Pulling Everyone Else In

Have you been kinda sitting on the sidelines of the new technology: MP3s, digital cameras, Gameboys? Well, get ready to be pulled into the electronic fray. Toymakers are beginning to market high-tech gadgets to toddlers, and very few 3-year-olds can do anything without being taught first. Good luck, parents! NY Times Link. Excerpt:

Fisher-Price, synonymous with Elmo and Power Wheels, will introduce a digital music player and digital camera for children ages 3 and older that will be sold during the 2006 holiday season.

Tek Nek Toys will show off a small digital music player with built-in speakers and flashing lights, called CoolP3 Fusion, for children 4 and up. Emerson Radio will introduce a SpongeBob SquarePants speaker system for MP3 players and SpongeBob SquarePants digital camera.

In perhaps the most extreme example of the trend, a company called Baby Einstein will introduce a baby rocker with an MP3 adapter and speakers.

But proponents of traditional make-believe play, who objected last year when toy companies marketed digital electronics to "tweens" – children 8 through 12 – are expected to protest even more loudly when they are advertised to toddlers.

"This is a big leap," said Reyne Rice, a toy trends specialists for the Toy Industry Association. "A 3-year-old with a digital camera is unusual."

But the financial incentive to develop the technology has grown. Children's electronics have proved to be a bright spot in an otherwise slumping toy industry.