With parents home with their school-aged kids during the social distancing age of COVID-19, it’s no secret they’re all looking for something to do, and according to toy sales, they’re going old-school.
“Board game sales are surging. We’ve never seen board games sell like this before — whether it be Monopoly, Uno, or any other board game,” Jim Silver, toy industry expert and founder of the toy testing website TTPM tells ABC Audio. “Parents… want their kids off screens. They want them thinking.”
Silver adds, “Another category that is doing very well in toys is the puzzle category. Now, this is not just kids. This is adults also. But puzzles sales are up about 300% over the last month.”
Hands-on activities are also doing well because of the quarantine, according to sales figures from the country’s three biggest retailers, Amazon, Target, and Wal-Mart, Silver says. “Activity toys and arts and crafts, whether it be any compound, you have Play-Doh, you have slime, you have kinetic sand — all flying. These toy categories are having some of the best times they’ve ever seen.”
In spite of the news, Silver says, “[I]f you’re going to keep under quarantine, it’s nice to have a little fun, especially a family.”
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