Crafting Creative Sales
Joanne Fink -- Gifts and Dec, 12/10/2010 3:50:51 AM
Kids - and the kids' craft kit market - have something in common: they never seem to stop growing! With U.S. sales topping $2.8 billion annually, recent research by NPD says the Arts & Crafts Category is one of the largest segments in the toy industry. Roughly divided into four categories: Art & Activity, Fun & Fashion, Science & Magic and General Crafts - the children's craft market represents an incredible opportunity for specialty gift and toy retailers to embrace a new generation of customers - and their moms!
"Kids' crafts have to be colorful, eye-catching, and easy to do," states Kevin Richer, founder and president, Wooky Entertainment. "The consumer is looking for something simple to create with a unique and nice looking final product." Bill Bordegon, sales and marketing manager for The Orb Factory adds, "Consumers want kits that are not too messy, with quality materials and easy-to-follow instructions. Parents and teachers want children's craft projects that provide good play-value, build self-confidence, and allow the child to be proud of their finished project."
The market for craft activity kits is growing as parents seek more ‘unplugged' activities for their kids in order to limit time in front of TV, video games, and computers, as Veronica Sanchez, national director of sales, Discovery Bay Games, notes. But Bead the Message president Marci Braunstein also suggests another reason for the growth of the craft kit market is that they "can provide a manageable project for a group of kids like a scout troop, religious school or class." But not only do crafts provide an outlet for group activities, they are also something that mom and kids can do together, according to Michelle Ponti, vice president of marketing for Colorbök.
Whether purchased for an individual or group activity, ensuring a successful crafting experience is important. "People are willing to pay for a better experience," reports Megan Thome, media relations manager for EKSuccess Brands and its American Girl Crafts kits, which feature some of the more popular kits on today's market: jewelry, fashion accessories and room decor. Thome remarks, "[Crafting] is really meant to be more than something to just occupy a child; it is educational, giving girls the opportunity to learn and practice basic skills like [sewing with] needle and thread."
| The Wind-up Robots kit makes five windups. Creativity for Kids. 800.642.2288. www.creativityforkids.com Circle #957 |  |
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Sticky mosaic art kit makes 3D pictures. The Orb Factory. 800.741.0089. www.orbfactory.com Circle #961 |
The educational component attracts parents and grandparents to purchase craft kits, both as gifts and everyday activities. Lisa Brody, public relations manager, Creativity for Kids, a pioneer in the creative activities market 34 years ago, says today 40 percent of kits are purchased as gifts while 60 percent are bought for no special occasion.
Craft kits fall primarily into two categories: directed or open-ended activities. Creativity for Kids' Brody reports, "Over the last 10 years projects have become more directed - people like to create a finished product such as a jewelry box the child could put their jewelry in or give to their mom. [However] we try to [strike a] balance between the two; we have jewelry box making kits as well as finger painting kits ... [where] if they don't like the finished piece, they can just keep on painting."
| Kit shows how to make fashions out of folded paper. Klutz. 866.695.5889. www.Klutz.com Circle #960 |  |
For the gift and toy retailer, stocking a balance between directed and open-ended crafts is key. Both serve an educational purpose. The directed craft results in a finished product that the maker can look at and say with pride, "I made that!" It helps to instill a sense of accomplishment. Wooky's Richer sees the current trend is more toward these useful, directed crafts, "crafts that people will actually use after creating and personalizing them, like a piece of jewelry, a bag or an accessory."
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Color Coded Secret Message Bead Kit contains 1,000 beads in a case, decoder cards, 5 yds. of lacing, connectors and instructions. Bead the Message. 908.813.9982. www.beadthemessage.com Circle #956 |
The open-ended craft activity allows the child to express themselves in a more creative way, even when a finished project is the end result. "Open-ended craft activities, like our Quick Sticker Kits, are a great way for any adult to engage with a kid in a way that sparks imagination and creativity," Peaceable Kingdom's president Donna Jaffe says. Peaceable Kingdom's kits contain quick-to complete projects at family-friendly price points where kids control the final design.
One key demographic for crafting is teen and tween girls needing trendy and cool activities to do in solo or in groups.
But when it comes to being open-ended, activities such as coloring and painting are the ultimate form of creative self-expression. Popular because it encourages imagination, "Doodling" is a 21st century twist on these classics and embraced by parents and boys and girls alike. Master doodler Dena Fishbein, whose popular doodle activity kits are published by Publications International, enjoys creating products that allow kids to express their creativity in a fun way.
| Rockwell Studio art kit. Discovery Bay Games. 888.385.2498. www.discoverybaygames.com Circle #959 |
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"Dena incorporates a fresh palette and lots of fun, expressive doodling into value packed activity books," reports Alex Meisel, licensing business development for Dena Designs.
