Divine Inspiration

Creating quality, well-designed toys is a hallmark of specialty manufacturers. That dedication—and a focus on family-friendly, educational products—has seen many small firms expand their selections to include Christian and Jewish toys.

“We've been overwhelmed by the positive response from our buyers,” Jacqueline Lampert, director of marketing for Dallas-based KidKraft, tells Playthings. The wooden toy maker has added religious role-play items, puzzles and playsets to its secular offerings. “When we launched this line 5 years ago, we knew that there were parents and grandparents who wanted wholesome, positive toys that draw on religion and tradition for inspiration and imagination,” Lampert says.

Anticipating this customer demand has been critical to the line's success, Lampert says. “It's not easy finding quality religious toys,” she tells Playthings. “While there are companies who have been manufacturing religious toys for some time, there isn't a great deal of new and creative product development happening. KidKraft has succeeded in carving a niche in this market.”

Creativity and innovation are also important to The Learning Journey International, Phoenix. According to spokesperson Jaye Ross, a lot of the religious toys already on the market when TLJI began producing its Christian-themed items—learning card games, puzzles and interactive electronics—were, frankly, boring. “The need was not being met,” Ross says. “There was a huge opportunity.” Toy retailers are a small but key part of TLJI's business, Ross says, noting that holiday items like its nativity set do best for religious toys there.

Christmas-themed toys are also a big part of religious sales for Warren, R.I.-based Pockets of Learning, owner Jack Grant says. The soft toy maker—which sources playsets, dolls, cloth books and wall hangings from the Philippines—has offered a small selection of religious toys nearly its entire 20 years. “Holiday stuff sells very well for us,” Grant says. “There are not a lot of holiday decorations that children typically are allowed to get their hands on, and this is something that we do.” Pockets of Learning also does a strong business in non-holiday Judaica, which include Hebrew Aleph Bet soft stackable blocks and wall hangings.

Beyond holiday items, at specialty toy stores, Pockets of Learning's bestselling religious toy is the S.S. Noah, a soft 20-piece playset. “That's universal,” Grant says.

For Imagiplay, Boulder, Colo., its own Noah's Ark playset has also been very popular, founder Barbera Aimes says. It's one of only two religious items the company makes; a nativity set is also successful, but appeals to fewer buyers, Aimes says.

“Our Noah's Ark is selling extremely well,” Aimes says. “[It] transcends any religious connotation and seems to be accepted as just a classic toy theme...There are so many ways you can use this to teach or inspire children's imaginations.” It's a natural fit for Imagiplay, whose primary focus remains on “animals, nature, people and earth history,” Aimes adds.

Adding a few religious themes also seemed like a logical extension for Avon, Conn.-based Scratch-Art, whose stained glass activity kits mesh perfectly with inspirational motifs, vice president of marketing Debbie Loeser tells Playthings. The Scratch Magic Inspired Designs Light Catcher Kits were added primarily to attract religious buyers to its product line, she says.

For some companies, adding religious-themed toys is another way to reach out to families. This is especially true for Out of the Box Publishing, Richland Center, Wisc. Its flagship Apples to Apples game is now available in a Jewish Edition (by Pittsburg-based Jewish Educational Toys), and a Bible Edition (by Calgary-based Cactus Toys. “Culture and language are aspects of the game that make it interesting so branching out into diverse culture and language editions does make sense,” product developer Ellen Winter says, noting that Out of the Box hopes to expand the line to include a wide range of cultures, languages and special interests.

Even manufacturers that sell product into mass market have added religious offerings. “There was a demand opportunity for us to provide a quality product line that fostered learning and a reinforcement of values specific to the Christian community,” says Mark Mashaw, vice president of marketing for Hooked on Phonics, who recently introduced its Hooked on Bible Stories collection. HOP customers “really want products that reflect their values,” he says, noting an “an intense interest” for a program that teaches classic bible stories to kids.

Snap TV, Santa Monica, Calif., is also expanding its popular line of DVD games with this spring's The Bible Game and this fall's The Read & Learn Bible Game.

As director of marketing Jason Tenenbown tells Playthings, the new titles “are an important part of our business” because they “reach out to two of our core demographics: kids and families.” So far the initial title has been selling well, Tenenbown notes. “The customer feedback has been incredible.”