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The second day of the Lunar New Year in China is the opening time of the New York Toy Fair, the three major toy fairs in the world, Nuremberg, New York and Shanghai . I just visited the largest toy fair in Nuremberg before. I felt so happy after visiting. If you haven’t seen it, you can click on the title below ->

What is it like to visit the largest toy fair in the world? Experience?

Hands-on and rule-based learning, building blocks and board games at the world’s largest toy show

As the second largest toy show, the New York Toy Fair, I am the first-come-first-served, so naturally I am the first to attend. Went shopping for a while. There is another little episode here. That day was Saturday. Before I went out, my husband was still saying to little D, "Your mother has changed her gender and no longer likes to visit bag stores and shoe stores. Now she only likes to visit toy stores." (Actually, I still love shopping in bag and shoe stores, why bother?).

Compared with the scale of Nuremberg and the professionalism of the German exhibition, the organization of the New York Toy Fair was a little disappointing. The only difference from Germany is that Americans carry the party spirit everywhere. The Toy Fair in New York is full of music and real dolls dancing there, and everyone is happy. I think this is also one of the spirits that toys should convey, happiness.

There will be a lecture at this Toy Fair, where the Toy Association will share with you the top seven children's toy trends in North America this year. Although some toys have a little cultural difference, these seven trends give us a guiding direction from a high level. Today I want to combine my own understanding and insights with you to understand these seven major trends.

1. There is a surprise when you open the box

A major core of this type of toys is to extend the toy experience, so that the expectations when you get the toy and the surprise after opening become the toy. A part that extends the joy of your child's favorite toys.

The “gacha” that we are all familiar with in China actually follows this principle, allowing children to look forward to it from the moment they twist the mechanism, and they will never know what they are getting until they finally open it.

At this year’s New York Toy Fair, there were many toys that borrowed from gashapon toys, and the most famous one is Hatchimals, which most friends know. The box is an eggshell, and when the child opens it, he will get his own one. Plush toys.

2. Pet play

The core of the second major trend is to provide opportunities for children to interact with animals, develop emotions, and cultivate a sense of responsibility in caring for animals. One of my early childhood education teachers once said that let children raise a newborn puppy when they are 1 or 2 years old, so that the child can learn to take care of it, have a playmate to cultivate friendship, and at the same time experience the first time when the child is a teenager. The separation of life and death is very helpful for the emotional development of children.

However, due to the limitations of real conditions, not every family can have such a pet family member. Naturally, this kind of toys have become supplementary elements, and the span is very wide, "luxurious, simple and casual".

WowWee Fingerlings, this little finger monkey, is equivalent to a fingertip pet for children. You can interact with them anytime and anywhere and coax them to sleep.

The high-end version is such an electronic pet dog. When I saw it at the exhibition, I thought it was really lifelike. It enjoyed being tickled by us, could listen to commands, and could run and sit. The video is my "magic" laughter (face covering?)

3. Toys used by parents when they were children

This year's toy trend has a big retro wave, that is, there will be a large number of toys that parents used to play with. Toys like these can help parents awaken the joy of childhood with their children, and provide more immersive and high-quality parent-child companionship.

I have always liked a saying, "We have been adults for so long that we forget that we were once children." Many parents will say that they don’t know how to interact and play with their children. Then we might as well try to start with those childhood toys that once fascinated us. We must know that happiness from the heart is always the most touching.

It is said that this is a homemade jewelry that every girl in the United States played with in the 1980s. Now mothers can play with their children.

It is also the "slime" that American children loved to play with in the 1980s. Now a little change has been added to it to make the slime change color. While developing the sense of touch, it also adds a little bit of scientific thinking exercise.

Slime color change

4. Imagination stimulation

There is no doubt that developing imagination is one of the main functions of toys. There are two main categories under this trend. One category is the well-known role-playing game toys, such as doctor dress-up, kitchenette, pretend food, etc. I won’t go into details here.

