18 minute read
Arts & Crafts - check out these creative toys and kits
Spin Master
The arts & crafts movement
Arts & crafts experienced a massive resurgence during lockdown, and it looks like interest is still high. TnP discovers what benefits these toys bring - and reveals the latest toys that you could see flying off your shelves in the next few months
Arts & crafts experienced a massive resurgence when we were all confined to our homes, and not only is it popular with parents - because it represents time away from a screen - but it has a number of developmental benefits for children.
According to NPD figures, the Arts & Crafts sector last year held on to 56% of the gains it made during the lockdowns of 2020, ending 2021 at 5% above its 2019 performance. Brands that continue to do well include Crayola, Play-Doh and Spin Master’s Kinetic Sand, which was named both top toy in the category in the US and Europe’s Top Gaining Toy Property in Arts & Crafts.
Despite the fact that participation has dropped a little in the past 14 years or so, according to the Statista Research Department, around 70% of children aged five to 10 took part in arts and crafts
Dr Gauri Seth activities during 2019/2020.
So that’s a huge target audience of potential customers. And with awareness of the state of the mental health of children and young people at an all-time high as the pandemic starts to loosen its grip on everyday life, the benefits that these activities have on wellbeing will not go unnoticed.
Dr Gauri Seth is a psychiatrist and parent coach - she works with parents and care-givers to enhance emotional connection with children. She says: “Getting lost in arts & crafts activities is a powerful way in which children can express their inner worlds, which in turn can help them connect with themselves, with benefits to emotional and psychological wellbeing.
“The art of connecting with oneself is a powerful life skill. With increasing issues faced by children and young people from screen and digital tech overuse, we do need to turn to the arts to help children have productive time away from screens, so they can connect inwards with their authentic self.
“I also think arts & crafts are activities we can do with others, and the shared experience of co-creating a tangible visible product, which one can keep and display, can allow our children to connect with others, too. We could encourage children to draw or paint with their parents, taking the opportunity to be present, observe and draw. Connection with caregivers is a powerful mental health intervention. Emotional connection and attunement can help a growing mind with self-esteem, self-worth, and sense of self. Therefore, arts & crafts can help contribute to solving a health emergency in our societies, where rising rates of mental ill health are creating significant challenges for many.’’
Another benefit of this sector is that it is so popular among children, as Catherine Hallissey, a psychologist who helps parents address parenting challenges and helps children become more confident and resilient, says: “First and foremost, most kids love it and tend to naturally gravitate towards the process of creating for its own sake. All that scribbling, drawing, cutting and pasting help to develop fine motor skills, giving a strong foundation for writing skills. It provides a rich sensory experience that is crucial to development.
“It promotes creativity and encourages children to express themselves and take risks in their
Catherine Hallissey, psychologist
art. Open-ended art, where the possibilities are endless, helps children cope with uncertainty and develop flexibility in their thinking. It strengthens planning, problemsolving and critical thinking skills, which are absolutely essential in our modern world. The more exposure children have to these types of activities, the more creative they become in their artistic expression.
“Art can be an incredible way to safely process emotions and experiences, helping them to understand themselves and their world. Being immersed in a creative activity can be a mindful experience, reducing stress by pressing pause on the busy pace of life. There is ample research to show that play, fun and creativity play a significant role in developing resilience, something we all want for children.’’
Along with these huge benefits for mental health and wellbeing, arts & crafts can aid physical development, as early years and parenting expert Kirsty Ketlye, explains: “Doing arts & crafts gives children the opportunity to express themselves and their feelings creatively, develop their imagination and can help boost self-esteem by allowing them to feel a sense of accomplishment and pride in what they have done.
“Cutting with scissors, sticking and painting all require the use of fine and gross motor skills, which strengthen the muscles in the hands, fingers, wrists and arms - all needed for writing - and these skills also require concentration, so they are great for helping children to focus. Plus they help enormously with hand-eye coordination.
“Arts & crafts can also help develop vital maths skills too - shape recognition, making patterns and measuring out length, for instance. They are great for helping develop colour recognition and painting is an easy way to colour mix and learn about primary and secondary colours.”
Colourful creations
VIVID GOLIATH
01483 449944 | vividtoysandgames.co.uk
Crayola ignites the imaginations of young artists through a colourful range of stationery, kits and toys.
The successful range of Colours of the World launched in 2021 will continue into 2022 with a range of crayons, pencils and markers bolstered by a new colouring book. Colour Wonder introduces the much-anticipated licence Bluey from Q1 to an already strong portfolio of preschool character favourites as well as the new Adventure Pups theme for Paw Patrol.