These days it seems that trend-wise everything is cyclical: tie-dye, plaster painting, and other nostalgic or historical crafts are showing strong sales.
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American Girl Crafts room décor craft
kit. EKSuccess Brands. 816.801.1179.
www.eksuccessbrands.com or www.
americangirlcrafts.com Circle #955
|
"One of the most significant growth areas in kid crafting is mosaic- concept crafting - the art of creating images with the assembly of small pieces of various materials," Orb Factory's Bordegon notes. "Ironically, this is not an innovation but an art form dating back to 3000 BC in decorating the Macedonian palaces."
One key target demographic for crafting is teen and tween girls. "This age group needs trendy and cool activities to do solo or in groups," Wooky Entertainment's Richer notes. Wooky's Style me Up! crafts are focused on teen and tween girls. "Tween and teen girls are all about personalization. They want to show their unique personality by wearing one-of-a-kind designs, jewelry and accessories. Gems are the most popular material. Our best seller is the Trendy Bead Tattoos."
| Kit contains everything needed to make a 7” stuffed bear. Colorbök Inc. 800.366.4660. www.colorbok.com Circle #958 |  |
Looking ahead, Richer predicts the upcoming trend will be to create your own cosmetics. He's right on: Creativity for Kids' Brody says its line of girl beauty products is doing well, especially its popular lip balm kit.
"One thing we've tried to do is to make some changes with our packaging to give people at retail more of an eye into the kit since they are all in boxes. We've done cut-outs so they can see some of the materials inside the box ... and Velcro flaps so they can lift up the front and see how the materials are laid out inside the box.
Overall, kits that appeal to both boys and girls aren't easy to find. "Roughly 70 percent of the kits we sell are for girls; 20 percent for boys, 10 percent gender neutral," Brody reports. "Boy craft is a big one for us. Boys tend to break off and go toward video games early on, so most companies aren't doing crafts for boys. We have a series where kids decorate two vehicles with stickers and paint, then race them."
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My Friendship Bracelet Maker. Crorey Creations. 866.693.2648. www.myfbm. com Circle #965 |
Asked about their most popular products, Brody says, "Our successful gender neutral kits are our book kits," citing Create Your Own Pop-Up Book as an example. "Shrinkydinks have become hugely popular again ... we now have more than 10 Shrinkydink products in our line," she says.
When it comes to appealing to boys, perhaps the trend going forward as viewed by Discovery Games' Sanchez will help to tip the balance. Sanchez believes trends will "move a bit more electronically." His company and others are responding, he notes, "We're starting to see Apps that allow kids to color or paint-by-number on the iPad. Companies are trying to find ways to make their kits ‘tablet-friendly'."
As much as parents and craft manufacturers may wish to unplug kids from electronic media, there is no denying that they are here to stay and can also serve to provide a creative and educational outlet. "We see that kids are drawn to video games and their computers," Matt Brown, president of Klutz, shares. "So, we came up with ‘books plus' that requires the use of cameras and computers and are creative, innovative and addictive. We have Animation for the movie maker, Tricky Video for movie-making magic, and our newest title Make Your Own Music Videos. We teach kids easy ways to achieve awesome results using their computers, cameras, and an Internet connection."
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Sticker kits. Peaceable
Kingdom. 877.444.5195.
www.peaceablekingdom.
com Circle #963
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Crafts provide a creative outlet for kids and have lasting entertainment value unmatched by many other kids' products.
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Doodle activity book by Dena Designs. Publications International/Perseus Books. 877.528.1444. www.perseusbooks.com Circle #962 |
| Create your own figurine with Color Blanks painting kit. Rose Art, div. of Mega Brands. 514.333.5555. www.megabrands.com Circle #964 | 
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"We believe that whether you are a kid or 199 years old, personal expression through creative pursuits can help you grow and bloom in ways you may have never imagined," Colobök's Ponti summarizes. "Our mission is to create the tools and programs to help kids of all ages be successful in expressing themselves creatively and unleashing their creative spirit and imagination."
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
● Craft & Hobby Association
201. 835.1224 • www.craftandhobby.org
● Dena Designs
www.denadesigns.com
● Wooky Entertainment
877.966.5905
www.wookyentertainment.com
Joanne Fink, president of Lakeside Design, Lake Mary, FL, is a noted industry designer, writer and speaker.
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