Child's Play

By C.J. Hirschfield

With recent reports of unhealthy air keeping our youngest kids indoors – and parents looking for ways to keep them entertained – it was interesting to learn about the three toys just inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame, two of which are played at home: the mystical and mesmerizing Magic 8 Ball and the popular Uno card game. (The third “toy” is pinball.) Honorees were chosen from a field of finalists that included a wide range of candidates, from American Girl Dolls to chalk.

The most recent inductees in the National Toy Hal of Fame

The Magic 8 Ball, introduced in 1946, lets users ask a question, shake the ball, and then read one of the 20 answers that float to the surface of the ball. “Signs point to yes” and “Ask again later” are among the responses we have all come to know.

Magic 8 Ball

Uno is a fast-paced card game that can be enjoyed by everyone from young kids to old folks.

Uno card game

The Hall of Fame winners were announced on November 8. Ten days earlier, the Boston-based Campaign for a Commercial-free Childhood, the Center for Digital Democracy, and a coalition of 22 other groups had sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission urging it to investigate the preschool app market, which includes electronic games that many parents count on to entertain the kids indoors. The coalition based its letter on a study from the University of Michigan, which examined 135 children's apps and found them rife with unfair and deceptive ads. 

The letter argues that parents should be able to trust that when they download an app marked as "educational" or "for children," that app won't manipulate their child into watching ads or making purchases. But right now, they can't. Games claiming to be "free" may require children to make in-app purchases in order to advance. Other apps take advantage of children's attachment to cartoon characters by having game characters promote in-app purchases. Some apps even show characters crying when kids don't spend (real) money! The letter asserts that manipulating kids this way isn’t just unethical, it’s illegal, and the FTC must hold app makers accountable.   

Tinkertoy, the first toy inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame, in 1998

Here’s some advice for parents now that the winter rainy season is under way and kids are spending more time indoors: Carefully check apps before you let your kids play with them. And consider opting instead for some of the classics that were inducted in the Toy Hall of Fame in past years: cardboard box, crayons, Slinky, Play-Doh. And my own recommendation (and my daughter’s personal favorites when she was young): cardboard tubes and marbles. Unlike commercial apps, these simple toys invite kids to be inventive, imaginative, and cooperative.

Play on!

P.S. Fairyland hosts Game Day on the first Saturday of every month; our next one is on December 1 from 11:30 to 1:30 (unless we’re rained out). Join us to play outdoors with Hula Hoops, stacking toys, Connect 4, and other toys and games that challenge brain and body!

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C.J. Hirschfield has served for 16 years as executive director of Children’s Fairyland, where she is charged with the overall operation of the nation’s oldest storybook theme park.