In recent years, the mental health challenges faced by children and adolescents have become increasingly prominent, drawing widespread societal attention. In response, the toy industry has swiftly recognized this trend and is accelerating its transformation from traditional "entertainment tools" to becoming "emotional companions" for children. Among these innovations, MESH toys have garnered significant attention and are rapidly emerging.
1. Plush Comfort Toys: Warm Companionship to Alleviate Emotional Stress
BASIC FUN! Care Bears - Sweet serenity Bear
This 14-inch plush toy combines sensory play with the classic Care Bear design. The badge on its belly, paw pads, and ears feature a variety of uniquely satisfying textures.
Recommended Age: 4 years and up
RELATABLE Emotional Support Cushions
These playful and adorable plush toys are designed to bring comfort and laughter to people of all ages. Each set includes five plush characters, each with a different facial expression. Themes vary and include items like pickles, fries, donuts, ice cream, and kittens.
Recommended Age: All ages
Warmies Brown Curly Bear
These plush toys are designed to provide comfort and warmth. They can be heated in the microwave to offer warmth or cooled in the freezer for a soothing effect. Each plush is treated to help alleviate stress and is filled with natural grains and French lavender, emitting a calming aroma to create a tranquil atmosphere.
Recommended Age: All ages
Jazwares Greenhouse-Themed 12-Inch Plush Series
This set includes four indoor potted plant-themed 12-inch plush toys, bringing a cozy plant-inspired touch. Each ultra-soft plush is designed as a cute plant shape and comes with an adorable flower pot—no sunlight, watering, or gardening expertise required.
Recommended Age: 3 years and up
Hugimals HUGAROUNDS
These lovable plush toys are designed to be heated and become warm when hugged. They feature long, comforting arms that provide an enveloping hug. Additionally, the clay beads inside do not deform, ensuring safety.
Recommended Age: 2 years and up
Mattel BARNEY'S WORLD SENSORY BARNEY
This adorable Barney plush offers children a variety of unique sensory experiences. Through play, children can also use it to practice self-regulation skills.
Recommended Age: 2 years and up
Innovative Insights
Plush toys designed with soft materials and endearing appearances offer children comforting companionship, addressing their emotional needs and alleviating stress and anxiety. Incorporating smart sensing features—such as playing soothing phrases or gentle music when hugged—can enhance interactivity and provide additional emotional support.
2.Creative Expression Toys: Unleashing Imagination and Expressing Emotions
LEGO Duplo "DIY Fun Life" Set
This 71-piece LEGO Duplo set encourages preschoolers to unleash their creativity and explore their emotions. Children can build and rebuild five characters to reflect the vibrant world around them. The set includes 10 expressive faces to help children articulate their feelings.
Recommended Age: 3 years and up
CEPIA DECORA PONYZ
Children can use the included stickers to decorate and customize these ponies, unlocking their new friends' unique personalities. This set includes six collectible ponies, each with implanted nylon hair, making it easy for children to engage in colorful hairstyling play.
Recommended Age: 4 years and up
Melissa & Doug Multi-Functional Drawing Set
This portable, zippered box contains a drawing board with a water-activated rainbow swirl pattern for freehand drawing. The set also includes four reusable double-sided activity cards, two templates, two stamps, and an ink pad.
Recommended Age: 3 years and up
Solobo Toys Emotion Blocks
Children can use 10 colorful and expressive blocks to identify their feelings, representing various emotions such as happiness, sadness, anger, and surprise.
Recommended Age: 3 years and up
Innovative Insights
These toys provide children with warm companionship through soft materials and adorable designs, meeting their emotional needs and alleviating stress and anxiety. When developing and promoting such products, companies should focus on the safety and comfort of materials, incorporate more creative designs and themes, and enhance interactivity—for example, by adding smart sensing features that play soothing words or gentle music when a child hugs the toy.
3.Sensory Exploration: Sparking Curiosity and Enhancing Skills
Fat Brain Toys: PlayTab
The PlayTab is a modular sensory toy that allows children to create a personalized play experience. It features a wooden board with magnetic tiles, each offering different interactive elements such as spinning gears, textured buttons, and rolling balls. This design encourages fine motor skills, sensory exploration, and cause-and-effect understanding. The tiles can be rearranged, providing endless combinations for engaging play.
Recommended Age: 12 months and up
Goliath: Jelly Blox Creative Kit
Jelly Blox are squishy, tactile building blocks designed for young children. Made from soft, squeezable material, they come in various colors and some contain sensory fillings like sand and foam beads. These blocks are not only fun to play with but also promote fine motor skills and sensory development. They are safety-tested and ouch-free, making them ideal for toddlers.
Recommended Age: 2 years and up
Spin Master: Kinetic Sand Splash Starter Playset
This playset introduces children to the world of kinetic sand, which changes color when wet. The set includes 6 ounces of color-change sand, molds, and tools, providing a hands-on sensory experience. It's designed to stimulate creativity and fine motor skills as children mold and shape the sand.
Recommended Age: 3 years and up
Innovative Insights
These sensory toys are designed to meet children's sensory needs while promoting fine motor skills and understanding of cause and effect. To enhance their impact, companies can incorporate diverse play functions, integrate technologies like AR or VR for immersive experiences, and create hybrid sensory environments. Hosting offline experience events and showcasing toy functionalities through online platforms can also attract potential customers and foster engagement.
4.Social Interaction Toys: Enhancing Communication and Social Skills
Mattel – UNO TEAMS Card Game
Players form teams to match colors, numbers, and symbols, but both teammates must lay down all their cards to declare victory. If your partner runs out of cards first, separate the remaining cards and continue playing. New cards include Wild Team Play, Wild Team Draw 4, and Pass.
Age Range: 2 years and above
HEY BESTIE – Hey Bestie Doll Series
These dolls never "go solo." The 5.5-inch "Hey Bestie" dolls are sold in pairs, with themes like "Travel Besties," "Birthday Besties," "School Besties," and "Sleepover Besties."
Age Range: 3 years and above
PlayMonster – KOOSH Kornhole
This indoor-outdoor version of the classic backyard game comes with six neon-colored Koosh balls. The lightweight board is easy to carry and set up, allowing players to play anytime and anywhere.
Age Range: 5 years and above
Innovative Insights
These toys help children develop social and conversational skills through multiplayer games and role-playing. Companies should enhance the social elements of social interaction toys, such as setting up challenge reward systems and online social platform interaction features.
Conclusion
In today's world, where mental health is receiving increasing attention, toys have evolved from mere entertainment tools to important carriers promoting children's physical and mental development. MESH toys represent not just product innovation but a market revolution driven by "emotional necessity." For companies, deeply exploring the market potential of MESH toys and innovating in product development, design, and promotion across multiple dimensions to accurately grasp consumer needs will undoubtedly help them seize opportunities in this emerging market.
