Toys Consumer Insights

Trend - Lifestyle brands are releasing soft plushies with weighted fillings to make them more huggable and cuddlable. These plushies are designed to appeal to children and to calm children with anxiety or during stressful situations. The plushies are often given familiar designs to enhance comfort.

Insight - Many new parents find difficulties in time management when it comes to balancing raising a child with a career and personal obligations. These parents continually search for tips, tricks, and solutions, such as meal prepping or AI-powered baby monitors, to challenges related to raising children. However, many of these solutions deal with tangible time-related challenges, rather than emotional ones. In order to assist parents in these areas, brands are releasing weighted calming plushies.

Trend - As discussions around the impact AI will have on young people increase, those in the toy space are finding ways to use this and other technologies in more positive ways. Allowing kids to use technology comes with a certain stigma. Undoing this negative perception is about integrating emotional development into play, enabled by tech.

Insight - After seeing the negative impacts technology had on the Millennial and older Gen Z generations, fears around how younger members of the latter will develop with AI are on the rise. This is exacerbated by the fact that many parents of young Gen Z are Millennials themselves. To this generation of parents, emotional intelligence and a sense of holistic wellness is as important as a child's ambitions or academic performance. EQ-focused tech toys are a compromise, simultaneously exposing children to new technologies while also assisting in overall development.

Trend - The growing focus on mental wellbeing in North America, has extended to kid's toys, with some brands offering interactive experiences that help distract children from challenging emotions. These wellbeing-focused toys also help teach children productive coping skills for stress and anxiety.

Insight - The last few years have put a spotlight on mental health, especially as the pandemic caused an uptick in people's feelings of anxiety and sadness globally. In North America, this coincided with the already-existing "wellness" movement, where consumers began exploring stress-reduction through both traditional and "new age" means. This shift has impacted how consumers choose to raise their kids--they're now prioritizing their children's mental health as part of their overall development.

Trend - The current 90s revival in pop culture has extended to toys that were once central in the childhoods of Millennials and Gen X. Brands are now re-releasing classic 90s toys, or using them as inspiration in new products—evoking nostalgia while still appealing to young consumers.

Insight - The Y2K revival in fashion, tv, toys and other culturally infuenced trends has appeal for a wide range of consumers--either Gen Z who view 90s and early 2000s' trends as aesthetic inspiration, or Millennials and Gen X who remember these trends from their youth. When it's effectively done, evoking nostalgia either creates emotional connections with customers, or appeals to consumers who romanticize the past.

Trend - Culinary brands are fostering more involved interactions in the home with instructional cooking content that is easy for kids to enjoy and follow along to, while having them learn a useful skill and creating engaging experiences between family members.

Insight - Many Millennial and Gen X parents are using the influence of tech on their children's lives as a way to get them involved in the various hobbies and skills that they'll develop over the years. Content that engages kids visually or in a way that aligns with their tech-based habits is a way to create more impactful learning experiences for a generation that is growing up in a digital world.

Trend - The convenience of blockchain technologies led to developers incentivizing players to play their games for monetary compensation. These games award players NFTs and cryptocurrencies for performing well, providing direct and immediate real-world value for engaging with play-to-earn games.

Insight - Many gamers have a desire to transform gaming beyond a time-consuming hobby into a source of income. This was previously only possible through esports competitions or becoming an online content creator. Companies have found a way to satiate this desire for all players through the use of blockchain technologies. Gamers are more drawn to titles that implement this technology as they feel they are being more productive by generating income while indulging in their hobbies.

Trend - In order to better compete with online gaming, brands are releasing board and card-trading games that merge real-world and digital entertainment elements. Everything from connected game sets to NFT-based trading cards are bringing analog gaming into consumers' more contemporary preferences.

Insight - With much of consumers' day-to-day lives being based online, traditional forms of play are no longer as relevant. However, consumers' still crave the in-person engagement that more traditional recreational activities have to offer. Now, some consumers are turning to brands that are willing to offer them the experiential elements of the online world, with the more interactive elements of analog play.

Trend - The many different materials required to produce board games impacts the environment, so some brands in this space are prioritizing sustainability both in the materials they use to create these games, and in the messaging of the games themselves.

Insight - Sustainability has become a priority for more North American customers as the last few years has shown climate change's impact in real-time. With consumers now feeling more conscious of their personal impact and worried about the future, they're more likely to turn to sustainable options when they're buying from brands.

Trend - Brands are helping foster children's interest in creating content with toys and products that help kids learn the basics of recording--and even editing--content. These toys are especially popular as more kids show interest in digital creative expression.

Insight - In order to appeal to young Gen Z, brands are having to pay special attention to the tools and lifestyles these children are being raised with. As digital natives, this generation has an inherent connection with the virtual world, and brands that tap into this connection will be able to pique Gen Z's interest.

Trend - Toy brands are now taking inspiration from social platforms by offering DIY sets that imitate popular online trends. These sensory-based DIY kits help children engage with toys in a way that connects with their virtual interests.

Insight - Consumers across generations have been impacted by social media platforms in some way, but today's young Gen Z are the true digital natives. For young consumers, the virtual world is something that's inherently part of their lives and lifestyles--so real-life trends that mimick those they see online will always hold influence.