NEW YORK (AP) — As more children emerge from the pandemic grappling with mental health issues, their parents are seeking ways for them to build emotional resilience.
And toy companies are paying close attention.
While still in its early phase, a growing number of toy marketers are embracing MESH — or mental, emotional and social health — as a designation for toys that teach kids skills like how to adjust to new challenges, resolve conflict, advocate for themselves, or solve problems.
“We just need to educate parents and educators just a little bit to know that we could be using their playtime a little bit intentionally,” Gilboa said.
Many toys that could be considered MESH happen to already be in children’s toy chests — like memory games, puppets, certain types of Legos, Pokémon trading games, and Dungeons & Dragons. The concept was highlighted at the toy industry’s recent four-day annual show in New York, which featured an abundance of toys from the likes of hand2mind and Open the Joy that encourage children to express their feelings with mirrors or puppets.
James Zahn, editor-in-chief of the trade publication The Toy Book, noted the bulk of the new toys being developed with MESH in mind will be out starting next year.
“My fear is that MESH will be used as the next marketing gimmick,” said Chris Byrne, an independent toy analyst. “It will create a culture of fear that their children are not developing socially and emotionally. And that’s not really the job of the toy industry. ”
Experts say childhood depression and anxiety have been climbing for years, but the pandemic’s unrelenting stress and grief magnified the woes, particularly for those already grappling with mental health issues who were cut off from counselors and other school resources during remote learning. Many educators began emphasizing social-emotional learning in response, which teaches children soft skills like helping them manage their emotions and create positive rapport with others.
Dave Anderson, vice president of school and community programs and a senior psychologist in the ADHD and Behavior Disorders Center at the Child Mind Institute, applauded the toy industry’s efforts to likewise address emotional resilience. But he said parents need to be careful about claims that companies may be making. While there’s evidence that skills highlighted by the MESH taskforce can build resilience, there’s no evidence that the toys themselves will, he said.
“The concepts are evidence-based; the toys themselves are not,” he said.
“In my opinion, if you live in a healthy home and you’re having a healthy play and your parents are engaged, the MESH stuff kind of happens automatically, ” he said.
The U.S. toy industry itself has been in need of a jolt following a weak year, particularly a lackluster holiday 2022 season when retailers were stuck with a surplus of toys after enjoying a pandemic-induced toy splurge by parents. The malaise has continued so far this year, with toy sales in the U.S. down 8% from January through August, based on Circana’s retail tracking service data.
For its part, the MESH task force is initially working with specialty stores like Learning Express and small toy companies like Crazy Aaron’s, which has expanded beyond its Thinking Putty to add activity kits that teach kids problem-solving like how magnets work with putty. One game ThinkFun is marketing: Rush Hour, a sliding block logic game that has kids battle traffic gridlock.
But large retailers like Amazon are also waking up to the MESH approach.
Richard Derr, owner of the Learning Express franchise in Lake Zurich, Illinois, said that he trained his workers on helping parents this past spring to pick the right toys. But the challenge is not to scare parents.
“You don’t want to rush up to somebody and say, ‘Hey, how’s your mental health today of your kids?’” Derr said. “That’s why local toy stores are a great place to start because of our relationships with the community, customers and teachers.”
But he noted toymakers can’t be overusing the word MESH without any meaning.
Sarah Davis, the mother of three boys ages 3, 6 and 9, is open to the idea of MESH toys. The Great Falls, Virginia resident said her 6-year-old had delayed speech because he was wearing a mask during the heart of the pandemic, while her 9-year-old son has some issues with social interaction after being isolated and glued to his laptop.
More than the promise of building emotional resilience through MESH is whether the toys themselves will actually be fun.
“Are my kids going to ask for those kinds of toys for Christmas?” Davis asked. “I’m going to be really curious and I will keep an eye out for them.”
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