Kids love to watch unboxing videos on YouTube—but why do they so enjoy watching someone else open and play with toys?

Kids love to watch unboxing videos on YouTube—but why do they so enjoy watching someone else open and play with toys? Mimetic desire—aka the technical term for wanting what you can’t have—plays a part. “Anticipatory desire” can make a video almost as good as the real thing, triggering a dopamine release and keeping kids watching channels like Come and Play, which gets millions of views on videos of hands playing with toys against white backgrounds. Cue the “why didn’t I think of that” moment. (ABC)