Skip to main content

Design a toy

So I don't think I'm going to be able to come up with a coherent toy idea in 15 minutes (why did I ever write that as a prompt?), but I figured I could reflect on what I liked in a toy as a kid and what I as an adult would like to see in a kid's toy for 15 minutes and then maybe something would spring up? We'll see.

  1. Adult me would like a toy that can be easily cleaned. Yeah I know this is a boring thing to think about, but honestly kids can be so grubby and if they love a toy, that toy is going to get grubby. So one that can either be put in a washing machine or washed with soap and water is ideal.
  2. Kid me would like a toy that can bend and move. This is a bit vague, but honestly one of my favorite Barbies was my friend Saskia's soccer Barbie who would bend her knees and elbows. I thought it was so cool that I could actually make her move around and sit and pose. So I think a toy that could be used to act things out would be very fun.
  3. Kid me would like something that can be customized. I know that sounds corporate, but I liked being able to make toys my own (I mean isn't this part of what drives kids to cut their doll's hair?). It's nice to have a doll that a lot of other kids have, but it's also nice for other kids to know that is your doll. This could be done in a lot of ways. Obviously, the toy could have different clothes that you can buy, but really it'd be great if it came in a variety of colors and that kids could pick them. I would've loved it if each time I got a doll or stuffed animal I could pick the color of the hair/fur, the eye color, and other little things (like freckles for a doll or where the spots go on a stuffed animal). If I could've done that I would've felt so creative because it would be ideas I had made into something I could hold. And, again, it would be my toy not just a toy.
  4. Adult me would like a toy that teaches something. Kid me probably appreciated this on some level, but I'd like to give a kid a toy that has some feature that allows them to learn. This could be a lot of things. Honestly it could just be a talking doll that says its phrases in English first and then in another language so the kid learns a few key phrases (surely this exists already). Or it could be a toy that is some sort of puzzle and teaches problem solving in that way (or this could just be that things for the toy have to be assembled in a puzzle-like way). It cold also be a toy that comes with a book series so kids are reading and, maybe, even writing their own stories for the toy. Yeah like the toy could have a website where there are stories written by other kids (vetted of course).
  5. Kid me would like a toy that is big enough to be cuddled. Now it's not that I didn't like little toys like Legos, because I loved me some Legos, but I really liked being able to cuddle a toy at night (to be honest, I still do). There is something really comforting about holding something you love in your arms as you try and go to sleep.
  6. Kid me would like a toy that can go in the bath. I thought it was so cool when I could take a toy in the bath with me. Some kids don't like baths, I know, but maybe having toys they can take with them would help. Or, for kids like me who liked baths, it just makes it more fun. Also, if a toy can go in the bath it probably can be washed easily (see point #1), so that's a perk.
  7. Kid me would like a toy that is part of a group. This would work well with the book idea before, but feeling like toys are part of a larger narrative (although kid me wouldn't have said it that way) was pretty cool. I liked that my toy was friends with other toys or went on adventures with others. It gave me some structure to base my own imagination ideas around.

Okay, so if anyone can combine that into a toy, please make it and send me some royalties.

(Prompt by me)
Photo by Susan Dennis

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

15 facts I learned from a random Wikipedia article

Original prompt: click on "Random Wikipedia Article" and write about whatever comes up (you can try 3 times and pick your favorite). For the record, I got Alejandro Estivill , Fencing at the 2011 Pan American Games – Women's épée , and Benjamin F. Jonas . I chose Benjamin F. Jonas because it was the longest of the three entries and it had a photo. He was born in Kentucky, moved to Illinois as a kid, and went to college and spent the rest of his life in Louisiana Jonas's father was a merchant and lawyer His father knew Lincoln (like they were real buds) Despite this, Jonas sided with the confederacy Not only did he side with the confederacy, but he joined the Confederate army and rose to the rank of major He went to University of Louisiana (now Tulane) Jonas was Jewish (I didn't know there were Jewish senators who served the Confederacy) He was the second Jewish U.S. Senator from Louisiana and the third Jewish Senator overall Jonas was the first Ashkenazi Jewish US...
Post a Comment
Read more

Origin story or first issue of a superhero whose super power is geometry

Arya sat in history class and was bored. She longed to get to geometry, where things made more sense. She liked geometry so much that she had joined the math team to be able to do it more. Okay, there was also the extra time with her friends who loved math as much as she did, but some of the appeal was just the math itself. Finally the bell rang and Arya had four minutes to get to her geometry class. She passed right by the chemistry class next door where her least favorite teacher was conducting experiments. He needed to be more careful, thought Arya. The teacher had once exploded a glass beaker and not on purpose. Arya took her seat and excitedly pulled out her notebook. It was her favorite color: hot pink. She assigned her notebook and folder colors in ways that felt right to her. And since geometry was her favorite subject, she made her notebook and folder for it her favorite color. As the teacher started to go over the most common mistakes from the last quiz, Arya could've swo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Color palette

Original prompt: "Google "color palette," pick one, and write something inspired by it." I actually Googled "color palette public domain" to be sure I could use it and found the image on this post. I used the "floral" section for my inspiraiton. The soft sunlight somehow didn't dim the shine of the fireflies. Such it was in the fae realm. Fern loved this time of day in the faewild where it wasn't quite day, but it was far from night. Fern frolicked alone in the glade as she was want to do. It didn't matter to her that her laughter carried itself alone on the breeze; she was content. She wasn't sure how long she'd been alone as she watched the suns begin to set, but it was pleasant in its own way. But then, she heard a noise. It wasn't the noise of leaves on the wind or twigs snapping from some comforting creature. It was the noise of someone approaching with grim determination. Fern wasn't sure how to ready herself to ...
Post a Comment
Read more