If sales are anything to go by, kids have more toys than ever before. Quantifying exactly how many toys a child or their household really has is difficult, and always has been. But a few things are for sure: quick-shipping, cheap toys from online retailers are the norm and toy sales have surged billions above where they stood in 2019 (passing $30B in 2021). But this—and even the rise of secondhand options online—means that parents, grandparents, friends’ parents, and everyone else in kids’ lives are handing them plastic toys on a whim, which quickly turns into collections surpassing dozens into the hundreds. And still, kids often play with only a few of them in a meaningful way, as research has long shown kids play more with fewer options. Of course, this is difficult for parents to enforce as the toys “just kind of happen,” and the social nature of having a popular toy keeps them shopping. (Vox)
📊 YPulse data: 43% of Gen Z and Millennial parents have purchased something for their kids after seeing it on social media
