“Millennial parents care about how things look in their home,” Ms. Wainer said. The nursery should be Instagrammable with wooden toys in neutral colors or a playful play tent in an innocent shade of gray. Gen Z, meanwhile, seems more interested in toys that are going viral on TikTok, such as Squishmallows, round pillow-like stuffed animals that come in a variety of characters.
I asked if it was the hard yellow plastic frame that contained my favorite toys. Ms Waller said plastic was still popular despite consumers’ expressed desire for sustainable materials, such as wood and fabric. “I’ll tell you the plastic toy industry isn’t going anywhere,” Ms Waller said. “That’s not how they buy.”
(Ms. Golinkoff, the professor who studies child’s play, confirmed that American parents “love anything with a battery.”)
Kids 2 conducts surveys and panels to help decide which new toys to design, and subscribes to trend forecasting agencies such as WGSN and Trend Bible to find out which colors, patterns and themes will appeal. Planting patterns are currently large, Ms Waller said. “Aloe plants and cacti,” she said. “Houseplants just have something homely and cosy.”
As a parent I notice this: suddenly there is a surprising animal everywhere in the children’s department. In recent years these have been the flamingo, the sloth, the llama and of course the old unicorn.
“There was a narwhal moment,” Mrs. Waller said, and my mind flashed to the many stuffed narwhals in my home, many in rainbow hues, my children’s desires, shaped ultimately by what toy manufacturers choose to sell.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t get Ms. Waller to explain exactly why Kids 2 had crushed the Bug. Reading between the lines of our conversation, though, it was clear that my many newborn purchases hadn’t been enough to boost sales to the point where retailers insisted the company keep supplying it.
Seven-month-old Mira contributed to the reporting.
