Museum quality
By Tina Benitez -- Playthings, 9/1/2006
Astronomy and natural wonders are not just part of the display but will be part of the next endeavor from New York's American Museum of Natural History (AMNH): a new line of playthings based on science themes for all ages by or before 2008. “We have a long history of working with families—500,000 children come to the museum [school field trips] per year—and we're very interested in developing toys for children that are educational, particularly in science and in natural history,” says Gary Zarr, the museum's vice president of communication and business development. “There seems to be a need for that in the market and stores identify close to that.”
Exploratory toysOnce in-house designs are complete, toys will be available to specialty retailers nationwide. “There's a faithfulness to science and real stuff. We think we have strong interest not just at the museum store but at toy stores around the country.”
In addition to the AMNH program, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, is developing a line of product that will help introduce children to different genres of art.
