Parents go traditional, no room for PlayStation

Is your kid hooked to video games, PlayStation or busy downloading apps? Tell him to thank God that he is not living in Canada.

Canadian parents have decided to go traditional when it comes to buying gifts for their children. They are looking for stuff that is educational and instill good behaviour and are simply not interested in high-tech gizmos, according to a new study.

Arts and crafts and sporting goods are among popular choices, said the study, published in Toronto Star.

Puzzles, action figures, stuffed toys, construction sets and vehicles are among the items most preferred by parents for their kids, it added.

"Parents ensure that they're balancing that expenditure on gifts, making sure that their children have quality playtime," Pam Wood, director of retail business at the NPD Group, a global information firm, was quoted as saying.

"Sixty percent of parents think that there's value in having kids play with those traditional toys. This is what is driving the role of traditional toys in today's age when electronics are so prevalent," she added.

Clearly, when parents are purchasing items, what the child has requested is important. It can be a great product, but they need to feel comfortable about the safety of that product and that the brand is reputable and trustworthy, the study said.

When asked what impacts their child's desire for toys, parents said what their friends were playing with was the top influencer (72 percent) followed by what kids see in stores (65 percent) and items advertised on TV (50 percent), the study concluded.

--Indo-Asian News service

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