The reason I don't blog anymore on Xanga is because I'm always blogging on PRWeek.com.
Lego blocks? Transformers? Barbie dolls? No, no, no. What your child really wants for Christmas is one of the many high-tech kiddie toys—cellphones, laptops, digital cameras, and MP3 music players—made especially for eager-to-grow-up preschoolers.
According to this New York Times article, children ages 3 and up—and sometimes even younger—are being bombarded with new tech devices, as fake gadgets no longer satisfy their longing to play with mommy or daddy’s super cool (and super expensive) digicam.
On Amazon.com, the “hottest toys” list includes the Easy Link Internet Launch Pad (like which three-year-old is actually going to go browsing on the Internet?!) and the Smart Cycle—an exercise bike connected to a video game. Ingenious! Leave it to toy makers to come up with something for hyper kids to let out all their energy while being engaged in a ‘healthy game’.
Techie toys are multiplying rapidly, as evidenced by the fact that six of the nine best-selling toys for five- to- seven-year-olds on Amazon.com are tech gadgets. The growing trend is causing a concern for pediatricians and educators who worry that too much screen time will stifle imagination. (And perhaps social skills?)
All I’ve got to say is that kids these days are growing up in a whole new world. When I was a kid, I played with my one cabbage patch doll until all four limbs broke off (what can I say, I was an affectionate child). And when my parents were young, they played with rocks! (Literally, the stone age.)
But times have changed, and I can’t even begin to wonder what the next generation of kids will receive as playthings. (A flying car?)
And who can blame them? Even I’m lusting after the Smart Cycle! C’mon, video game plus exercise machine in one? Sure beats playing with my limbless cabbage patch doll any day.
