The Ins and Outs of Valuable Play Experiences
by Chris Byrne View Bio
Chris Byrne is a 30-plus-year veteran of the toy industry. Currently, he is a partner in aNb Media, LLC and content director for TimetoPlayMag.com. Chris is a researcher, analyst and consultant who has worked with a variety of Fortune 100 companies tracking kid trends, product development and strategic marketing campaigns. He is widely published on the topic of toys and family life and in addition to his work with Time to Play he is editor-at-large for the trade publications Toys & Family Entertainment and Royalties. Chris is widely quoted in the media and appears regularly on local and national television commenting on toys and demonstrating new products.
- Play really serves three purposes – it gives children a chance to explore their worlds, have new experiences, and express themselves. And those three things are constant in toys throughout human history.
- Today, toys really reflect the diversity of our culture and experiences, and the many ways for children to express themselves. It really is sort of an open-ended street. There are not the same societal restrictions on children today, so they are much freer to explore all kinds of different identities.
- Play is a little bit like a dream state and helps children to process information, internalize and express it. If you ever see kids having battles with their action figures, they may be working something out — a conflict that they experienced at school, or they may be trying to solve a problem and that’s just expressed in their imagination.
Why is play so important? What do kids get out of it? And what things do parents and caregivers need to look out for when buying toys for their kids? Chris “The Toy Guy” Byrne, content director for TTPM.com, a leading toy review site, shares some tips.
You’ve authored several books on the history of toys and play. From your perspective, has play evolved over the past 100 years?
I don’t think play has really changed since human beings started showing up on the planet, or at least modern human beings. Play really serves three purposes – it gives children a chance to explore their worlds, have new experiences, and express themselves. And those three things are constant in toys throughout human history.
How have toys transformed over time?
If you fast-forward to the modern toy industry, and I will date that from the beginning of the 20th century, toys always reflect what’s going on in the culture at large. Looking at some of the toy catalogs from the early 20th century, boys had trucks and building sets, and girls had ironing boards and dish sets. Toys were specifically designed to use play to prepare children to enter the real world as it existed at that time.
Today, toys really reflect the diversity of our culture and experiences, and the many ways for children to express themselves. It really is sort of an open-ended street. There are not the same societal restrictions on children today, so they are much freer to explore all kinds of different identities.
“I think it’s really important to realize that every child has a different play style. They are as unique as somebody’s personality.”
Why do you think play is important for children today?
In today’s world, there are so many things out there that children are faced with – whether it’s media, whether it’s peers, whether it’s family. It’s a lot of information to process. In that, play is a little bit like a dream state and helps children to process information, internalize and express it. If you ever see kids having battles with their action figures, they may be working something out — a conflict that they experienced at school, or they may be trying to solve a problem and that’s just expressed in their imagination.
Another thing that is so important about play, especially imaginative play, is that it’s one of the building blocks of learning. For example, solving a problem in a game or in a construction set gives me experience that will be relevant to virtually any curricula — math, science and more. In addition, when children make up stories about a stuffed animal or doll, for example, that develops language and narrative skills that will be helpful structuring essays later on. Play, especially in the early and preschool years, set the stage for future learning.
As the content director for TTPM, a leading toy review website, you and your team see a ton of new toys. What are the latest trends that you’re seeing?
One of the biggest trends, one that most parents like to hear, is that with all the technology available, there is still a huge growth in crafts and other kinds of creative playthings. One of the things I like to say is that technologies have only made the toy box bigger. And if you allow kids to naturally play, they will gravitate to all of these different categories of play. They will do something creative, something active, something with technology, because they are out there trying to have all these wild, diverse and kid-directed play experiences.
What criteria do you use when you are evaluating how fun or beneficial a toy is?
We always ask ourselves what it is and who it is for, because not every toy is for every kid. We look for whether the toy is appropriate for the age. Is it fun? Most importantly, what is the repeat play value? Is the child going to return to it again and again?
We look for toys that are not complete without the child. A toy that you can turn on, and then go into another room and have a sandwich and it’s still doing its thing without any engagement with the child — that’s not a great play experience. It may be great novelty experience, but for a longer-term play you want something that engages the child’s imagination, something that needs the child’s interaction in order to come to life.
What should parents look for when they’re shopping for toys that will offer their kids a valuable play experience?
I think it’s really important to realize that every child has a different play style. They are as unique as somebody’s personality. If you had given me a bat and a ball when I was kid, I would have been engaged for days. If you’d have given me a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle, I would’ve had to have the flu to be able to focus on that. I was much more likely to run around than to sit still. So know your child’s individual play style. Most importantly, we always say that a hot toy is hot only if it is hot for your child.