FEATURE STEM
Galt
The science of STEM Toys After a pandemic and home schooling inspired surge in recent years, the STEM market is still enjoying a post-Covid-19 surge, and is, many believe, set to grow even further
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Without doubt there were real concerns that 2022 would be the continuation of the last two years, but thankfully we seem to be seeing the back of Covid finally
Geomag’s Nikki Jeffrey
Bandai
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f there was one category in the toy market that benefited from the ongoing lockdowns during the dark pandemic days of 2020 and 2021, then it’s STEM. For as children were forced to stay at home as Covid-19 took hold and school gates were shuttered, increasingly fraught parents were forced into home schooling and teaching their children. And a desire to make it as entertaining as possible and to encourage children to play
and learn at the same time, STEM – the acronym, of course, for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics – really came into its own. As Debra Tiffany, marketing manager at Brainstorm, says: “STEM Toys proved their worth during periods of lockdown as parents looked for more unique ways to supplement their home schooling. For Brainstorm this has always been our territory; offering fun and educational items to help inspire kids to learn more about their environment.” The feeling that an unlikely beneficiary of the global pandemic was STEM toys is further backed by regular TnP contributors at The Insights Family, which, working with the BTHA, announced at the start of the year within its annual report in to the toy business that 2021 had been “the year of STEM”. As the company’s Nick Richardson (and TnP columnist) noted at the time: “The speed of change is significant and it has never been more important for brands to understand the changing attitudes, behaviours and consumption patterns of their audience. Although Covid has caused significant disruption to all of our lives, it has also
caused significant innovation in the education sector, which no doubt represents an exciting opportunity for the toy and edutainment industries.” The figures presented in the report showed just how much of an increased impact STEM toys were having. For children aged between three and 12 years old, popularity of STEM toys had increased by 122% over the 12 months. Much of that increase, it further noted, came from girls, who were increasingly moving towards STEM-based toys. And as the pandemic and restrictions have slowly eased, with some semblance of normality returning, it does appear as if that increased interest and popularity of STEM hasn’t waned. Although the fears that Covid and accompanying lockdowns would return have proved largely unfounded, STEM is still enjoying growth, proving it was no fluke. As Geomag’s Nikki Jeffrey says: “Without doubt there were real concerns that 2022 would be the continuation of the last two years, but thankfully we seem to be seeing the back of Covid finally. That said the pandemic pushed families to be together more than usual which led to them indulging more in games
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