1. Mommy Made It
A series of kits for adults to make children’s toys. For example, one moderate skill level kit would allow an adult to assemble a self-propelled wooden car using precut parts that needed to be sanded and painted before assembly. Children could help with the construction, but many steps would need to be done by the adult.
- interactive
- emotional attachment
- group activity
- developmental
2. Riding Vacuum
A self-propelled or pedal propelled riding toy with a built-in Dustbuster style vacuum. Children would clean the floor as they traveled over it, entertaining themselves while helping adults with a chore.
- helping activity
- group activity
- physical
- cute
3. Draw Tracks
A train that follows a specially drawn line on a large piece of butcher paper. The line includes switch points and various control symbols that are complex enough so that an adult needs to help. The adult would build skill with creating the tracks, while the children play.
- interactive
- emotional attachment
- group activity
- trains
4. Ball Puzzle
A pixel-type puzzle created out of differently colored superballs, perhaps 100 of them. The puzzle could be easy–making a picture out of solid color ball-pixels, and also have a more difficult mode where the balls (or one side of each ball) would need to be placed in a proper orientation.
- interactive
- group activity
- spheres
5. Grow-a-Meal
Box contains everything you need to grow a meal from seeds. After assembling the planter (see Mommy Made It above) seeds would be planted to grow the ingredients for a particular dish or baked good. After harvesting, the child and adult would prepare “their” meal together.
- interactive
- emotional attachment
- group activity
- developmental
6. Musical Play-a-Long
This musical instrument would be played by both parent and child. For example, the child could blow into it while the adult worked the valves.
- noise
- group activity
- developmental
7. Sack of Skipping Rocks
As an adult, I’ve become very good at skipping rocks across a pond and notice that children are fascinated by this. Unfortunately, there’s almost never enough good rocks that are easy to skip, so it’s very hard to teach this skill. The sack of skipping rocks would contain enough flat smooth stones so that an adult could learn this skill and teach it to their child. Perhaps the “rocks” could be baked in advance from a powder, like Shrinky-Dinks.
- physical
- group activity
- emotional attachment
8. ReadTV
Books that play on the living room television. One page comes up at a time with subtitled text. The adult reads the text while the child sits with them. Page turns are activated by remote control. The “book” device could be an inexpensive electronic module that plugs into the analog video input on the television monitor. Books could also be read remotely, over the phone by traveling parents or grandparents, with the page turns activated by touch-tone.
- emotional attachment
- developmental
- remote use or physical proximity
9. Make-a-Book
Perhaps part of the Mommy Made It line of parent-child activities, this product would provide all the physical materials for creating a children’s book. It would also feature expert guidance on creating a compelling story line in a step-by-step story structure process. Assistance with drawings would complete the package, using clip art and illustration tips. Children could assist with the process, which would require significant adult interaction.
- creative
- emotional attachment
- group activity
- developmental
10. My Little Treadmill
Children would exercise alongside their parents in a scaled-down version of adult exercise machines. A race component could be activated to scale the adult and child’s speed for a fair competition.
- physical activity
- group activity
- mental engagement
- cute
