Building Capable Kids

For independent toy stores, especially those that specialize in educational toys, life skills brands are a tiny yet important product category. Parents, grandparents and other caregivers looking for gifts often gravitate to those toys and other products that aim to teach and inspire as well as amuse the kids in their lives. Fortunately, a number of passionate manufacturers and media companies have come to the fore recently, hoping to increase their retail presence with new brands that will provide kids with the kinds of skills they'll need for life.

In fact, brands that build character in kids and teach healthy habits, self-respect, self-acceptance, responsibility, honesty, cooperation, personal safety and good decision making actually fill a critical need in the play space, manufacturers tell Playthings.

“I feel like today more than ever, children are facing tougher challenges in school and at home,” Mary Beck, creator of the Louisville, Ky.-based Pepperdinkle & Pals Club, tells Playthings. “I feel as though we cannot educate children enough on issues such as bullying and teasing, respecting others for their differences, healthy lifestyle habits and safety issues.”

Pepperdinkle & Pals is a line of plush characters for ages 3 and up that encourages parent/child interaction and builds character and self-esteem. Each is packaged with an inspirational story and a membership medallion for kids to wear. Kids are also invited online to hear the stories read aloud, to play games, to write letters to the characters telling their own stories and to print foster parent certificates. “I believe that life lessons, good character and self-esteem need a strong head start from home,” Beck adds.

Kristi Necochea, founder of the Temecula, Calif.-based Friends Forever Girls, agrees. “Kids learn social skills, respect, responsibility in a play atmosphere,” she says. “And as long as kids are having fun and interacting with one another, why not create an opportunity to reinforce values and learn about the importance of being a good person?”

Friends Forever Girls is a collection of six multi-cultural dolls plus books—available at Barnes & Noble and at specialty stores—that Necochea created “specifically to promote positive play and foster responsibility, while helping young girls build self-respect,” she tells Playthings. “I wanted to create a doll and book series that was fun to play with, that also provided the opportunity to teach lessons that I, as a parent, would want to reinforce. The books are fun, relevant, and, most importantly, provide a springboard for communication with your daughter.”

A positive mother-daughter experience is also a key component of the new Precious Girls Club brand, which is being introduced this summer and fall by established gift retailer Precious Moments, Rolling Meadows, Ill.

“For girls, it is a fun, engaging world that captivates their imagination; for moms, it is a safe playground from a trusted brand,” says Kathy Dietiker, director of marketing communications for Precious Moments.

“Kids love the property and are immediately engaged in the story and the product,” Dietiker tells Playthings. “Parents love the concept because it is a wholesome values-based alternative for their children. Retailers have had a very positive response because they, too, see the void in the market for this type of an opportunity and believe it will add incremental sales in their stores.”

She adds, “We are very excited about this new program and have been receiving such positive feedback.” The brand, which is targeted to girls ages 4 to 10, will fully roll out to retailers next month. It consists of a book series that introduces girls to the characters, plus tie-in collectible figures, charm bracelets, waterballs, plush, a music CD from pureNRG and a DVD series from Sabella Dern Entertainment. There is also a virtual world component online. The line will be seeded in key markets with over 25,000 books distributed via churches, camps, homeschool groups, amusement parks, and so on, followed by a push though the company's collector clubs, catalogs and online communications, and, ultimately, core distribution at specialty card, gift and book stores.

Further down the line, Precious Moments hopes to select products for mass distribution as well, Dietiker says, especially once additional licensees are on board; toys, apparel, back-to-school products, decor, accessories and social expressions are all expected to be added.

For Vikash Sanyal, creating value-based products is a dream come true. The CEO and founder, with his wife Juli of the Escondido, Calif.-based Life's Building Blocks company, is on a personal mission to create fun products that develop kids' moral reasoning skills and build character.

The company's program—which includes books, board games, plush toys and DVDs—is created around a cast of relatable characters, with stories that are based on real-life challenges, Sanyal tells Playthings. The products are currently available at specialty retailers, direct-to-consumer sales and through customized marketing programs and donations.

