Promoting Healthy Play
Kathleen McHugh -- Gifts and Dec, 10/21/2010 11:16:04 PM
If you are in the toy business, you are in the play business. And when it comes to healthy child development, that's a good place to be. A large body of scholarly research documents that developmentally appropriate play helps kids grow up stronger, smarter, and better adjusted - and positive early play experiences are more likely to produce creative people who have richer imaginations and more effective problem solving skills.
Tips for Neighborhood Toy Store Day
This is a powerful message for parents, grandparents, and anyone else who cares about good outcomes for kids. It's also a theme that can be useful in positioning your store to highlight the differences between you and your big box competitors. National Neighborhood Toy Store Day is a great time to focus the spotlight on that message.
Neighborhood Toy Store Day is a new initiative of the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA) created to communicate the advantages of shopping at a locally owned independent toy store. The second Saturday in November every year has been designated for this industry event, and ASTRA will leverage the media to help consumers understand the value they get from specialty stores. This year's National Toy Store Day is Saturday, November 13. (Find more information and how to get a retailer's step-by- step guidebook at www.astratoy.org.)
Getting the Play Value News Out
Here are a few tips for incorporating the good news about play into your Neighborhood Toy Store Day events and throughout the year:
• Give customers "permission" to value play.
Raising children is tough and exhausting despite all the joys, and today's achievement-oriented culture adds to a parent's stress. Make your store's message one that gives moms and dads a break. Train your staff to include comments about the importance of play when talking with customers. While many toy stores already do this, be sure that you have helpful information on your website about how play helps kids develop. Consider putting a motivating quote about play or a useful statistic about its developmental benefits on your landing page, in newsletters, and on your Facebook page.
On Neighborhood Toy Store Day, have a one-page take-with that spells out how play helps kids available for customers. You can create this by borrowing information (with proper attribution) from one of these sources:
illinoisearlylearning.org/tipsheets/ importanceofplay.htm or www.nncc. org/Curriculum/better.play.html Reminding adults that a child may be better off with less structured time and more free play can be reassuring to parents - and can position your store as a comforting, welcoming place to visit.
• Use the benefits of healthy play as the story hook for local media.
Neighborhood Toy Store Day gives you an opportunity to talk about play in the press and on the air. If you are announcing ASTRA's Best Toys for Kids winners that day, note that the list includes products that encourage different types of play - perhaps to be considered as "a balanced diet of play."
Offer to help the reporter understand why kids need a variety of play experiences, why each Best Toy is considered a great toy, and how it promotes healthy development. Highlight your status as an expert on toys and play and offer to help on any future stories about toys, play or ideas for family fun.
• Highlight the features of the play, not the features of the toy when describing toys to customers.
Whether you are discussing a product with a potential buyer, posting signage about the toy, or demonstrating 
Kathleen McHugh is president of the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association, Chicago. (www.astratoy.org)
Best Toys for Kids to a family, highlight what the child can do with the toy rather than what the toy can do. Explain why a basic toy that requires a child to use her imagination is likely to offer more learning than one loaded with electronic gizmos or a licensed product where the story is pre-told for the child. Your expertise about play is one of the most significant things you offer over your competitors.
Independently owned specialty toy stores succeed because they are different from their big competitors and they know how to make the difference matter to their customers. "Sharing the good news about play is one of the cornerstones of our marketing strategy - not only on Neighborhood Toy Store Day, but every other day as well," says Jonny Girson, owner of The Learning Tree stores in the Kansas City area. "We're all about customer service, and helping parents and grandparents learn about play is a key part of helping select toys that are a good fit with the child. Satisfied customers come back for more."
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