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NEWS Comment A PARENT BLOGGER’S VIEW


Parent bloggers are an influential part of the pre- school landscape. Each month, we ask a mummy or daddy blogger to write a special blog post for ToyNews, giving their views on the toy market


This month: Emma Button


IN A household where both parents write software for a living, it’s hardly surprising that my two girls have embraced technology from a very early age. While every member of


my household (from two years to 34 years) is now the owner of their own tablet, that doesn’t mean that we are a family of square-eyed, unsociable individuals. For me, technology is a


way of opening doors to new learning opportunities and kids technology is a great way of balancing my children’s creative and academic skills. My girls use their tablets


on average, once a week. They tend to use my iPad a couple more times each week. The fact that I have more apps for toddlers on my own device than I have apps for me is a reflection of how many great quality kids apps there are out there. There are no hard and


fast rules in our house as to when the girls can ‘play’ on the tablet because I like to think that we naturally find the right balance. We have crafty and hands-on activities available as well as traditional puzzles and wooden toys. All of these seem just as attractive to my children as their tech alternatives. The art of moderation is to ensure that there are plenty of different activities available.


As a technology specialist


myself, I see great value in ensuring children are comfortable and confident using tech and I understand the ways in which my children can aid their learning through technology. The LeapPad Ultra


inspired my five year old to explore space travel and animal care through online videos but that was just the start. Afterwards, we visited


the library to find more traditional books to carry on the learning. I’ve found this a common theme with LeapFrog toys. They have been the starting point for further exploration away from technology. There is no doubt that we sometimes use kids’ tech as a convenience – often it is far more appealing to let the girls loose on a colouring app than it is to lift out all of our art materials; there is certainly less mess to tidy up afterwards.


But on other occasions


you will find my girls happily building a princess castle from bricks, or covering each other head-to-toe in blue paint. In fact, some of our most played-with toys are simple, bold, long-lasting wooden toys such as our John Crane workbench or our beautiful wooden dolls house. Life is about balances.


Check out more from Emma Button online: www.mellowmummy.co.uk and on Twitter @jumblyMummy and MellowMummyUK on Facebook.


Lil’ Monkey to keep kids active with AR technology


Described as the ‘toy for the next generation,’ the climbing frame challenges kids to complete objectives through its AR app By Robert Hutchins


A NEW form of climbing frame featuring AR technology and an app generated monkey is giving kids the chance to quite literally step into their own virtual worlds. Lil’ Monkey is both a climbing dome and a game, and aims to combine active play with “the natural connection we all have to technology.” Thanks to a free app,


the frame can detect the location of the child as they move and generate the Lil’ Monkey character for them to interact with. In a bid to encourage


healthy play, Lil’ Monkey will then instruct the child to feed him with fruits, discover treasure and win points. The quicker a child moves about the climbing frame, the more points they win. The game was born from changing toy trends.


Esdevium builds pre-school offering with Dobble Kids


New game “is an exciting launch in a growng sector for us,” says UK games specialist


By Robert Hutchins


UK GAMES distributor Esdevium has revealed its plans to grow its pre-school portfolio with the launch of Dobble Kids. Having experimented with the sector in the past, the firm is approaching the pre-school market with a collection of products aimed at youngsters. “The pre-school sector is something we haven’t been in for very long,” Ben Hogg, marketing director at Esdevium told ToyNews. “But the sector is very important to us, and it is something we are looking to grow in the future.” Billed as a ‘slightly simplified version of the


34 July


“Being a father of three, it came to my attention that my children and all of their friends spend all day with their tablets and not enough time in active play,” said Ido Klein, Lil’ Monkeys creator and CEO. Rather than fighting the


trend, Klein decided to combine it with active play. “This seemed like such an


obvious solution to me, so I set about innovating the ultimate 21st century toy.


“The combination of outdoor fun and modern, cutting edge technology is amazing. It makes the climbing construction so much more fun.” Designed to grow with a


child, the Lil’ Monkey comes with 28 stages and more are in development. The interactive climbing


frame retails for £89.95 and will be available from March 2015.


contact@idoleh.com


original game,’ Dobble Kids aims to engage children with the ‘fast paced fun of the game by matching the six featured animals.’ “It’s a really exciting launch


for us,” continued Hogg. “Dobble Kids is something we are really happy to release, opening up the great game to a younger audience.”


And the firm expects sales of its new game to echo the success of its older counterpart, albeit on a smaller scale. “Dobble is still growing in its sales quite rapidly, and we think Dobble Kids will continue the trend in the pre- school sector,” added Hogg. Esdevium: 01420 593593


www.toynews-online.biz


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