To think kids don’t ask for half as many toys etc these days cos of less exposure to advertising?

[Waitingforthesunnydays]

Not really an AIBU but I’m just wondering if this is an age thing, a just my kid thing, or if it really is cos of less exposure to adverts aimed at children on TV. Or perhaps it’s cos of the sheer amount of kids’ toys out there these days, rather than everyone wanting a Barbie or transformer or Ninja Turtle like they did in the 80s/90s. My dd is only 5 so she may just not have reached the stage of constantly nagging me for the latest toy like I did to my mum. But I notice she never asks for anything, unless we’re in the supermarket where she’ll ask for sweets or a magazine if she sees them. When I was that age in the late 80s/early 90s I remember constantly nagging my mum for a Ninja turtle figure and a shellsuit 🤣. But I’d be sat in front of the tv every day after school with heavily child-aimed advertising shown to me every 20 mins, plus we went to way more physical shops compared to now, where I get most stuff online. I think the shellsuit obsession came from kids at school wearing them (non uniform school). Dd only watches cartoons on iplayer so no adverts & sometimes YouTube kids which I don’t think has adverts in what she watches on there. There actually seems to be way less engagement with popular culture amongst little kids these days, compared to 35 years ago. Obviously I know that’ll change as soon as she starts to get interested in social media, which is still (hopefully) a long way off. But I’m just wondering if others with similar age kids are noticing the same?

At 5? None of mine had much screen time at 5, maybe 30 mins of TV a day, whereas I was glued to cartoons after school!

My DS wants toys he sees in the competition page of the Beano quite often and loves a browse around toy shops or charity shops. He plays with toys a lot and loves to collect different sets.

I can still sing some of the advert music from my childhood (primary school 1989-1996). Keypers, Sylvanian Families, Mr Frosty (Mr Frosty is such fun, he makes drinks for EVERYONE!) and Polly Pockets as mentioned by a PP. Also those Clarks shoes with a key in them.

DS gets birthday money and we will take him to Smyths Toys where he always finds something - normally Hot Wheels related or a board game. But he doesn't usually want it til he sees it on the shelf. Lack of ads is probably one of the positive things about him spending time building worlds on Minecraft.

The look of sheer joy on my 3yo's face when he saw the Smyth's catalogue 😂 used to love it in the 90's, circling all the stuff you wanted for Christmas 😊

My 5 year old loves toys. My only issue is sometimes he sees something on YouTube that a retro toy and then I had to try and find it!! Like at Christmas he asked for akiedo. I had never heard of it, it was a cartoon from the early 2000’s!! Thanks to eBay we managed to get him the toys

Omg I was absolutely obsessed with getting a pair of those shoes with a key in them. Must’ve gone on about them for about a year before i finally got a pair!

When I was a child, I was gifted toys for Christmas and my birthday only. Maybe something little from a tourist shop whilst on summer holidays. I remember sitting down with the Argos catalogue to write my letter to Santa - but neither me or my sister got a Mr Frosty!

We would have watched ads on ITV but day-to-day we didnt pester our parents for new toys as I think we knew the answer would be "no", probably due to family finances. We played with Lego and Sindy dolls and board games.

Now, when we go out, eg supermarket or garden centre DD will ask for a random toy - just whatever is on the shelves. I will say "no" but DH will often buy one for her.

My DD is more influenced by what other kids have at school - rather than advertising eg labubus or PLouise lip gloss or JellyCats.

I blame the demise of the Argos catalogue.

i used to love circling all the toys I wanted for my mum to take note of 😂

There will be trends in your near future, don't worry! I think kids still want stuff, it's just channelled differently.

I find that modern day kids have a sort of attitude that anything you can think of, mum can just get magically from the internet. This is definitely the case on our local FB group where people are always posting nonsense like: "my DD really wants an oak tree costume with an acorn hat, has anyone seen one anywhere?" Or "my DS wants a teddy which is really a lion but purple and dressed in a unicorn onesie," where do I start?"

My kid asks for everything 🙃

Am pretty certain that the Argos catalogue improved my youngest son’s reading skills! He hated reading school books! It was read religiously from October to December 😅

DD didn't just want any slime - it had to be PeachyBbby slime. This was obviously seen on a YouTube video - and yes to PP - she can Google the exact one on her tablet for "magic" home deliver. The stuff is £££ plus shipping from the US. Luckily we have US based relatives who bought her some for Xmas but I couldn't tell you where in her room it is now tho!
There's no real longevity with toys anymore.