The secon Slow Toy Awards open
Following their success in 2011, the team behind the ground breaking ‘Slow Toy’ movement are returning to inspire the industry once again and this year the campaign has developed significantly as they announce the launch of the first ever Slow Toy Awards – which open today!
The original concept was to raise awareness of the increasing presence of battery operated plastic toys that distract children with countless functions and the subsequent move away from traditional toys. The disappearance of the educational abacus, the beautifully crafted wooden toy and the much loved dolls house that encourages creativity and imagination is very much the issue at the heart of this campaign.
The Slow Toy awards aim to highlight the ‘real toys’ out there that provide children far more than noise and flashing lights as a form of entertainment. The awards will be judged by a panel of four significant figures from the industry that will endeavour to uncover the ten toys that promote traditional play, encourage a child’s own imagination and are well made.
The panel, which includes; Basil Snooks from Eric Snooks in Bath, Lucie Toogood from Selfridges, Al Boxall-Gordon from IzziwizziKids, and three mummy bloggers: Nicola from ‘Monsters Funhouse’, Fiona from ‘Mummys Little Stars’ and Kate from ‘What me and the Boys say’ will be searching for products that meet the following criteria:
- Encourages traditional play
- Boosts creative thinking
- Inspires the developments of one’s own imagination
- Not made of plastic
- Without batteries
- Sold in independent toy shops
- Durable, stands the test of time
- Without thousands of different functions
To enter simply email the name of the brand, product, stockists, cost and why you feel it should be awarded a Slow Toy accolade. The competition will close at midnight on 14th of September. [email protected]
Commenting on the first Slow Toy Awards, Founder of the original Slow Toy Movement, Thierry Bourret said: ‘ This is such an exciting development. I was inspired to launch the Slow Toy movement last year when I was becoming increasingly frustrated by the lack of proper toys on the market and disappointed that a plastic poo-ing dog was the predicted the dream toy for 2012.
He continued: ‘I just believe our children deserve better than this and should play with toys that inspire their minds and encourage creative play. I cannot wait to see the entries and for the panel to select this years top ten Slow Toys’