At the ongoing India Toy Fair 2021—inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi—educational toys for children have taken centre-stage. “The Indian toy market, estimated at $1 billion, is growing at the rate of 10-15% every year. Educational/STEM toys account for over 30% of all toys, and parents are investing in smart toys that are both fun and educational,” stated Vivek Goyal, co-founder & CEO, PlayShifu—the Indian start out-up that gives educational toys below 3 platforms: Orboot (AR-powered globe), Plugo (story-based STEM game kits) and Tacto (board games with digital gameplay it will be launched later this year).
PlayShifu toys are at present becoming applied by more than 6 lakh kids across 35 nations.
Goyal added that such toys can bridge the gap among day-to-day research and sensible hands-on understanding, and also enable develop STEM abilities in kids, which is the concentrate of the National Education Policy 2020. “STEM learning can be introduced to children as early as their second birthday,” he stated. “This learning can become more engaging with educational toys, especially those that provide phygital interactions.”
A current report by the Early Childhood STEM Working Group (University of Chicago) noted that introducing higher-good quality early STEM experiences in the course of early age offers a lot-necessary stimulus to children’s all-natural curiosity.
During the Covid-19 lockdown and the resultant schooling at house, PlayShifu witnessed all-time highs in returning customers, time spent and activity progress. “Our active user count shot up by 60% in the first three weeks of the lockdown. Children collectively spent 20.8 million minutes on our Orboot and Plugo platforms, resulting in 45% jump in daily activity from March through May. Similar trends continued throughout the year,” Goyal stated. “We added 3.5 lakh new users across the world by the end of 2020. With 63% kids deeply engaged beyond 30 days, we are happy with the lasting impact we made in these testing times.”
PlayShifu saw the initial significant surge in demand in late-February post schools shutting down. The next spike was in mid-March when it produced the Orboot app absolutely free-for-all. Over 30,000 new parents downloaded Orboot and Plugo among March and May. “In January-August 2020, our Amazon sales grew by 400% as compared to the same period the year earlier, and our direct to consumer sales on our website grew by a whopping 1,300%,” Goyal added. “Also, between March and May 2020, online purchases from tier-2 and tier-3 cities went up by 60% and users from tier-2 and tier-3 cities grew by 20% on our platforms.”
Goyal stated the ongoing Toy Fair 2021 will place Indian toy-generating on the worldwide map. “While we already manufacture in India, we are looking forward to sparking new connections with more local partners and furthering our collective cause to bring joy to every child across the country. The fair is a huge opportunity that can benefit the entire ecosystem, and enable us all to thrive.”
The government, on its aspect, has been generating efforts towards the evolution of the toy market in basic. Recently, it introduced the security BIS certification for the toy market that has been produced mandatory from January 2021 onwards. Additionally, state governments have been contributing to this initiative by organizing to allocate land for devoted toy parks and arenas.