The report “A Research-Based Case for Recess” by Olga S.Jarrett of Georgia State University, published by the the U.S. Play Coalition, reveals the importance of recess for children. It cites that the majority of the top-ranking countries in international tests have schools that provide frequent play breaks. For example, English primary children have breaks in the morning and in the afternoon. They also have a long lunch break. Children in Japan receive 10-20 minute breaks between 45-minute lessons. In Finland, schools offer 15 minutes to play after each 45 minutes...

The National Institute for Play is a nonprofit corporation whose mission is to raise awareness of the benefits of play to public life. It promotes research on the subject of play and seeks to expand the scientific knowledge of human play. The National Institute for Play aims to provide resources for society so that every member can take advantage of the boons offered by play. The nonprofit was founded by Dr. Stuart Brown. His first foray into the impact of play was through the study of a group of homicidal...

The team at educational building toy company Click-A-Brick say they are pleased to see startup toy companies using crowdfunding sites to create more toys that teach science, technology, engineering and math to children -- especially girls -- to fill a void left by the major toy companies. In a recent Bloomberg article, Amanda Albright wrote that the push for startup toy companies to use crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter to get their toys on store shelves is being fueled by millennials who grew up with gendered toys, but who don’t want...

The Click-A-Brick team, retailers of building set toys, says they appreciate the various movements afoot to encourage more girls to choose science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers, but more needs to be done to get more girls to see these careers as a viable option for them. With movements like the #ILookLikeAnEngineer campaign and various STEM camps aimed specifically at girls going on across the country, it’s clear there is a concerted effort to get more young females interested in STEM careers, which is a good thing, Click-A-Brick Co-Founders...

The team at learning toy company Click-A-Brick say they are impressed with blogger and parent Lisa Schmeiser’s level-headed response to the growing concern about young children’s exposure to electronic devices. In a blog post for the Macworld website, Schmeiser says she has considered all the relevant research and recommendations for children and electronics and has come up with what she describes as “a reduced-guilt screen policy” for her own child that still limits screen time, but allows for it within her own personal guidelines. Those guidelines (presented as a series...

The team behind building block toy Click-A-Brick says while students at Lehigh University have admirable intentions, their development of a mobile app to help preschoolers understand geometry concepts is misguided. The as-yet-unnamed app, which is still in the development stage, is being touted as a way to give young children "a meaningful and accessible block-building experience — without actual blocks," according to a news release from the developers. To build their app, Lehigh University undergraduate students Faye Sheppard and Luke Zhang, school psychology doctoral student Brittany Kuder, and associate professor...

The team behind building toy Click-A-Brick says they are pleased to read one Dallas, TX mom blogger’s idea for encouraging natural development in her son while simultaneously cutting down on the amount of clutter in his room and discouraging mess making with toys. In a post entitled ‘Why I Got Rid of the Toys’ published on the Dallas Moms Blog near the beginning of summer, Denaye Barahona says she was inspired by her son’s neighborhood playgroup, which is run out of a Montessori school. Rather than just having toy boxes...

The team behind learning toy Click-A-Brick says they are ecstatic about a new report that says the first half of 2015 was marked by strong sales growth for the toy industry in the United States and predicts an even stronger finish to the year. According to market research company The NPD Group, the US toy industry grew by 6.5 percent in the first half of 2015, or roughly $400 million. Because 34 percent of toy sales have occurred in the first half of the year over the past four years,...

The Toys To Life genre is a fast growing billion dollar category in the toy marketplace. It uses physical figurines to interact with a video game. The toy figurines are connected to a game console via a USB peripheral. The figurine generates an in game character to interact with. It can also be used to unlock exclusive levels and special perks. The NPD Group -a global information tracking company- states that over 70 percent of parents are aware of the Toys To Life genre, otherwise known as IGT (Interactive Gaming...

The National Toy Hall of Fame is an institution devoted to recognizing toys that have inspired play. Established in 1998 at the Strong Museum, the Hall of Fame inducts new honorees each year. Anyone is eligible to nominate a toy. The final selections are based on the expertise of historians and educators. In 2014 there were three inductees to the National Toy Hall of Fame. Each one represents a toy celebrated for generations. They were the Rubik’s Cube, Bubbles, and Little Green Army Men. The Little Green Army Men evolved...