Ecological games and toys

Kidzsmart introduces Eco-savvy Games and Kids Toys. Kidzsmart Concepts Inc. is rolling out a new line of decidedly retro boardgames, toys and booklets that put fun and environmental sustainability into a pint-sized package of kids games for restaurant, hotel and household brand clients.

The 'Green games' are the result of ten years of research, product development and consumer experience at Kidzsmart. "The customers of our customers are demanding an alternative to made-in China plastic toys, and the enormous petroleum costs associated with their manufacture", said Dennis O'Brien, President and CEO of Kidzsmart. "The research we have seen led us to anticipate our clients desire to stay in step with the priorities of their customers, which means lowering our environmental impact wherever possible."

In a recent Ipsos Reid poll, half (47%) of consumers surveyed in direct interviews chose to buy a product or service because of a company's ethical, social or environmental reputation. Alternately, one third (33%) advised others against using a specific company or service for the same reason. Will this spell an end to Transformers? Not likely, but Kidzsmart is betting that for many of today's parents, the opportunity to engage their kids in non-petroleum based games and toys will be a welcome alternative, and not just for its eco-sustainability.

A return to good clean fun, as evidenced by the eco-playbook, one of a series of products under the new green line, will be just what both kids and parents can relate to. There was a time when hide-and-go-seek, kick the can, and tag were all the games kids needed. Society and technology change, and often for the better, but some forms of play are immutable: building, drawing and painting, and creating characters with spirits animated by the kids themselves.

"These engaging, imaginative games are an endless source of fun for kids, and at the same time, teach the lesson that not everything is disposable. These games can be re-used, re-created and re-imagined over and over, and using 100% post-consumer waste and soy inks, they reduce the environmental impact of play almost entirely", said Mike Haines, Vice President, Marketing and Kidzsmart.

What makes a game successful with kids? In a word, "Imagination", according to Bill Brunson, Vice President of Sales at Kidzsmart. "We have created thousands of characters for hundreds of clients over the past ten years, and both our research and experience tell us that enabling kids to explore the limits of their own imagination makes a game successful. The bigger the world for them to explore, the greater the success of the game."

In a world that consumes an estimated 140 million tons of plastics every year, at an estimated cost of 150 million tons of oil per year to manufacture, a return to games that offer good clean recyclable fun, seems just in time.

These ecological toys are: safe non-toxic environmentally sound ecological made from renewable resources