It’s recognized that children need access to a wide range of toys and play experiences. Earlier this December, President Obama and the First Lady had some fun divvying up items and tackling toy-gender stereotypes at the annual Toys For Tots holiday toy drive. This was President Obama’s first year in attendance and he wasted no time talking reform. This time though, our children’s toys were on the ballot.
Breaking the cliché, Obama responded by placing the sports and the science toys into the ‘girls’ bin. Then continued by placing a basketball into the girl’s bin. To the joy and laughter of everyone involved, saying: “I just wanna make sure some girls play some ball.” and, “T-Ball? Girls like T-Ball.” With the crowd was snapping photos, he adds. “I’m just trying to break down these gender stereotypes.”
And Little Tikes agrees. Let children have the final say in how they want to play. With our toys, we try to offer multiple color schemes and neutral tones to limit the exclusion. Some parents might not even be aware that certain types of games and activities being excluded from their child’s gender of play, like arts & crafts lacking from boys and construction playsets non-existent from girls. Leading to children never even being offered the chance to find what they truly like.
