Insie Out

Grin and bear it. That's what the Big Apple did last month at the opening of the biggest Build-a-Bear Workshop yet. It measures in at a whopping 22,000 square feet. (That's more than a few Manhattan-size apartments!) The workshop, located on 46th Street and 5th Avenue, has New York flair with I Love (heart) NY t-shirts, Libearty bears and a United Nations of bears. In the Fur-eign friends section, shoppers can create a Korean, Danish or Spanish bear with traditional bear garb. Each stuffed animal comes with a passport that tells a story about the origin of the outfit. In addition to the international, New York theme, sports are represented as well. “We're ultimately creating a boutique destination,” owner Maxine Clark—pictured here at the store's official ribbon-cutting ceremony—tells Playthings....After grinning and bearing it, here's a “read it and weep” in the form of a rhetorical question: Is there a connection between playing with toys and toying with harmful substances? The Age, an Australian newspaper, recently reported that psychologists in Vienna, Austria, are moving to take toys away from preschoolers in a project called “Toy-Free Kindergartens” in an effort intended to help kids fight drug and alcohol problems later in life. The project, reportedly aimed at growing problems among teens, encourages children to play together, or with natural items like rocks or sticks, rather than with traditional playthings like dolls or puzzles because it is believed that it will make kids “more independent, less competitive, and more socially motivated.” Proponents of the new project claim that parents have backed the project and that children have been more curious than angry about the change....And speaking of changes, Lisa Avent has joined Warner Bros. Consumer Products as vice president of worldwide marketing for Warner Bros. consumer products...Tor Sirset is the new VP, marketing at Disguise...and Ellen Block is the newest board trustee for The Toy Industry Foundation.