in specialty boutiques and through the company website, Podshadley
says her customers are mainly females in high-income brackets. "Mothers,
grandmothers and doting aunts buy these things. They make great Christmas
gifts," she said.
At Pharmtec (ToyShow),
home of My Very Own House™, Vice President of Marketing
and Sales Bob Becker has seen a move toward parents wanting
to participate in activities with their children, and pretend play is
part of that experience.
"A lot of people want to spend time with their kids creatively,"
he said. "From the consumer standpoint, as more people had to put
their kids in daycare, they had the extra money, and they could go out
and buy the $150 educational toy. Then people started to spend more quality
time, so they were looking for games that, rather than one controller,
had two controllers."
The predominance of interactive
toys may have stunted creativity in kids. Kids are weaned on “whiz-bang
toys,” and they’ve forgotten how to entertain themselves.
He also believes the predominance of interactive toys may have stunted
creativity in kids.
"Kids are so used to having all these whiz-bang toys, and they forgot
how to entertain themselves," he said. The goal of My Very Own House™
was to create a durable, foldable cardboard playhouse that could act as
the blank slate for a variety of make-believe scenarios. Like Fairytale
Fashion, Becker's product line appeals to higher-income shoppers looking
for unique gifts.
"A lot of grandparents are buying them for their grandchildren,"
he said. "The grandparents—we call them ‘geographically distant relatives’—they
purchase them so when the child comes to visit, they can have something
[to] spend one-on-one time with them."
That is especially true, Becker says, of families with an only child.
"Most definitely, moms that have a single child purchase these the
most," he agreed. "The ones that have multiple kids only purchase
them for a party."
From building bonds between parent and child to developing creative problem-solving
skills, products that inspire make-believe are, above all else, fun.
