Parents are presented with what seems like a million new toy options for their children each year. While some of these toys are likely great and clever, some of the toys released into the market are leaving parents furrowing their brow wondering what the inventors were thinking. Here’s just a few of those toys.
Tickle Me Elmo
Tickle Me Elmo has been around for a while and can provide young children with hours and hours of fun. Tickle Me Elmo even has friends, Tickle Me Ernie and Tickle Me Cookie Monster. I have to admit, initially I thought the toys were great, but recently, my husband was watching my children play with Tickle Me Ernie and added his own commentary, “Tickle Me Ernie, teaching kids to stand around and laugh while people have seizures.” After thinking about it, and considering how the toy moves, perhaps we shouldn’t be teaching kids to laugh at the seizure-like movements.
Video Girl Barbie
For little girls who love playing with camera, Video Girl Barbie might sound awesome, especially since she records real videos from a necklace on her chest and can play them back to you on a screen built into her back. Let’s think about this for a minute though. Do we really want our creative little girls video taping things with their Barbie dolls? Not to mention, does anyone else find it completely creepy that there’s a television screen built into Barbie’s back?
Little Monkey Doll
Although I think people overreacted to this one, we certainly shouldn’t be presenting our kids with dolls that have racist comments attached to the hat. We may never know for sure if the term was meant as a racial slur or an endearing nickname, but one things for certain; we don’t need to perpetuate stereotypes in our children’s toys.
Smart Cycle
We have the Wii Fit to help keep adults active, but are we really such a lazy society that we need video games to keep our preschoolers active? Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t preschoolers supposed to be full of bubbling, bouncing, never ending energy? Whatever happened to letting them play outside or run in circles in the middle of a freshly vacuumed living room?
Sing-a-ma-jigs
I don’t know who thought these toys would be a great addition to the toy boys, but I couldn’t help but panic upon seeing the new Sing-a-ma-jigs. At first, I was convinced that somehow the socks under my bed had been brought to life by some bizarre radioactive accident and they were here to repay me for the hours of abuse my sweaty feet put them through. Okay, that might not be true, but the Sing-a-ma-jigs are creepy and my two-year-old son cries any time we pass them in the toy aisle, and he screams if someone turns them on.
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