Educational toys
Learning + fun = a winning formula
Home-schooling is (mercifully) over, but post-pandemic demand for educational toys and games remains as robust as ever. ToyNews looks at the factors behind the enduring popularity of toys that teach and, over the page, examines some of the best-in-class products on the market
M
arket research companies never align when it comes to figures, but they do all agree on one thing:
the trajectory for STEM and educational toys is an upward one. Allied Market Research’s Learning and Educational Toys Market forecast for 2021- 2030 reports that the global educational toys industry generated USD 49.97 billion in 2020, and is estimated to reach USD 81.29 billion by 2030. Fortune Business Insights’ Educational Toys Market 2021-2028, meanwhile, predicts the global market will generate USD 132.62 billion by 2028, growing at a 9.83 per cent CAGR. In particular, demand for STEM toys
(Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) has rocketed, growing by 122 per cent in the UK year-over-year, according to market intelligence experts The Insights Family. The company’s 2022 Toy Report: The Year of STEM reveals that the gender split between girls and boys naming STEM toys, once considered the preserve of boys, as their favourites was fairly equal, while in Germany and France, more girls (58 per cent and 54 per cent respectively) chose those toys. The report also highlights a number of
28 | ToyNews | Spring/Summer 2022
trends that are feeding into the demand for toys with STEM value. One is that parents rate STEM subjects highly. Sixty-two per cent of parents globally agree with the phrase “STEM are the most important subjects for kids to learn today”. The data also reveals that children who like STEM toys are statistically more likely to want to move into STEM-focused careers, such as computing, science, medicine, engineering and games design – traditionally better paid than jobs in the arts. Another issue at play is the parental “guilt factor”; 59 per cent of parents in the UK report that they are concerned about their children spending too much time online. STEM toys, however, offer an opportunity to counterbalance digital time, and give children
the chance to enjoy a hands-on, rather than purely passive, experience. While lockdown spurred a demand for educational toys and games, the trend was there before, according to Simon Tomlinson, Commercial Director EMEA at Learning Resources. “Home learning brought our products into the homes of more families, but we’d already tracked the overall growth in awareness about the benefits of educational toys before that, and seen an increase in parents looking for toys that teach,” he explains. Demand remained strong after schools reopened, and Christmas 2021 was Learning Resources’ best ever. “We’ve since continued to see an increase in brand success indicators in everything from increased website traffic and strong sales, to the continued growth in followers and engagements on our social media channels,” Tomlinson states. Is this a sign that parents want to help their kids catch up on lost learning, or to give them an edge in an increasingly competitive world? Or is it an indicator that as a society our priorities have changed, and we want children to discover a sense of curiosity and wonder?
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