Making a splash in 2022, Colour ‘n’ Style Friends will dive under the sea with a range of magical mermaids that allow kids to enjoy even more hair play and stylish mermaidthemed creations that can be redesigned again and again, including a holiday driver playset. Washimals sees the introduction of a super salon with five different ways to customise the pets including new pearlescent paint, washable stickers and scented spray within a large-scale salon playset. The gravity-defying Paint-sation range sees the introduction of a new Flip ‘n’ Spin Artists Pallet and Paint ‘n’ Stamp studio to allow budding artists the opportunity to continue to paint anytime anywhere with this spill proof painting system. The Crayola Super Glow Art Studio gives kids the power to create amazing art that glows in the dark! An illuminating new way to create using just rays of light - no ink or paint required. The reusable surface provides hours of non-stop creative fun. Use the light wand to create glowing artwork that will come to life in the dark, turn out the lights and watch your drawings glow.
Art by numbers
RAVENSBURGER
01869 363 830 www.ravensburger.co.uk
Ravensburger launched its Paint by Numbers range, CreArt, in the UK last spring, with an initial focus on a children’s range, which grew in popularity throughout 2021 as enthusiasm for arts & crafts products continued. The business already has a strong heritage with paint by numbers products and is positioned as the second market leader in the European arts & crafts category.
Ahead of launch, the Ravensburger UK PD team carried out extensive consumer research to create an impressive range with strong appeal, rich content and designs that would appeal to the local market.
The response to the 2021 launch of the CreArt children’s range was well received and also rated highly on consumer reviews. In 2022, 15 new designs will be added to the collection, including several popular licensed characters from blockbuster family movies including The Lion King, Miraculous and Frozen, in addition to two characters from the celebrated Harry Potter franchise, Harry and Hermione. Other new animal and pet children’s designs for this year include a spring Squirrel, Fawn, Badger, Unicorn, and a Penguin family, among others.
Additionally, a new CreArt range for adults launches this spring, with designs that span pop-art and gift card styles, as well as beautiful landscapes. A colourful Giraffe, Zebra, Lion and Elephant make up the vibrant pop-art inspired collection, as well as motivational quote styles; Good Vibes, Love and Make your Dreams Happen.
A strong consumer message focusing on not just painting one but collecting a ‘range’ and creating a stunning display to be proud of, will run through marketing and PR outreach.
Let’s get creative!
CHARACTER OPTIONS
0161 633 9800 | sales@charactergroup.plc.uk www.character-online.com
The Character Options portfolio includes a host of fun brands to encourage children to get creative.
Kids can make edible creations with fresh additions to the ChillFactor range - and there’s a huge marketing campaign to ensure the success of the brand. Remaining central to the range is the Neon ChillFactor Slushy Maker, which turns drinks into slushy treats in under a minute. New for spring, the Poppin Dots Frozen Dot Maker lets kids make edible frozen Dots; simply fill the trays with juice, milk or yoghurt and freeze them to create new flavours. There’s more to come in the second half including the ChillFactor Smoothie Maker, which makes milkshakes and smoothies; and the ChillFactor 3-in-1 Fruit Factory, which creates a variety of drinks and ice lollies. Plus, don’t miss the ChillFactor Ice Cream Maker, which makes ice cream in minutes using simple household ingredients.
DoodleJamz, meanwhile, is the cool creative brand offering kids a fun, mess-free way to design, create, paint and play. Kids can pick from DoodleJamz JellyPics and DoodleJamz JellyBoards. JellyPics have transparent jelly with various colours of squishy beads; each frame comes with a cardboard backer with picture, allowing kids to use the stylus (or their fingers!) to sculpt the beads on top of the picture. JellyBoards have two layers of coloured jelly; the double colour depth offers more complexity in artistic creations, forming shapes of jelly or drawing in the negative space. Like JellyPics, JellyBoards come with a shaping stylus and removable paper background. Backgrounds can be swapped, and any picture used - simply upload and scale via the DoodleJamz website, then print, insert, and create!
Another key creative line in Character Options’ portfolio is the Squeeze Ball Creator. This lets children create their own fillable squeeze balls. Take an empty, reusable ball and pop-in beads, glitter, gems and more. Then slip the ball onto the Squeeze Ball maker, fill it with liquid and lock it up. All that’s left to do is squeeze! Continued success for the collection is assured, with digital support and a high-profile influencer partnership soon to be revealed.
