TEAM WSL
A mother knows how important toys are in a child’s growth, and no questions asked. From toddlers to elders and alphabets to robotics, toys play a crucial role in the learning and engagement curves. While the benefits and importance of toys are known and proved, do you know that India’s first virtual toy fair started yesterday (27th Feb)? Proceed to know more.
The India Toy Fair 2021 – is a four-day virtual toy fair organised by the Government where you get to virtually explore a range of toys available in India, participate in engaging panel discussions and webinars and much more at theindiatoyfair.in.
While we are not keen to review the execution of the ongoing virtual event, we are more interested in the core purpose and the vision behind this Initiative as we know what it takes to initiate something like this. So, having an awareness of the possible benefits from such initiatives and knowing how we can make the best use of them is what we are striving for through this read.
We tried to quickly decode how this initiative can benefit those who are interested in the topic of Toys or involved in their ecosystem.
Below are a few excerpts from Invest India to set the context.
Indian Toys Industry is estimated to be $1.5 bn making up 0.5% of the global market share. The toy manufacturers in India are mostly located in NCR, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and clusters across central Indian states. The sector is fragmented with 90% of the market being unorganized and 4,000 toy industry units from the MSME sector.
The toys industry in India has the potential to grow to $2-3 bn by 2024. The Indian toy industry is only 0.5% of the global industry size indicating a large potential growth opportunity. The domestic toy demand forecasted to grow at 10-15% against the global average of 5%.
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Why virtual?
Considering the pandemic scenario, virtual is the only option feasible and beneficial to everyone. With the virtual exhibition, the audience gets to see and buy the products in the comfort of their homes. Also, this isn’t any regular exhibition to limit it to a place which hinders the participation of interested audience from other locations.
Why Now?
While the context should give you enough idea, pick a random toy in your home, check the label and chances are high that you only see the ‘Made in’ label of a country. So, The India Toy fair is a part of the AatmaNirbhar Toys campaign, and this is an encouragement for Indians especially start-ups to be vocal for local toys. Not only from a startup perspective, but the Government of India also wants innovative minds to conceptualize novel Toy and Games based on Bharatiya civilization, history, culture, mythology and ethos and for the same reason launched ‘Toycathon’, an online toy hackathon for innovative toys/games concepts.
Snapshot of the Agenda :
The four-day virtual event comprises 17 Activities, 5 Panel Discussions, 18 Webinars, workshops and other activities.
Panel Discussion Topics:
1.Role of Augmented Reality/ Virtual Reality in Electronics Toys
2.How Toys and Play based Pedagogy go hand in hand with Education?
3.Product Innovation and Design in Toys
4.Importance of Skill Enhancement and Entrepreneurship for promoting India’s Toy Industry
Webinar Topics:
1.Use of Open Ended and Gender-Neutral toys in Early Childhood Development
2.Development of Multisensory Toys for Children with Special Needs
3.Marketing and Global Trends in Toy sector
4.Driving Investments to India- Making India the next Global Hub for Manufacturing and Sourcing of Toys
5.New Trends – Electronics and STEM Toys
6.Online Video Games – Boon or Bane
7.Integrated Learning with Toys – A Design Approach
8.Role of Design in upscaling production of local products and promoting nationalism
9.Significance of Quality & Safety in Toys
10.Success Stories of Entrepreneurs working with Traditional Toy Clusters
11.Scaling up Toy Exports from India
12.Toys and parents: Innovative engagement with children for learning at home
13.Indian toy manufacturing and sourcing opportunities that Indian states (Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh) have to offer to the Toy industry
14.Design Town Hall on Toys
15.Ecosystem for Online Gaming Industry and eSport Industry in India
16.How do Packaging Solutions enhance profitability for Toy Industry?
17.Use of Textiles in Toy Designs
18.Puppetry show, and Impact of Design in Puppetry
Activities:
1.Toy Design Challenge
2.Embracing Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and Drone Technologies in the Toy Industry (A Demo)
3.Online Activity for School Children by Dost Education (NGO) on Importance of Toys in Child’s Development
4.Craft Demonstration – Channapatna Toy Cluster
5.Making toys with locally available materials for playing with children from birth to six years by Mobile Crechés
6.Craft Demonstration – Etikoppaka Toy Cluster
7.Demonstrating and Making ‘Play & Learn Toy’ with waste material available at home by Pratham
8.Craft Demonstration – Kondapalli Toy Cluster
9.Virtual Tour of Shankar Doll Museum, New Delhi
10.Craft Demonstration – Varanasi’s Wooden Toy Cluster
11.Craft Demonstration – Koppal’s Kinhal Toy Cluster
12.Craft Demonstration – Asharikandi Cluster
13.Virtual Visit to Centy Toys (Toy Manufacturing Unit)
14.Craft Demonstration – Narsapura Cluster
15.Make your own toys – Musical Instruments by Vigyan Ashram
16.Craft Demonstration – Jaipur’s Kathputli Nagar Cluster
17.Make your own toys on cinematic theme by Vigyan Ashram
While not everyone’s information absorbing and envisaging abilities are the same, below are a few possible benefits of this initiative we were able to think of, and there can be few others that we may have missed.
As a Parent, you get to :
- See or buy a range of toys in a virtual fair, unlike your regular shopping spaces with limited options.
- Experience Toys only (distraction-free) shopping
- Know the traditional toys and their clusters across India
- Know what it takes for toys to take shape
- Know the toy market better and make informed decisions for your child
- Know the possible career options in the Toy Industry
- Support members of your family if they are exploring opportunities in the toy industry
As an aspiring Entrepreneur, you get to :
- Observe the products, colours, patterns, unique models, pricing, designs developed for different age groups
- Understand the ecosystem, technologies, competition and market trends better
- Learn directly from the Industry Leaders and Regulatory
- Explore or expand opportunities and Network
- Understand or get to know the challenges (Yes, they are everywhere)
In a competitive environment, no one proactively comes forward to help us with ideas or suggestions. The zeal should be within us to grasp every chance to learn and explore opportunities, and we believe this initiative would be of some help for the same.
- Planning to revamp or set up a Playschool? Explore opportunities and see if you can make a difference. You can even add toys to your boutique and see how it goes. In the end, you will be the one to take a call if something works for you.
As a keen observer, you get to :
- Know the Toy Industry
- Know the market, investments and opportunities better
- Know the global trends and developments
- Know the growth initiatives of your country
- Be in a better position to correlate one Industry with other
Toy Clusters
