CONSUMER
INSIGHT
An appetite for
arts & crafts E
ven with the rise of digital ecosystems and increased online access, the daily lives of preschool kids are still largely based in the offline world. The hobbies they choose, the toys they play with and the activities that take up their time tend to be physical, in-person spaces, partly due to age-appropriate restrictions and parental monitoring. Eight of the top 10 favourite hobbies among kids aged three to five years old in the UK are offline activities, showing how this demographic can be reached via offline touchpoints.* Looking more closely at the top hobbies among younger kids, there has been significant growth in the appetite for arts & crafts. Currently, kids aged three to five in the UK are the second biggest consumers of arts & crafts in Europe. This demographic spends an hour a day on average doing arts & crafts, showing that they invest a large proportion of their time into being creative. Arts & crafts have many key benefits for kids. They can develop motor skills, increase dexterity, improve hand-eye coordination, boost self-esteem, encourage self-expression, help decision-making skills and promote innovation. It is no wonder that kids and parents alike are keen to encourage these hobbies. Creative toys are the eighth favourite toy type among preschoolers in the UK (18%)
and 45% of parents report doing art & UK has purchased stationery, stickers or crafts as a family at least once a week. The posters related to their favourite characters; continued popularity of these hobbies more than 17% higher than the European presents a key market for brands and average. This demographic is most inclined companies to move into, to play a part in to buy stationery in relation to their favourite the development of the next generation. TV shows (20%); however film-related Creativity and art are not simply stationery purchases have also become offline interests. The growth increasingly favoured, growing by over 19% of customisable products or in the last quarter. By developing stationery personalisation in video games and products, brands can capitalise on the advertising means that rising avidity towards arts & kids are growing used crafts, highlighting the need The continued to keep track of the trends in to being able to express popularity of these themselves across their this space in order to optimise ecosystems. Over the licensing revenue. hobbies presents a past 12 months, the From an advertising key market for popularity of artist as a perspective, TV is the favourite brands and future career has grown advertising location among companies to move three- to five-year-olds (46%) by more than 35% among into, to play a part preschoolers, and the meaning that TV adverts, product number of kids saying in the development placement or featured use of they know how to code related toys/stationery within the of the next has also grown by over programming of the most popular generation 7%. As both of these TV shows is likely to optimise interests grow, creative hobbies should awareness of new products and motivate be seen as the foundation for future purchase. Younger kids are most likely to ask digital engineers, designers, architects their parents to buy a product upon seeing and technology experts. their favourite advert (39%), underlining There is much potential for brands the importance of parental purchase power. to appeal to creative hobbies as they It is crucial for brands to understand their look to engage their younger audience. audience at a deeper level, in terms of what Developing licensed merchandise in this they enjoy, how they feel and why they choose space can create additional touchpoints new products or hobbies. for kids to engage with their favourite * All statistics taken from the last six IPs and drive licensing revenue. One months of data collected by Kids Insights in 10 kids aged three to five in the (September 2021 – March 2022).
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Creative toys are enjoying an uptick in interest from children - and licensed and digital products increase appeal further, says Nick Richardson, CEO and founder of The Insights Family
The Insights Family is the global leader in kids, parents, and family market intelligence, providing real-time data on their attitudes, behaviours and consumption patterns. Kids Insights surveys 7,780 children every week aged 3-18. Parents Insights surveys more than 3,800 parents of children between the ages of 1 and 16 every week. Both services operate in 22 countries across six continents and in total survey more than 469,040 kids and 228,800 parents a year. This means that the company interviews a new family member somewhere in the world every 45 seconds. Download your free copy at: try.theinsightsfamily.com/tnp
