Kids fall in love at first play with Hasbro’s 2021 Great Gifts selection

When a child receives a new toy and they fall in Love at First Play, magic happens. Imaginations are unlocked, fun is found, explorations begin, and bonds are formed.   

According to a recent survey by global play and entertainment company, Hasbro, almost half (47%) parents surveyed admit their kids have been disappointed with gifts received at festive time and 30% say they have struggled knowing what to buy their children in the past. Sound familiar?  Months of your child begging for a particular toy or game, only for the gift to land up at the bottom of the toy pile a few days later. 

Understanding the science behind the many forms of play will help you choose toys that are the most compatible with your child’s play personality, essentially how does your child love to play and which toys are best suited to their play personality? 

To help parents make the best gift decisions this festive season Hasbro developed a Play Personality Quiz. Play personalities are based on a widely acknowledged scientific theory of the way children engage with play, based on neuroscience and natural behaviours. The 8 play personalities identified in the Hasbro Play Personality Quiz are informed by Dr Stuart Brown’s research [author of Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens The Imagination And Invigorates The Soul]  and capture the fundamentals of child development, movement, sensory development, language and attachment theory, so that you can easily navigate the best gifts compatible to your child and how they play.  

Take the Hasbro Play Personality Quiz to identify whether your child is a mischievous Jokester or more of a creative Imagineer, a curious Discoverer or an active Energizer and find the perfect toys for Love At First Play.   

Visit https://sa.loveatfirstplay.com/ to take the quiz and find out more on each play personality.

HASBRO RELEASES ITS GREAT GIFTS 2021 RECOMMENDATIONS 

Once you have determined your child’s dominant play personality move onto Hasbro’s recently released Great Gifts 2021 selection with a wide range of gifting recommendations for the upcoming festive season.  With the latest releases from popular brands including My Little Pony, Peppa Pig, NERF, Baby Alive, furReal, Power Rangers and more, plus fun new Hasbro Gaming solutions – there is  something to surprise and delight each family member this summer! 

Inspired by the My Little Pony: A New Generation movie kids can have fun imagining with the Singing Star Princess Petals. Imagine she is performing at the Royal Gala with the 15-cm Princess Petals pink pony figure sporting a character-inspired music note Cutie Mark. The articulated figure's soft purple hair is curled in her signature style. She also features music and movement. Press her Cutie Mark to hear her sing part of her song, "Glowing Up" and squeeze her back legs together to make her beautiful, fuzzy wings flap up and down.

furReal Glamalots - What's more fun than walking a pet? Walking a pet that you’ve groomed and styled yourself! Give this doggie diva a sweet new ‘do with the included styling accessories, which you can use to style yourself up as well,  then attach her leash to take her for a walk. She’ll make lots of happy sounds as you stroll along!

Baby Alive Baby Grows Up interactive doll transforms from newborn to baby to big girl. Reveal 1 of 2 surprise dolls as you remove her from the package, and she starts to wiggle! With first bottle she opens her eyes to reveal colour, remove her hat to see her hair colour. After rocking and pretend bottle feeding, she kicks out of her swaddle blanket! As a baby, Baby Alive Baby Grows Up talking doll sits up and says her first word. Hold her hands to help her stand. Now she’s a big girl who loves dress-up!

Play-Doh fans (ages 4+) ignite your imagination with the Play-Doh Lava Bones Island playset features eggs filled micro dino bones to discover and slippery-smooth Play-Doh Slime HydroGlitz compound to make the toy volcano erupt and fill the valley below with pretend lava. Fill the clear dino mould with the skeleton and the Play-Doh Slime lava to make your own dinosaur!

Kids (ages 3+) will love pretending that they’re on holiday with Peppa Pig and her family with Peppa’s Family Motorhome toy. Press the steering wheel to hear music and phrases from the Peppa Pig show. When it’s time to ‘camp,’ kids can convert the vehicle to a multi-level RV playset. Once you’ve finished playing all accessories can be stored inside the playset, ready for the next adventure.

Blast into battle with the power of a T-Rex with the Nerf DinoSquad Rex-Rampage blaster! Rev up the motor on this motorised blaster and press the trigger to fire darts fast. It comes with a 10-dart clip so you can send 10 darts in a row racing through the air at your targets. The blaster includes a nonremovable targeting scope to line up your shots. Eyewear recommended (not included).

