[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-591942-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":73,"doc-detail-591942-en":122},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":66,"head_meta":68,"extra_data":70,"updated_unix":72},105,"en","the-transforming-toybox-examining-the-us-infant-toy-market","The Transforming Toybox - Examining the U.S. Infant Toy Market","","The transforming toybox studies technological and traditional infant toys to clarify how today’s toy marketplace aligns with developmental goals for children aged birth to 24 months. The research compares developmental targets, showing traditional toys emphasize physical development while technological toys emphasize cognitive development. It also evaluates evidence on play’s role in physical, cognitive, and socioemotional growth, and examines how caregiver beliefs and toy marketing shape purchases. Findings address concerns about “brainy baby” messaging and the interaction differences created by battery-operated toys.",{"@graph":14,"@context":65},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-transforming-toybox-examining-the-us-infant-toy-market/591942/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-transforming-toybox-examining-the-us-infant-toy-market/591942.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Mabel","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-05","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",8,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What concerns does the document raise about marketing and outcomes of technological toys?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It argues that technological toys can come with high costs and may be marketed in ways that promote “brainy baby” expectations, while research suggests they can change caregiver-child interaction quality and reduce certain kinds of play opportunities.","Answer","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":67,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":69,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":71,"site_id":7},591942,1792190456,{"code":4,"msg":74,"data":75},"success",[76,80,84,88,93,98,103,106,111,114,118],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":77,"show_sort_weight":78,"slug":79},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":81,"show_sort_weight":82,"slug":83},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":89,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":90,"show_sort_weight":91,"slug":92},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":94,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":95,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":97},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":99,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":100,"show_sort_weight":101,"slug":102},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},30,"research-report",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":109,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":112,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":113},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":115,"slug":117},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":119,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":121},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":74,"data":123},{"doc_id":71,"user_id":124,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":125,"doc_module":4,"category_id":55,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":126,"file_id":127,"file_url":128,"file_type":129,"file_size":130,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":131,"language":132,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":133,"faqs":134,"seo_title":135,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":136,"read_time":137,"preview_page_count":4},7971474920318,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/74000ee537e6b0ca360?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1788430171632181674","The Transforming Toybox  \nExamining the U.S. Infant Toy Market  \n•  \nBrenna Hassinger-Das, Rebecca Schwartz, Mari Tavd giridze, Nayrovi Mercedes, Marie Salerno, Nowou Cyrielle Talla Takoukam, Joshua Gamzehlatova, Jennifer M. Zosh  \nThe authors examined technological and traditional infant toys to understand the U.S. toy market facing today’s care givers. They found significant differences in the two types of toys in terms of their developmental targets—with more traditional toys aimed at physical development and more technological toys aimed at cognitive development. Given that the toy market is so vast and that technological toys sometimes come with considerable costs, they argue for the need to understand more precisely how toys are marketed to prevent exploitation based on the pursuit of a so-called “brainy baby.” Keywords: educational toys; gender-specific toys; developmental toys; technical toys; traditional toys; toy marketing  \nFrom motor milestones to language acquisition and developing social relationships, the experiences that happen during infancy set the stage for therest ofour lives (Institute of Medicine and National Research Council 2015) . In particular, play (both with and without physical toys) is, according to research, an essential component of infancy, which significantly affects an infant’s physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development (Healy, Mendelsohn, and Council on Early Childhood 2019; Landry et al. 1998; Ruff and Rothbart 1996) . At the same time, care givers’ perceptions and beliefs, as well as the ways in which toys are marketed (Al Kurdi 2017; Hassinger-Das et al. 2021), have an impact on the types of toys that care givers purchase for their children (Boe and Woods, 2018). This leads us to two important questions: what do the toy boxes of today contain, and how well do today’s toys promote child development as evidenced from play research?  \nToys designed for young children made up approximately 10 percent of the U.S. toy market in 2021, which was valued at approximately $38.2 billion (The Toy Association 2022) . Despite the broad impact of and the high demand for toys for infants from birth to twenty-four months of age, America’s toy indus-  \n14  \nAmerican Journal of Play, Volume 15, number 1 © 2023 The Strong Contact Brenna Hassinger-Das [at bhassingerdas@pace.edu](at bhassingerdas@pace.edu)  \ntry often does not consult experts in child development when designing toys (Gardner et al. 2012). Indeed, although research is limited, extant evidence about care giver and child use of technologically “enhanced,” battery-operated toys can result in significantly different interactions than those with traditional toys (Bergen et al. 2009; Zosh et al. 2015) .  \nWe aim to expand the literature examining the marketplace for technological and traditional toys in the United States, specifically for toys that target the infant population from birth to twenty-four months, given the long-lasting impact that this early stage has on an infant’s future development.  \nTechnological Versus Traditional Toys  \nFor decades, research has suggested that toys play a unique role in supporting children’s play activities (Rubin and Howe 1985). Primarily, traditional, nonelectronic toys foster three types of play: pretend play, object play, and physical play (Hassinger-Das et al. 2017). In pretend play with dolls or figurines, for example, children take on roles and develop an understanding of the minds and feelings of others (Youngblade and Dunn 1995) . Play with objects, such as building blocks, helps children develop spatial skills (Verdine et al. 2017) and allows them to express themselves creatively (Trawick-Smith et al. 2015) . Finally, toys used in physical play, including play with balls in such sports as basketball and soccer, both supports children’s physical health and fosters the development of their motor skills (Hassinger-Das et al. 2017) . With traditional toys, research suggests that children’s cognitive","cbCainhXIKZM8yzc","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCainhXIKZM8yzc","pdf",248217,21,"English","# Examining the U.S. Infant Toy Market\n## Technological Versus Traditional Toys","[{\"question\":\"What concerns does the document raise about marketing and outcomes of technological toys?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that technological toys can come with high costs and may be marketed in ways that promote “brainy baby” expectations, while research suggests they can change caregiver-child interaction quality and reduce certain kinds of play opportunities.\"}]","The Transforming Toybox - Examining the U.S. Infant Toy Market | PDF",1792073525,53]