Active Play: Challenging the Mind, Body and Imagination

Keeping your kids and yourselves engaged through physical activity is a key essential for leading happier and healthier lives.  Propelled by consumer demand and influenced by initiatives such as Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Campaign, toymakers have stepped up their efforts to develop toys and games that offer active solutions for the whole family.

When products are engaging and fun, kids of all ages will stick with them longer, thereby deriving greater health benefits. What’s more, “Active Play” can serve as a catalyst for both the body and the brain:

ACTIVE PLAY
Toys and games that emphasize a physical (exercise) component are the obvious way to get your kids up and moving, keep their bodies active, limber and flexible, and promote healthy lifestyle choices. The outdoor games segment is flourishing with game and outdoor sports play for kid and family activities. Some products include Hasbro’s Nerf and Super Soaker blasters, Playskool Games’ Pop Goes Froggio, Red Rover (Mattel), Flickin Chicken (Haywire Games), and Squap by Diggin Active.

Even products that have a high-tech component such as the Wii and SWINX gaming systems are designed to foster “kid-generated action” by incorporating movement into game … think “kid = remote.” Other examples, such as Wild Planet’s Hyper Dash Extreme and Sonic Slam by Radica, capitalize on a programmed degree of randomness to combine thinking and movement. 

ACTIVE IMAGINATION AND INTELLIGENCE
Focusing on “Play with a Purpose,” Active Imagination and Active Intelligence toys and games stimulate your child’s mind and creativity through hands-on play experiences.  There are many options to keep multiple generations engaged and connected through family-friendly imaginative play and hands-on experiences with building sets, arts and crafts and science/discovery experimentations; brain teasers and “creativity generators” such as logic games and puzzles; and role play and dress-up items.

• Building sets and arts and crafts can improve hand-eye coordination and brain functioning, as well as promote self-esteem with a complete start-to-finish experience. Science and discovery experiments inspire pure creative play through hands-on experiences with the products.

Newer introductions in the building sets category include Trio by Fisher Price, Megabrands’ new Thomas the Tank selections and Lego’s Toy Story 3 and Atlantis best-sellers. Playmobil, Knex, Uberstix (Path Products) and other construction manufacturers have also expanded ranges with new licenses and play patterns.

The arts and crafts category continues to flourish. Crayola’s new Glow Explosion, Alex’s Foil Jewelry Maker, Spin Master’s Moon Dough, Creativity For Kids’ Shrinky Dink Sets, Scratch Arts’ new Scratching Magic Travelling Fashion Dress-Ups and Fashion Angels Fashion Plates are enjoyed for room décor, fashion design, and more.

In the area of science and discovery products, the Mythbusters series from Elmer’s Giddy Up, Uncle Milton’s Star Wars Science series, Primary Science Set (Learning Resources), Sid the Science Kid Learning Science Kits (Patch Products), the Dangerous Book for Boys – Classic Chemistry (Thames & Kosmos), as well as products from Be Amazing and Young Scientists are excellent options.

• Brain teasers and problem-solving toys, games and puzzles incorporate strategic play scenarios, cooperative teamwork or competitive play scenarios. Many games offer dual play rules, providing both cooperative and competitive play rules in the instructions to allow for different play scenarios with the same purchase. 

Games in this category include Rubik’s Slide (Techno-Source), Zingo-to-Go and Solitaire Chess (ThinkFun), Blockers (Briarpatch), Consensus (Mind Logic), Sequence Numbers and Link-O (Jax Games) and more from Endless Games, Winning Moves, USAopoly, Pressman and Cardinal.

Open-ended “everyone-wins” games can be found in the ranges for I Can Do That Games Preschool Games and Zimzala Family Games, Story Cubes (Gamewright-Ceaco), Dominion (Rio Grande Games), Bubble Talk (TechnoSource) and more.

• Role play may involve dressing up as favorite characters from blockbuster movies such as Iron Man II, Shrek, Prince of Persia, and Toy Story 3; classic role play includes impersonating astronauts, super heroes, firefighters, princesses and fairies.

In the role play category, the KidsCraft Playhouse shuttle and the Delta Creations Princess and Toy Story 3 play tables and chair sets double as room décor and play pieces, providing price value options. AeroMax has added new “fire-power” to their Super-Soaking Firefighter Hose and Backpack, and many affordable dress-up options are available from Thinkway, Disguise, Rubies Costumes, Hasbro, Mattel, Playmates, Spin Master and more.

As you can see, Active Play products promote a wide variety of options to keep your child in shape. And remember, these are just a small selection of the many toys that challenge both the body and the imagination. For some tips on Active Outdoor Play, check out the recently added video.