Colourful play
TRENDS UK
01295 768078 | salesadmin@trendsuk.co.uk www.trendsuk.co.uk
Trends UK has a strong line-up of creative brands available from summer onwards. The company is introducing the new Paint Pop Paint Sticks range, featuring a selection of mess-free colouring, and launching Crayola Silly Scents Sand and Dough, which engages all the senses with brightly coloured tactile and delightfully scented play.
Trends UK is excited to introduce its new range of Paint Pop Paint Sticks. The perfect introduction to painting and doodling, creative kids can paint away the mess-free way! Bright and colourful, the chunky shape is easy for little hands to hold, and the smooth, glide-on paint works with no need for water or brushes. Twist the stick and get ready to paint, whether at home or on your travels. Be creative on a wide range of surfaces including paper, card, canvas, wood and even glass. The range includes a wide variety of colours and finishes plus practical storage solutions.
Paint Pop Creation Station enables creative kids to paint masterpieces wherever they are. The double-sided easel comes with six paint sticks, a cute wipe-clean duster, and 10 sheets of paper. It folds down for easy storage and comes with a carry handle for on-the-go painting opportunities. The Paint Pop range also includes the Paint Pop Fun Tub (20 paint sticks) and a Paint Pop Giant Storage Tube with 30 paint sticks. Plus, there are supplementary six- and 12-packs to keep the creative fun going. Trends UK will be introducing the range with major 360 marketing plans, PR and influencer campaigns.
Meanwhile, the Crayola Silly Scents range offers brightly coloured fun in six fruity scents. The Crayola Silly Scents Sand features new moulding material that engages all the senses. With bright, bold colours, the fruit-scented sand is soft, tactile, and scrunchy - and responds to manipulation into all kinds of shapes. Crayola Silly Scents Sand is available as single poly bags or as a selection of activity kits with moulds and coloured sand with fruity scents.
With Crayola Silly Scents Dough, kids can squish and shape colourful dough with six fruity scents. The Unicorn Fun and Dinosaur Fun activity play packs include moulds to create colourful scented unicorns and dinosaurs. The egg-shaped Crayola Silly Scents Dough comes with three dough packs and shape cutters, making it the ideal pocket money purchase.
Arts & crafts for all ages
SPIN MASTER
01628 535000 www.spinmaster.com/en-GB
Spin Master has a great selection of arts & crafts toys for children of all ages. Younger kids will love the imaginative play of Kinetic Sand, while older ones will enjoy the creativity of Cool Maker and Orbeez.
Kinetic Sand is squeezable sand that ‘magically’ sticks together, never dries out and gives hours of endless imaginative play and flowing fun. On offer this summer, the Kinetic Sand Treasure Hunt is a new playset packed with six layers of secret reveals and nine hidden treasures to discover. Once the chest is unlocked, children can dig through the sand to uncover surprise tools and decipher the hidden clue by checking out the secret message rolled into the sand. Dig and discover brown and secret gold sand with tools to find colourful gems.
The Kinetic Sand Sandisfactory Set includes everything needed to create mesmerising sand surprise reveals and satisfying videos – just like the ones online. With more than 10 different tools and moulds, and two pounds of colourful Kinetic Sand including rare black sand, there’s so many ways to create.
Those wanting to unleash their inner archaeologist can dig and discover dinosaur bones with the Kinetic Sand Dino XCavate. Open the dino crate with the 2-in-1 crowbar featuring a pickaxe and shovel. Pry open the lid and watch as the crate opens to reveal black Kinetic Sand. Then dig to reveal one of three sets of dinosaur bones. Search for the hidden amber fossil treasure tool, then fluff the sand and put the bones together to build a dinosaur.
For children who like things a little sweeter, the Kinetic Sand Ice Cream Cone Container is filled with two scents of all-natural Kinetic Sand that combine to smell like the popular ice cream flavours of Mint Chocolate and Strawberry Banana. Collect all of the containers and discover even more ice cream fun with the Ice Cream Treats Playset. The Kinetic Sand Scents sets are also deliciously scented Kinetic Sand options. These 226g bags are filled with coloured Kinetic Sand that smells just like sweet treats such as Sour Apple, Vanilla Cupcake or Chocolate Swirl. Another arts & crafts option is the new Orbeez Surprise Activity Orb. Each Surprise Activity Playset comes with 400 fully-grown Orbeez stored in their own activity container. Unbox the surprise activity orb to reveal one of three mystery activities: The Flow, The Bounce and The Squeeze. After a simple set-up, kids and adults can enjoy the soothing sensory experience of playing with these juicy gems.
