Makers of activity kits that have an educational slant are increasingly looking to add to their assortments by acquiring appropriate licenses. Three recent examples:
- Educational Insights, known for its Hot Dots and Hot Dots Jr. brands, among others, has secured the rights to the kids magazine Highlights for Children, following up on its deal with Night and Day’s preschool app Peekaboo Barn in June of last year. It also markets educational preschool products tied to the children’s book property Pete the Cat.
- Silver Dolphin, which produces books, fact cards, and book-plus activity kits, including under its longtime Smithsonian license, has added a Star Wars Builders series, starting with three titles (covering the Millennium Falcon, Droids, and Starfighters). Silver Dolphin is an imprint of Printers Row Publishing Group, a division of Readerlink.
- Seedling, an independent marketer of creative-play kits, some of which have augmented reality as well as physical components, launched Design Your Own Disney Kits last year. The range has grown to 12 kits to date, extending across eight different properties.
The marriage of licensing with products that have a learning component is still a relatively small niche within the licensed portion of the toy industry. But it has been growing as manufacturers look to differentiate themselves in a fragmented and crowded market, as educational retailers become more accepting of licensing, and as licensors look for untapped areas into which they can expand.
Reminder: Karen Raugust will join Ira Mayer for a presentation during New York International Toy Fair called “Positioning Your Licensed Toys & Characters For the Preschool Market,” scheduled for Sunday, February 19, at 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Javits Center. It is part of the Licensing Content Connection track within the Knowledge Network roster of educational programming at the show. To learn more and to register, visit the Licensing Content Connection page of Toy Fair’s website.
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