“Life's Building Blocks' teaching philosophy is based upon the belief that the most important aspect of promoting character education is the presence of a strong role model,” Sanyal says. Though all of the products are meant to be fun and entertaining, they are also “designed to create more conversations between adults and kids about moral dilemmas, and help kids think more about the decisions they make,” he notes. “The feedback has been extremely positive.”

Sanyal adds, “The market is cluttered, but we gain confidence because our product line and its intent naturally separate us from the pack … [we're] not the first company to promote character education products, but we do feel our teaching methodology is the most effective way to develop life skills ... we must always strive to develop more innovative and entertaining ways to engage children and adults in the development of these critical life skills.”

Sanyal advises specialty retailers to make customers more aware of the life skills products that are available. “If you asked 100 parents and teachers if they believe character development is important, 100 percent will say yes,” he says. “Yet, if you asked those same parents and teachers how they promote these life lessons, you'll receive 100 different answers and very few would have a defined plan.” Thus, products that teach these lessons are vital, he notes.

Another key life skills area is personal safety, which is the mission of SeeMore's Playhouse, an Emmy award-winning PBS and DVD series for preschoolers. Its aim is to teach the basics of safety and wellness through the adventures of SeeMore The Safety Seal, according to Tom Blair, president of Safety4Kids, the show's co-producer along with King Features Syndicate. Since its launch in the fall of 2006, the show—which combines puppetry, animation, live action, celebrity joke-telling and original sing-along music—has expanded its reach into numerous other countries and partnered with the American Red Cross, Major League Soccer and other national organizations.

Recent storylines have focused on fire, car, bicycle and water safety as well as healthy living through nutrition and exercise. Adds Blair, “Safety4Kids empowers children and inspires them to make good choices now, which stay with them throughout their lives. In fact, our focus groups report that our messages have a 'sticky' factor of over 80 percent … Our messages are universal—and these days, those messages are more important more than ever! Above all, we do this with humor and integrity, which is why kids love us and parents trust us.”

Ultimately, more brands of this nature can only help kids, Blair says. “I thought my parent's lives were busy when I was growing up; it doesn't hold a candle to the fast-paced lives we all know today. Any product or brand that helps parents teach their children life skills not only makes sense, but saves them time, money, frustration—and can even save a life. Never before have we had a generation of more conscientious parents. They are looking for products and brands to serve double duty, particularly in the preschool market. Manufacturers can take advantage of this by not only focusing on fun products, but products that engage while entertaining and teaching skills.”

For specialty retailers, Blair advises, “Know the product and test the product yourself. Just because a product says it will teach a skill, doesn't make it so. Secondly, if a product is not fun or engaging, the child won't seek it out, rendering it useless. Look for products that successfully deliver on both fronts.”

To that end, Safety4Kids hopes the SeeMore property will branch out into licensed product categories soon, including toys, games, books, music, apparel, accessories, food, beverages, health/wellness products, gifts and party goods.

Another safety organization seeking licensing partners is the Beltsville, Md.-based Good Knight Child Empowerment Network, executive director Jacqui Cooper says. A 20-year non-profit group that aims to empower children, teach personal safety and inspire kids “to champion” others,” Good Knight distributes its materials for free; it also offers an on-site museum where it hosts fairytale-themed magic shows, safety programs, festivals and field trips.

Going forward, Cooper envisions toy figures that incorporate Good Knight's characters, as well as licensing partnerships in which toy manufacturers package the organization's safety materials with its own toys. Additionally, toy manufacturers that would like to raise funds for the non-profit through the creation of new products within its own lines would also be welcome, Cooper says.

“It is essential to teach children how to stay safe, how to stay healthy, and how to be good citizens,” Cooper tells Playthings. “Children learn to make choices as they grow. It is critical to provide them with the tools to learn how to make the proper choices.”