Girls Gung Ho For Arts and Crafts!

No matter their age, girls are crazy for crafting. In a recent Toy Tracker study conducted by Funosophy, a toy industry consulting firm, 300 girls ages 6 to 11 shared their experience with and interest in a wide variety of arts and crafts activities. The results are good news for manufacturers and retailers of this wide-raging product category.

An incredible percentage of girls surveyed indicated having tried the arts and crafts activities included in this poll. From drawing and painting to making lanyards and origami, more than half of the girls polled had tried each activity on the list.

Among those activities that girls have not tried before, there is a good deal of pent-up demand for the future. Activities with lower penetration but with interest from girls are origami, wearable crafts, and lanyard making—all can be great opportunities for craft kits manufacturers.

And the good news just keeps coming for marketers of arts and crafts products. Whether or not they've tried these arts and crafts activities in the past, an overwhelming number of girls plan on pursuing them in the future.

Although interest levels and rankings vary slightly by age, an overwhelming percentage of girls in both the core age group of 6- to 8-year-olds and the tween demographic of 9- to 11-year-olds plan on getting crafty in a variety of ways in the future.

According to the study, drawing also topped the list when asked if “I want to do this in the future.” Saying yes were 94 percent of respondents ages 6 to 11, 97 percent for ages 6 to 8, and 90 percent for ages 9 to 11. Painting and “Making things for your room” came in second and third.