Flip into battle with the Nerf Elite 2.0 Flipshots Flip-16 blaster featuring 16 barrels - 8 face forward and 8 face backward. Fire darts from the 8 front-facing barrels, then flip the 8 rear barrels forward to keep on blasting darts. Just when your opponent thinks you’re out, you can take them by surprise with 8 more fully loaded barrels! The back-to-back barrels are connected, making it quick and easy to rotate them by pulling the handle. Eyewear recommended (not included).

Nerf Elite 2.0 Flipshots Flip-8 blaster – fires darts from the 4 front-facing barrels, then flip the 4 rear barrels forward to keep on blasting darts. The sight on top of the blaster doubles as the flip mechanism; pull it back to pivot the barrels. Eyewear recommended (not included). 

IT’S MORPHIN TIME! The Dino Fury Morpher with lights and sounds reacts to motion. Spin the dino-shaped face to morph into action and unlock even more sounds with the included Dino Fury Key!

Take home the magic of what makes the Transformers robots - More Than Meets the Eye - with Roll N’ Change figures! The push-to-convert feature allows for seamless conversion of Roll N’ Change toys to robot mode. Pull out the sword accessory, roll forward, and watch the figure convert to robot mode in one continuous motion. Features coloured lights and 10 button-activated sound effects.

It's the Monopoly game with a strategy twist on Monopoly Island, located in the center of the board. With the Monopoly Builder strategy game, players travel the board buying properties and collecting rent and resources. They also use builder's blocks to build their island city! The more a player builds, the more points they'll earn. The game ends when the penthouse has been built. Then the player with the most points wins! 

In the Monopoly Crooked Cash game things aren't always as they seem. Someone added fake cash and fake chance cards, luckily, Mr. Monopoly is giving players his decoder so they can find the fakes and still make a fortune. It's an exciting game of hidden reveals, and players get to challenge their opponents for using fakes with accusation coins. The player with the most money at the end - real or fake - wins.

LOOKING FOR SOME FUN  STOCKING FILLER IDEAS?

• Meet the new pony characters from My Little Pony: A New Generation movie with these 7-cm pony figures. Each pony features character-inspired colours, hair styles, and Cutie Marks. Collect all the ponies and imagine movie-inspired stories with friends (Each sold separately. Subject to availability). 

• The fun starts as soon as they tear open the pinata box filled with 2 cans of Play-Doh Slime Feathery Fluff compound and lots of fun mix-ins. The ultra-lightweight, super fluffy compound feels like a big cotton ball in your hands, and colourful glitter, shiny beads, and fun charms make it even more fantastically fun!

• With the 24-cm scale Power Rangers figures from Hasbro, kids can imagine the action and adventures of their favourite Power Rangers characters, inspired by the Power Rangers Beast Morphers television show.

• In the world of Peppa Pig, Peppa's day is packed with lots of fun activities, and the Little Rooms accessory sets give kids ages 3+ a chance to act out even more of those adventures! Each set includes a figure and themed accessories. (Each sold separately. Subject to availability).

• It’s time to be a hero! Pre-schoolers can zoom to the rescue with the PJ Masks Hero Vehicle toys. Each vehicle has super cool deco straight from the Disney Junior show and comes with a poseable PJ Masks action figure that sits in the open cockpit. (Each sold separately. Subject to availability).

• Get ready for an exciting quick-playing Monopoly card game! The Monopoly Bid game is a game of chance, luck, and strategy as players bid in blind auctions, pay with money cards, steal properties with Action cards, and change their luck with Wild cards.

Hasbro products are available from leading retailers (subject to availability) including: Takealot.com, Toys R Us, ToyZone, Toy Kingdom, Hamleys, Checkers Hypers & selected Checkers store, Makro and Importatoy.

For more information visit: Facebook @PlayDohSouthAfrica;  @MyLittlePonySouthAfrica; @MonopolySouthAfrica; @NerfSouthAfrica; @TransformersSouthAfrica

*The brands featured are all registered trademarks of Hasbro