It’s official: Smart toys are taking over the toy space.
Gone are the days in which kids are content with traditional methods of play. Books, activities, and games are all available for kids on mobile devices, and they expect their toys to be no different. But although the mediums that kids are interacting with daily are changing, the one thing that won’t ever change is that kids love play.
Smart toys integrate physical toys and technology—essentially giving digital life to toys. Manufacturers are starting to realize the added value in these products and how wildly popular they can be. More than 72 million kids say they want smart toys, according to market research firm Interpret in a GameByte study.
In addition, kids are using mobile devices more than ever before. Seventy-one percent of households with a child age 4 to 14 reported owning a smartphone in 2014, already up from 55 percent in 2012, according to The NPD Group. Also, kids who own tablets doubled from 2012 to 2014, growing from 21 percent to 43 percent, respectively.
It’s only natural that manufacturers start to keep up with these trends. Companies are taking play to a whole new level, and those who have started are being really innovative about it.
With the Lego Fusion line, kids can build with Lego bricks and see their designs come to life in 3-D on a mobile app. They can also build within the game and most of the sets (Town Master, Battle Towers, and Resort Designer) include additional mini-games. Similarly, the Crayola Virtual Design Pro kits let kids create designs in the physical world and see them come to life in the virtual world, while in the Fashion Collection, kids design clothes for models to wear in a runway show. Lastly, the Car Collection lets kids drive and race their designs.
Other toys can be brought to life by bringing them inside a game. For the first time, Angry Birds Telepods characters can be teleported into the app just by placing the figures on top of a mobile device. So, not only can the birds be launched and destroy the piggies with the physical playset, but they can also be unlocked in the app, so kids can choose which characters they want to launch. (Who doesn’t want to play as a rock-‘n-roll Stella?)
One company has understood the concept of smart toys more than others (I’m talkin’ since three years ago), and they’ve even stepped it up a notch this fall. The hit video game Skylanders from Activision, developed by Toys for Bob, has not only brought toys to life, but now has brought life to toys.
The first three Skylanders video games let kids place their action figures on portals, which brought them to life on the screen. With Skylanders Trap Team, which came out earlier this month, kids can bring the characters out of the game and into physical “Traps,” essentially reversing the magic. When the characters are being trapped, you can hear the transition of them going from the TV into the Trap, and while the Traps are on the portal, they make noises so you know that they’re still in there.
Furthermore, kids can play the newest installment of the game anywhere, literally anywhere, with the new tablet version of the game. With the purchase of a starter pack, kids can download an app and type in a code that lets them play. The portal connects via Bluetooth and the rest works just like any traditional console.
Kids and parents also love the added value of these kinds of products–kids can play exclusively with the physical or digital versions of the toy, or they can play with both at the same time. There’s a reason why there’s a sudden boom with smart toys, and as we speak, other companies are following suit in an attempt to keep up.
For more commentary from Magdalene, check back often. Views expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Toy Book as a whole. We hope that you will share your comments and feedback below. Until next time!