Finally... little fashionistas will love the unboxing and manicure experience of Cool Maker GO GLAM Nail Surprise. In every GO GLAM Nail Surprise kit, there are more than 40 press-on nails with surprise effect features, such as water reveal, scented, scratch reveal, and glow-in-the-dark. With 12 GO GLAM Nail Surprise styles to find, including Rock ‘N Roll Chic, Kawaii Cutie, Seashell Shimmer and VSCO Vibin’, there’s a mani for every mood. For more ways to style, look for the Cool Maker GO GLAM U-nique Nail Salon. Cool Maker girls’ toys and GO GLAM Nail Surprise toys for girls are suitable arts & crafts gifts for kids aged eight and up. These toys make fun gifts for birthdays and special occasions for girls who love to create.
A Flair for creative fun!
FLAIR
0208 643 0320 | sales@flairplc.co.uk
Flair’s arts & crafts portfolio is bursting with creativity, with new crafty concepts and muchloved heritage favourites.
One brand that is sure to incite nostalgia with parents and grandparents is Plasticine. This modelling material, that never dries out, is great for teaching children about colours, proportion sizes and more. And, from July, there is lots of creative play to be had with two new licensed Plasticine lines.
Plasticine Shaun the Sheep Model Maker Farmyard Fun set lets kids create their own Shaun the Sheep characters, complete with the illusion of a woolly texture. Once modelled, the characters can be displayed in the 3D farmyard scene.
The second line is the Plasticine Morph Animation Maker, which includes everything you need to become the next budding stop-motion film director. Children can model their very own Morph and Chas characters, who made their TV debut on the children’s BBC art show Take Hart in the 1970s and are back in a new Sky Kids series: The Epic Adventures of Morph. Create a scene, add in your own Morph and download the app and begin the shoot!
Creative construction
THAMES & KOSMOS
01580 713000 www.thamesandkosmos.co.uk
Creatto was a craft kit that did very well over lockdown due to its design flexibility and fun construction, and parents and children alike seemed to get the bug. As the Creatto range has grown, Thams & Kosmos has noticed that demand has grown with it.
This year’s additions to the Creatto range include Sea Life and Sabertooth Tiger sets. The kits have been made more environmentally friendly by decreasing the amount of single-use plastic - they are constructed of partially recycled plastic - they are also charged by USB, and contain energy-savvy LED bulbs.
Creatto engages children’s creativity, allowing them to create the items pictured or use their imagination to produce an item that is unique to them.
Learn to draw with CoComelon
LISCIANI
danny@allinoneproducts.com www.liscianigiochi.com
Lisciani is inviting kids to enrol in art school, with the CoComelon Drawing School.
Lisciani is a global educational company that has been designing, developing and manufacturing educational toys and games for the past 30 years. And now, with its licensed CoComelon offering, children can join JJ and his siblings as they explore and learn to draw.
With the CoComelon Drawing School, little ones aged three-plus can get creative with their favourite on-screen friends. The Drawing School comes with four writing and erasing boards, an erasable felt-tip pen, and an exercise book with lots of drawings that serves as a guide. With this kit, kids will have fun while developing creativity and imagination, just like they would in a real art school!
Outdoor crafting
ONE FOR FUN
0141 613 2525 | sales@oneforfun.com | www.oneforfun.com
The Colour Your Own Cardboard Playhouse from Tobar is billed as the perfect outdoor craft project for children. Just slot together the house (fixings or glue are not required) and let kids loose with crayons and pencils on the pre-printed design. This build is great fun whatever the weather, indoors or out! The Colour Your Own Tent version is also available in a Unicorn and a Dinosaur theme.
And take a look at the Aqua Jelly Art Sets. Create your own super squishy characters in multi or mono colours with these simple craft sets. Mix the components into one of the moulds provided and then select the colour combination you want to use. The mould is then submerged in water and, quick as a flash, your creation will set, ready to be squished and squashed as much as you like! Choose from Unicorn or Undersea Sets. Each set includes six moulds, six colour gel tubes and some setting powder.
But the ultimate craft challenge is the Junior Engineers Workshop range. Using tools to fit metal pieces together with real nuts and bolts, these model-making kits can combine to make bespoke creations. Each comes with its own difficulty rating and the range includes sets to challenge every age and capability. The small sets are pocket money prices and include a plane, go-cart, motorbike and helicopter. Older children can tackle the Workshop Action Bot, a Ferris Wheel and an Aeroplane with moving propellers.
