Oh boy (Oh girl) - another media feature

We don't know what has brought this on, but suddenly we're getting a lot of media attention. The 7th May edition of "My Paper" has a short piece about us in their Mother's Day feature. The Toy Rental Club segment is entitled "Toy Story".

You can click here (and then click twice on the image) to see a pdf version of the article. If you click on the first magnifying glass icon (in the top right hand corner) you will get a closer view of the article - and then you can zoom in.

Mum-preneurs (Singapore Women's Weekly)

Check out the May 2010 issue of the Singapore Women's Weekly. the toy rental club takes centre-stage in a feature on the theme of women who manage to run a business while raising children. The photographer chose the most chaotic corner of our warehouse unit for the shoot, but actually it makes an appealingly colourful backdrop for our double-page portrait in the magazine.

Learning to Ride a Bike - a New Approach

It's intriguing to read about a very successful New York City programme for teaching kids to ride a bike. What's unusual about this approach is that it does not involve the use of training wheels. Instead, the pedals are removed, the seat is lowered and the kids learn how to balance their machine before attempting to do full-blown cycling. Exactly the same principle lies behind the lovely LikeaBikes which you can rent from the toy rental club!

Watch the video below to see how it all works - and there's even a useful .pdf booklet of tips if you want to try it with your own child.

The Lost Art of Play

We just stumbled upon an article by psychologist Dr Jim Taylor at the University of San Francisco lamenting the reduction in American children's play time. The article, in the 13 Oct 2009 issue of "Psychology Today", emphasises the importance of unstructured play in fostering creativity, cognitive and social skills, and independence, among other things. Dr Taylor argues that TV and overly structured "play dates" have resulted in a huge decline in outdoor play especially.

"Children are just too busy to play these days," claims Taylor, pointing to the pressures of homework, organized sports, music and dance lessons, and other structured activities. It sounds like Singapore, does it not? You might get better results, he says, by simply giving the kids a break.

Incidentally, a 2004 article in the same magazine suggests that parental "hyperconcern" (over-protectiveness) may be responsible for the growing number of psychologically fragile college age kids.

The Good Toy Guide

The National Association of Toy and Leisure Libraries (UK) has published its 35^th annual Good Toy Guide. To quote from the NATTL’s website, “All of the toys in this Guide are tested by children and the comments come from the children. Watching the children and the pleasure they get from the toys they are playing with is how we know what to tell you about each product.” At least 250 families (around 600 children) take part in the appraisal process.

The chosen toys include the Leapfrog “Learn and Groove Activity Station” and the Vtech “Alphabet Phonics Teacher”, both of which are stocked by the toy rental club. We stock other Leapfrog and Vtech products too.

Rent a Stick?

The American National Museum of Play, located in Rochester, New York, has just 41 toys in its National Toy Hall of Fame. Among them are the humble stick and the cardboard box, a reminder that the toy rental club cannot solve all of your children's play needs!

Inducted toys are selected on the basis of the following criteria:

1. Icon-status: The toy is widely recognized, respected, and remembered.
2. Longevity: The toy is more than a passing fad and has enjoyed popularity over multiple generations.
3. Discovery: The toy fosters learning, creativity, or discovery through play.
4. Innovation: The toy profoundly changed play or toy design. A toy may be inducted on the basis of this criterion without necessarily having met all of the first three.

Needless to say, the list includes good old Lego, but there are other names that only an American would recognise. Raggedy Ann and Andy, anyone? Or Lincoln Logs?

Why Have We Closed Our Playground?

We regret the closure of our indoor playground, a measure which we hope will be only temporary. We have been forced to close due to a significant rent hike. The steep rise took us by surprise in view of reports such as "Commercial Rents Feel the Slowdown" in the 24 January issue of The Business Times.

For the time being, we have contracted our operation into the unit on Level 5. Rentals (including birthdays @ home) will continue as usual. Meanwhile, we shall look for opportunities to open a new playground.