More mothers opting for developmental toys

By Janice Chamberlain -- Kids Today, 4/1/2006 12:00:00 AM

It's an exciting, challenging world out there for our planet's youngest inhabitants. According to a study conducted by the American Baby Group in 2002, more and more mothers are opting to help their babies and toddlers learn and grow intellectually through developmental toys.

Developmental toys are designed to help the child focus on the five senses, motor skills and cognitive thinking, as well as emotional and social skills.

Asked about the importance of toys, 98% of expectant and new mothers surveyed said they would seek out toys that would aid in their child's intellectual development:

• 82% of first-time moms said they "agreed strongly" when asked whether they would look for intellectual toys for their baby.

• 70% of experienced mothers "agreed strongly."

Safety is the top concern when buying toys, followed by quality and price:

• More affluent mothers are as likely to consider brand name (35%) than price (34%) when buying baby toys.

• Moms earning less consider price over brand name (47% versus 24%).

Mothers in the study named their top three shopping destinations for toys as:

• Mass merchandisers (including Wal-Mart, Target, Kmart).

• Toy store chains (such as Toys "R" Us).

• Baby superstores (such as Babies "R" Us and Burlington Baby Depot).

At least 45% of the moms surveyed shopped at least one of these channels. Over half (51%) of first-time mothers shopped for toys at baby superstores, versus 37% of experienced moms.

• Mass merchandiser outlets and toy store chains are where most moms buy baby toys.

• Affluent mothers (household income of $75,000 or more) were much more likely to also buy toys in baby superstores, toy specialty stores, infant specialty stores and over the Internet.

New mothers were particularly likely to own stuffed plush toys, rattles/teethers/soft clutch toys, followed by baby books, musical stuffed plush toys and other musical toys:

• 99% of new mothers owned audio-visual toys, including electronic toys, baby videos, and baby tapes/CDs.

• Most moms have activity centers, with floor gyms, activity mats and attaching toys for strollers or high chairs among the most common.

Audio-visual toys are popular items:

• Older moms, as well as more affluent moms, are significantly more likely to own books, tapes/CDs, electronic learning toys, videos, and a tape player for baby.

• Musical toys are typically received as gifts. Otherwise, experienced mothers tend to re-use toys from an older child while new mothers are likely to buy.

• Based on new mothers only, electronic learning toys showed the greatest growth spurt, with 60% of the moms reporting they owned these toys in 2002, compared with 21% in 1996 and 24% in 1999.

Activity centers, including floor gyms, activity quilts/mats and crib-attached centers, also have their fans:

• Older as well as more affluent moms tend to own activity centers.

• First-time mothers primarily receive them as gifts.

• With the exception of electronic activity centers, experienced moms are more likely to re-use an activity center from an older child than to buy new.

• Electronic crib-attached activity centers showed the largest percentage-point gain with new mothers, jumping from 18% in 1996 to 56% in 2002.

Who has developmental toys?

	Type of mom				Household income		Baby's age
	Expecting	New	Under 30	30 and older	Less than $75,000	$75,000 and more	6 mos. and younger	7 mos. and older
Source: American Baby 2003 Baby Products Tracking Study
Soft blocks/balls	34%	59%	45%	57%	49%	55%	48%	82%
Nesting/stacking/sorting/bead toys	23%	46%	31%	47%	33%	47%	35%	67%
Hard blocks	27%	40%	30%	43%	34%	40%	30%	61%
Multi-piece plastic farms, houses, etc.	22%	32%	24%	34%	26%	34%	24%	47%
Interlocking blocks	21%	31%	23%	34%	27%	29%	24%	47%
Baby books	70%	86%	77%	85%	78%	86%	84%	92%
Musical stuffed plush toys	61%	86%	76%	80%	77%	78%	85%	91%
Other musical toys	53%	87%	72%	79%	74%	80%	87%	91%
Baby tapes/CDs	47%	71%	56%	72%	59%	70%	69%	77%
Electronic learning toys	34%	60%	46%	58%	49%	59%	50%	80%
Baby videos	36%	54%	42%	57%	44%	59%	48%	67%
Baby book clubs	18%	31%	27%	25%	27%	24%	28%	36%
Floor gym	40%	66%	51%	65%	53%	65%	62%	74%
Activity quilt/mat	40%	64%	49%	65%	53%	64%	63%	67%
Attaching toys for stroller/high chair	39%	65%	51%	62%	54%	65%	63%	69%
Electronic crib attached activity center	31%	56%	45%	50%	45%	52%	52%	64%
Non-electronic crib attached activity center	18%	34%	25%	33%	27%	31%	28%	46%

Developmental toys come from?

	First-time moms		Experienced moms
	Purchased	Gift	Gift	Older child or borrowed
Source: American Baby 2003 Baby Products Tracking Study
Soft blocks/balls	48%	62%	22%	69%
Nesting/stacking/sorting/bead toys	45%	65%	19%	72%
Hard blocks	48%	53%	13%	80%
Multi-piece plastic farms, houses, etc.	43%	53%	17%	84%
Interlocking blocks	49%	52%	16%	79%
Baby books	74%	68%	36%	66%
Musical stuffed plush toys	34%	82%	57%	48%
Other musical toys	46%	80%	47%	56%
Baby tapes/CDs	58%	63%	36%	56%
Electronic learning toys	62%	59%	22%	71%
Baby videos	62%	52%	22%	73%
Baby book clubs	88%	14%	10%	47%
Floor gym	37%	60%	28%	48%
Activity quilt/mat	34%	67%	33%	50%
Attaching toys for stroller/high chair	52%	58%	26%	49%
Electronic crib attached activity center	44%	61%	29%	39%
Non-electronic crib attached activity center	44%	58%	21%	54%

Moms acquired toys...

Source: American Baby 2003 Baby Products Tracking Study
After birth	51%
Before baby's birth	49%