TECH VS TRADITIONAL SPECIAL
The parent’s view
As technology reshapes a child’s toy landscape, iGen Insight asks what this means for the more traditional toy and how mums feel about their co-existence and eff ects within the family home
WE CARRIED out key research into children’s play patterns and the role of tech and traditional toys within the home. An online survey of 1,000 parents with children aged two to 14 years old was conducted and supplemented with qualitative research using a mobile app and group discussions with mums of children aged two to seven years old.
It has been an interesting
journey as we have delved deeper into family life to try and understand the reality of the tech vs traditional debate within the home.
We can safely say that in most homes it appears to be more a case of ‘tech meets traditional’. As one of the mums
we spoke to very clearly articulated: “You can argue until the cows come home, but there’s a place for both and it’s a balance you need”. What does this mean? Fundamentally there
are key elements mums consider across the board when they are evaluating purchases even from lower price points – will the product hold their kids’ attention? Will it engage their imagination? Will enough
play value be gained from the price tag attached? Our society has
always been framed by the advancements in technology which are now used without a second thought. From fi gure one, you can see the extent to which these items are a part of everyday life. Our study also found that 53 per cent of children own their own handheld console, 47 per cent a games console, 44 per cent a tablet and 37 per cent have their own smart phone. Signifi cantly, only 19 per cent of kids don’t have any of these items.
Figure 1: The proportion of children who have access to the following devices and use them everyday (multiple reasons allowed)
Handheld games console
Games console Smart phone Tablet
22 July 16% 28% 40% 47%
Source: iGen Insight Tech Meets Traditional
Figure 2: Words which mums used to describe benefi ts of Tech and Traditional products
Source: iGen Insight Tech Meets Traditional
CERTAINLY WE found that mums feel most comfortable in their parental role discussing their children playing with traditional toys and games. Indeed their values
around this subject are also traditional – better at helping develop social skills (playing together rather than playing next to each other), as well as the belief that they are better at fuelling their child’s imagination – “you’re free to take a toy where you want, not driven down a path”. Overall, mums told us
that traditional toys were more focused on their child’s development needs. On both sides of the tech meets traditional debate, is a concept that we have termed ‘mum’s guilt’ Central to the discussion is an acknowledgement
that mums are having to make an active and conscious decision to make time to play with traditional toys with their children which in turn leads to the guilt they feel over the more electronic and tech led toys. For the most part, mums’
guilt often stems from their own need to get on with other things which leads their children away from traditional toys to tech. They told us that
“we almost give it as a babysitter” and that it enables their children to sit down quietly on their own and play.
This is further illustrated
in fi gure two which highlights words that mums spontaneously mentioned when talking about the benefi ts of tech and traditional toys or games.
www.toynews-online.biz
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