Category
Life-Stages
Constructible Franchises
Trend cluster
Category
Purposeful
Construction
Tactile toy products evolve to allow children to create with purpose.
4.2
Trend score
Trend
What is the Purposeful Construction trend?
Purposeful Construction: The interest in allowing children to express themselves creatively has converged with the interest in teaching them tangible, real-world skills. As a result, design- focused toys that enable children to create with both fun and purpose are emerging on the market. Allowing children to cultivate their own aesthetic sensibility, these toys reveal that personal identity has become a primary focus in modern parenting.
Trend themes
Themes within the Purposeful Construction trend
Three behaviours holding the trend together01
Kinetic Learning
Design-focused toys are enhancing motor skills and creativity in children by converging education with play.
02
Personalized Education
Toys are becoming more focused on cultivating aesthetic sensibility and enhancing the personal identity of children.
03
STEM Education
Educational kits and toys are focused more on STEM education to teach young users robotics, coding, and other essential technical skills.
Industry implications
What the Purposeful Construction trend means for industry
Where the trend changes the playbookFor
Education
There is a growing trend in converging play and education to enhance children's motor skills and creativity.
For
Toy Manufacturing
The design industry is becoming more focused on toys that teach real-world skills and are fun to play with.
For
Educational Technology
With a growing focus on STEM education, there is a growing sector of educational technology incoporating robotics building blocks as a new form of play that encourages experimentation and learning.
Workshop question
Where does your brand fit into cultivating consumers' personal or public personas?
Trend signals
Trend signals for Purposeful Construction
Trend score 4.2 out of 10, from popularity 56%, activity 62%, freshness 8%.
Popularity56%
Activity62%
Freshness8%
Audience
50%Men
50%Women
- Gen Alpha
- Gen Z (not a primary audience)
- Millennial (not a primary audience)
- Gen X (not a primary audience)
- Boomer (not a primary audience)
Market
North America
Europe
Asia-Pacific
Evidence
Examples of the Purposeful Construction trend
6 featured examples from Dec 29, 2015 to Aug 23, 2016CategoryLife-Stages
Artistry Teaching Toys
The Dora the Explorer Trace and Learn Projector Teaches Art Basics
The Dora the Explorer Trace and Learn Projector belongs to the educational toys industry, which has the opportunity to create more products that combine learning and artistic expr…
CategoryLife-Stages
Architectural Bathtub Toys
WATERSCAPE Lets Kids Build Floating Cities in the Tub
De Intuïtiefabriek's WATERSCAPE collection is disrupting the toy industry with its innovative approach to bath toys that engage children's imagination and are easy to clean.
CategoryTech
Robotic Educational Kits
The Sony Global Education 'KOOV' Kit Focuses on Teach Kids STEM
The education industry has an opportunity to develop new STEM-focused curriculums and programs that integrate with hands-on educational kits like the Sony Global Education 'KOOV'…
CategoryLife-Stages
Connected Building Block Kits
The 'ROKduino' Robot Building Blocks are an Educational Form of Play
Developing customizable toy kits that combine play and education, allowing children to learn robotics and coding skills.
CategoryArt & Design
Children's Architecture Building Blocks
The Little Architect Set is a Techicolor Toy Drafting Kit
The toy manufacturing industry can develop and market more miniature toy drafting kits for children, tapping into the growing demand for educational and creative toys.
CategoryLife-Stages
Instructional Type Blocks
The 'Tykography' Wooden Letter Cubes Teach Children About Typefaces
Opportunity for toy manufacturers to create innovative educational products that teach children about typography and design.
