Singing Frog by Gund
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Today we will take a small break from our series on selecting the right stuffed animal for your childs age and take a look at a new video we shot. Gund makes a number of singing animals and this one is named Farley. He is a graduate frog singing “Shout”.
Click on Singing Frog and the link will take you to metacafe.com to watch this video. Feel free to leave any comments you want on the video at metacafe.
We hope you like this frog video. We will be adding more over the next few weeks for more singing stuffed animals from Gund and others, too.
Dolls and Stuffed Animals Age Determination Guidelines (4 through 7 months), Part 3
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The following is an excerpt from the CPSC document referenced in Part 1. This excerpt discusses babies aged 4 through 7 months. 4 Through 7 Months
Dolls and stuffed toys remain soft, lightweight, and simple in design for this age group. Besides those characteristics described for younger infants, these children begin to appreciate highly contrasting facial features. A high degree of realism or detail is not recommended. Children in this age group enjoy toys with simple cause-and-effect features; for example, dolls or stuffed toys with rattles inside them. They can best handle lightweight toys that weigh no more than 2 ounces. Toys that are 4 to 12 inches in length are appropriate. These children tend to mouth most objects, so dolls or stuffed toys with buttons, whiskers, bells, ribbons, yarn wigs, or other such features are generally not appropriate. As they approach 8 months, infants start to recognize words that are repeated. Such word recognition ability makes dolls and stuffed toys that say single words or a set of single words most attractive to those children. They also begin to recognize and become attracted to characters from familiar media like books and television.Stay tuned for the next installment when we will see what CPSC says about appropriate dolls and stuffed animals for babies aged 8 through 11 months.
Dolls and Stuffed Animals Age Determination Guidelines (birth through 3 months), Part 2
August 24, 2008 on 1:50 pm | InWordPress database error: [Table 'freebear_wordp.stuffed_animals__post2cat' doesn't exist]
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The following is an excerpt from the CPSC document referenced in Part 1.
Birth Through 3 Months
Infants this age mostly enjoy sensing and feeling objects. They lack fine-motor control, so dolls and stuffed toys that are very lightweight (½ to 2 ounces) and have an easy-to-grip size—for example, with limbs ¼ inch thick and lengths of 4 to 8 inches—are appropriate. They are more appealing when they have a soft, felt-like texture like plush toys, have highly contrasting colors (for example, black and white) or basic contrasting patterns and faces, or have rich vibrant colors. Because they are mouthing most objects, dolls and stuffed toys for these children are easily cleanable with no hair or fur, no removable clothing or accessories, and no projecting parts like eyes or snouts. Clothing and moving eyes are not particularly appealing to this age group, and stuffed animals have facial features that are sewn. Dolls and stuffed toys with very basic one-piece construction are appropriate, and should be sturdy enough not to break or pull apart.
Next we will see what the CPSC has to say about dolls and stuffed animals for babies aged 4 months through 7 months.
Dolls and Stuffed Animals - Age Determination Guidelines, Part 1
August 23, 2008 on 1:47 pm | InWordPress database error: [Table 'freebear_wordp.stuffed_animals__post2cat' doesn't exist]
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The next few entries will include excerpts from the document described below. The original publication is over 300 pages long so we have taken the liberty of extracting excerpts relating to dolls and stuffed toys. Each section is broken down by age range.
“AGE DETERMINATION GUIDELINES:
Relating Children’s Ages To Toy Characteristics and Play Behavior”
Edited by Timothy P. Smith, Project Manager,
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
CPSC STAFF DOCUMENT
Based on work performed under contract by Play Today
Principal Author: James A. Therrell
Additional contributions by Pei-San Brown, John A. Sutterby, and Candra D. Thornton
Published: September 2002
DOLLS and STUFFED TOYS
Dolls and stuffed toys can be appropriate for children of all ages. They often become a child’s first sensory objects. Older infants and toddlers sometimes become attached to dolls and stuffed toys to feel a sense of security or to show affection. Such attachment may last through preschool and into the elementary years. As cognitive abilities increase, dolls, action figures, and stuffed toys, serve an important symbolic function in helping children learn to pretend and role-play. Older children collect their favorite dolls, action figures, or stuffed toys.
One should place primary emphasis or importance on the following characteristics when determining the age appropriateness of dolls & stuffed toys:
• Level of Realism/Detail
• Cause & Effect
• Size of Parts
• Licensing
• Color/Contrast
The order of the above characteristics does not necessarily indicate priority, however, because this can change with age. The remaining discussion describes the relationship between the characteristics of these toys and the characteristics of children in various age groups. This includes a description of what types of dolls and stuffed toys are appropriate and how a particular age group plays with these toys.
Stay tuned for Part 2, when we show guidelines for picking dolls and stuffed animals for a baby aged 0 to 3 months.
Stuffed Animal Quality and Safety at Purr-fection by MJC
August 23, 2008 on 8:29 am | InWordPress database error: [Table 'freebear_wordp.stuffed_animals__post2cat' doesn't exist]
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Discussion with Marty Castro, Jr. from Purr-fection by MJC.
Today we are lucky to be talking with Marty Castro, one of the principle owners of Purr-fection by MJC.
Gary: Thank you for taking the time to talk with me today. We appreciate the time you are taking to explain how Purr-fection by MJC strives to make stuffed animals that are safe for children of all ages. How long has Purr-fection by MJC been making stuffed animals?
Marty: Purr-fection has been in business for 20 years and we have always prided ourselves on Quality and Safety.
Gary: As you know, there has been a lot of concern lately about toys made in China. Are stuffed animals made by Purr-fection by MJC made in China?
Marty: Yes.
Gary: What sort of quality assurance and quality control is done to assure that stuffed animals made by Purr-fection by MJC are safe?
Marty: Purr-fection goes to great links to make sure to provide only the highest quality products available in today’s market. To assure this Purr-fection only uses the highest quality fabrics, stuffing, eyes and noses. We also have a quality control team that consists of 25 individuals that do nothing but walk the floor and inspect every part of production, all the way from receiving the fabric, to the cutting room, stuffing room, sewing room, finishing room, and finally in the packing room. Our products are all inspected at a minimum of 5 different parts of production.
Regarding safety, Purr-fection surpasses all safety regulations for Europe and the U.S. Purr-fection uses NO lead paint, our eyes are glass eyes covered in protective coating to avoid chipping. The eyes also are all put on with Lock Washers to insure that they do not come out. The noses are also secured with lock washers. Each animal Purr-fection produces also goes through a minimum of 3 Metal Detectors to avoid any metal fragments from being left inside the animals.
Gary: Some stuffed animals have air brushed highlights. Does this paint contain any lead?
Marty: We are currently not using any air brushed hightlights, however in the past we have and the paint has not contained any lead.
Gary: Another concern is the use of small magnets that can be removed from a toy and swallowed by very young children. Do any of your stuffed animals have small magnets that can be removed and possibly swallowed by small children?
Marty: None of our stuffed animals contain small magnets.
Gary: Do you have any other comments about stuffed animal safety and how to select the best stuffed animal for your child?
Marty: Remove tags, don’t pick a stuffed animal that is too big or too heavy for small children, and use minimum age stated on tag as a guideline for selecting an age appropriate stuffed animal for a child. When selecting a stuffed animal it is best to choose a company like Purr-fection who has been in business for 20 + years with an excellent track record such as ours.
Gary: Thank you again for taking the time to discuss stuffed animals with us today.
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