The host was demonstrating at the pet hospital during the press conference. The other two toys placed next to it were dolls and simulated houses.

The other category is handmade products, and plasticine must be is the first to bear the brunt. I have shared an article before, click -> 6 months? After 3 years old | Don’t just knead the plasticine. Playing like this can also develop observation, cognition and emotional intelligence. At this exhibition, I What stands out is Toki Dough, which will be launched in the middle of this year.

The difference between it and ordinary plasticine is that by pressing the net (the one held in the upper left hand and the one at the bottom are both nets), more detailed shapes can be made.

Aren’t these finished products particularly healing? I’m already eager to try them anyway?

5. Board games

Board games have undoubtedly become popular in 18 years. The hot trends of the New York Show and the Nuremberg Show overlap very much. I won’t write about it in detail here. If you haven’t seen it, you can click -> Hands-on and Rule Learning, Building Blocks and Board Games at the World’s Largest Toy Fair< /p>

6. Educational toys

When talking about American educational toys, STEM toys naturally come to mind. STEM is a teaching concept written into the American education syllabus. The four letters correspond to Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. It is a bit like what we said when we were young, "Learn mathematics, physics and chemistry well. It means "I will not be afraid even if I travel all over the world".

Learning Resources’ robot Botley can be set up to allow the robot to execute instructions, allowing children to understand the earliest programming concepts.

Some expansion packs have also been released, allowing the robot Botley to perform more advanced tasks, such as knocking down the dominoes below.

As for other STEM toys, I have already shared them with you at the Nuremberg Show, so I won’t repeat them here. Click -> What is it like to visit the world’s largest toy show?

7. High-tech toys

When it comes to high-tech toys, we have previously talked about the use of virtual reality (AR) technology. But there is undoubtedly only one hot topic this year, and that is Nintendo's entry into the toy field. During the press conference, the brand demonstrated how to make a piano.

The predecessor of the piano is these cardboards

Fold out a piano according to the instructions on the cardboard, put it on a Nintendo game console, and you can play music

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Then the host showed us the inside of the piano, which was empty? So the question is, how does the piano work to play beautiful songs?

The answer can be found in Nintendo's game console, which will restore the previous construction process and show the principles involved.

What impressed me the most was Nintendo’s concept, “Make, Build & Discover. Building is as muc fun as playing” (Make, build and discover. The process of making is as fun as playing games).

It seems that every parent is afraid of their children being addicted to video games. However, Nintendo’s philosophy does not blindly block the "happiness of playing games", but through more designs, let children understand that there are many kinds of happiness. , the process of manufacturing can be happy, and the process of studying the principles behind it is also happy. These and the happiness of "playing games" are both a kind of happiness.

As a digression, this idea can also be used for reference by many children who are addicted to TV and always love to eat snacks. I have shared a similar article before, you can click -> Us Why can't I see my children happy?

The arrival of my daughter made me relive my childhood. I love toys from the bottom of my heart, so I also enjoy playing with my daughter from the bottom of my heart. Play is indeed the most important learning for children, but fun must be more important than usefulness. As long as we choose the right toys, when we all enjoy them, the "learning" that we think is very important will happen naturally.

Finally, I want to give you a gift. I stayed up until one o'clock last night and completed this toy. My husband asked, what’s the use? It is indeed useless, but not everything needs to be "useful". Sometimes it is good to enjoy the process, isn't it:)

Big J, located in New York, was once a well-known foreign company manager and is now a stay-at-home mother. Sharing the parenting knowledge learned in the United States, there is no theoretical translation, only practical experience under the guidance of pediatricians and smart parenting methods that use the wisdom of enterprises.

The author of the best-selling books "Learning Parenting from American Pediatricians" and "Learning Early Childhood Education from American Kindergarten Teachers", Big J and Little D

I have written more than 800 original articles and would like to read more historical articles , welcome to click the QR code below