MyPetCakes

Well-Made Toy Company –

Staying True to Traditional Playthings…and For A Good Reason

Remember the days when Mom could just sit you down on the floor of your bedroom with a G.I. Joe or a Raggedy Ann doll and your imagination could keep you entertained for hours? It seems all but impossible nowadays with the vast amount of readily accessible technology at ours (and our children’s) fingertips.

In the past forty-six years we’ve been in business, Well-Made Toy has seen the toy industry change to meet the wants of a tech-savvy society. Toy store shelves that were once dominated with plush stuffed animals are now filling up with a growing number of hi-tech robots, video cameras, and dolls with USB plug-ins. In the past few years especially, the rapid integration of technology into the toy industry has been truly remarkable but it has left many wondering, “Is there still market for soft toys anymore?”

http://mypetcakes.com/ Our answer is, yes.

Despite these recent changes in the industry, Well-Made Toy has still chosen to stick to its roots in the soft toy market. It has been our mission since our inception to produce loveable, huggable, soft playthings that parents, grandparents, and others can afford to buy their little ones. Ultimately, what keeps our business thriving is the bare necessity we all have as parents to provide our children with wonderful, safe toys that will stimulate their imaginations like they once stimulated ours.

In an article published within the International Journal for Early Years Education last year, head of the Moscow State Centre for Psychological and Pedagogical Expertise of Games and Toys, Elena Smirnova, noted the importance of dolls and soft toys in the early stages of childhood development. She explains that for young children, dolls and soft toys open up the mental aspect of children’s play, where the child can use their toys as tools to go beyond the limits of reality. Essentially, what makes these toys “good” psychological tools is their ability to open a child’s imagination, allowing them to use their own voices, actions, and movements to bring their toy to life.

“Interactive” toys, on the other hand, or toys that are equipped with special software and can function independently from a child, were proven to be quite different from this as found in one study done on fifty children aged 5 – 5 ½. Results showed that although the children were deeply interested in the interactive toy, their play was at a “simple functional” play level, evoking no imaginary involvement and no play storylines.

This type of research has proved important for our business. It demonstrates that despite the sea of technology that has permeated into the toy industry, there is still an existing need for the type of product we have to offer. As a reputable member of the industry, we at Well-Made Toy have always, and will always, strive to provide the highest quality soft, cuddly playthings for the imaginative children of this generation.