The world of toys.

3 min readOct 2, 2017

“Toys are children words and play is their language” (G.Landreth)

As today we can find a proliferation of technology-enhanced toys & gadgets for children, it is logical that many parents are worried about the immersive power of technology into children’s daily playing. As a matter of fact, the rise of smartphones and apps has tremendously changed the nature of playing, the time spent in outdoor activities, their social interactions from a very young age. On the same page, much distrust and many problems have come into sight with the appearance of internet of toys, especially in terms of safety and personal security of the little ones. An old study has shown that up to 70% of young children develop strong attachments to objects such as cuddly toys or blankets. And as it is in my belief that this statement is still true, in the following section follows some projects that design and technological attributes intersect and promote a balanced playing experience for them.

APIDOU (FR)
Age: 3+ years old

APIDOU is a cuddly toy (doudou in french) with sensors for capturing the movements, the touch of the child. It uses an open API so that children (the older ones) along with their parents can “hack” the original source code, customize the toy uses to the child needs and connect it with other devices of the house. For younger children, the company’s aspiration is to bring them in touch with the digital word by this playful approach.

AVAKAI (DE)
Age: 4–8 years old

AVAKAI twins is the first product of the Berlin based company VAI KAI. It is a set of connected toys made of wood that aim to encourage indoor & outdoor play of children, enhance their communication with their peers & their parents while playing and provide an open-ended play experience for them. One can connect his/her phone with the app in an iOs smartphone, install & attribute new behaviors to the toys.

LEELUU (FI)
Age: 3–12 years old

LEELUUs are soft interactive textile toys (nightlights) that sense the touch of a child and give a comforting light when they have trouble sleeping. Each handcrafted animal (cat,hedgehog, owl) is enhanced with a conductive fabric and children can choose to switch it one or/and adjust the toy’s brightness. One interesting things is that LEELUUs have been co-designed and developed by taking account the input of over 120 families in Finland.

The world of toys.

Have you tried any of the above with your little pride and joy?

Written by Lamprini Chartofylaka