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Feature - Arts & Crafts

Pigment of the imagination

The Arts & Crafts category remains a staple in the toy industry and is currently thriving due to popular ongoing trends such as slime-making, bracelet crafting and mini-DIY collectibles. Gabriela Jiménez García speaks with a selection of leading suppliers to explore the latest and most exciting developments in this area.

Arts, crafts and design have always played a crucial role in early childhood development, fostering emotional expression and cognitive growth. This category also helps children to develop a range of practical skills, such as hand-eye coordination, motor skills and critical thinking. These activities enable children to understand the properties of a broad range of tools and materials and provide endless opportunities to think imaginatively and develop confidence in other subjects. A recent study from UK researchers, published in Frontiers in Public Health, also suggests that engaging in creative activities can improve mental health, leading to increased happiness and a stronger sense of purpose, which reinforces the importance of introducing children to different forms of art from a young age and encouraging them to express themselves creatively.

Codie Goddard, Brand and Marketing manager at Curious Universe, agrees that Arts & Crafts continues to evolve from a rainy-day activity into daily outlets for self-expression and wellbeing. “There's a growing recognition of the benefits these activities bring, not just creatively, but mentally and emotionally, with recent articles even linking crafting hobbies to increased longevity,” she says.

Among the many growing trends driving the category is the demand for compact and collectible craft kits, as consumers seek convenient and economical projects that offer a quick set-up, are simple to make and will make an attractive display item that they can proudly showcase after completion. Curious Universe is one of the companies embracing this trend, telling Toy World that collectible formats continue to gain momentum, with platforms like TikTok spotlighting DIY trends and fuelling demand for quick, aesthetic and shareable projects. “Smaller-scale kits offer convenience, lower price points and gifting potential, which also makes them perfect pocket-money purchases all year round,” adds Codie.

Brainstorm’s Eugy range of miniature figurines continues to grow with the addition of new animals including, this year, a Beaver, Kingfisher, Manatee, Pachycephalo, Black Bear, Cockatoo and the trending Capybara. The brand has become a staple in the Arts & Crafts aisles across a variety of retail channels, offering consumers a quick and easy way of creating 3D models in under 10 minutes with biodegradable card and glue. Likewise, Just Play is tapping into the small, collectible art trend with the launch of Knotz Animals, which provides consumers with everything they need to make their very own mini plush. First released in the fourth quarter of 2024, this innovative range has started to gain traction, with users on platforms like Instagram and TikTok describing it as ‘addictive’ and posting videos that showcase how to create these uniquely styled plushie toys. While the initial series features 12 on-trend animal characters, a second series is on the way, introducing 12 new plush characters to create and enabling users to expand their collections.

Ben Cornwell, Sales director at Wigston Global, tells Toy World that he is seeing a significant rise in accessible, hybrid art kits that combine traditional techniques with modern tools. “Convenience, flexibility and the blending of artistic styles are driving this trend, especially among young creatives and students who seek fast, portable and satisfying creative experiences,” he explains. One of the upcoming launches from Wigston this year is the Artspace Paint by Markers range, which provides a fresh and accessible alternative to traditional painting. By replacing brushes with vibrant markers, Artspace allows users to create intricate, paint-style artwork with the precision and convenience of a pen. “The Artspace Paint by Makers collection offers a completely fresh, mess-free way to create stunning artwork, making it ideal for busy students, younger artists and casual crafters alike,” explains Ben. “It perfectly captures our brand ethos: creative, flexible and unapologetically fun.”

Clementoni’s UK and Country manager, Paul Fogarty, highlights customisation as one of the growing areas in the Arts & Crafts category. He tells Toy World: “We are definitely seeing an ongoing trend with products that offer personalisation and creation. This is prominent not only within the Gen Z audience, mainly driven by social media and ASMR content, but also in younger consumers. Kids are drawn to products they can customise as it gives them space to express their identity, and we find parents are very keen on these products as they value the STEM learning and creativity they promote.” Following the successful launch of the Idea! Pen Creator Studio range, the company is ready to take pen creation to the next level with the addition of Message Pen Creator. This range allows children to customise a decorative pen that they can endlessly redesign by incorporating different decorations and their own personal messages.

Curious Universe, Hasbro and Jumbo are just some of the manufacturers expanding their product offering with new ranges that offer personalisation, sparking children's imagination and allowing them to create their own designs. From Curious Universe, Decoden Magic is a range inspired by the Japanese crafting trend known as Decoden. Launching this summer, it enables users to personalise everyday accessories using puffy glue and sparkly gems, cute charms and beads. Meanwhile, Hasbro’s Play-Doh brand is bringing plenty of customisable fun with the Play-Doh Super Slice Cake Playset, which allows kids to create and decorate their own pretend cakes. Also new is the Play-Doh Barbie collection featuring special fashion-making tools that encourage kids to bring out their inner fashionista and create whatever fashions they can visualise.

Jumbo Play has unveiled the new Fun Lockets collectible line, ideal for children who love self-expression and imaginative play. Combining fashion and flair, this range features charms, beads, stickers and accessories that kids can use to personalise their locket collection and reflect their own unique style.

Although slime has existed for decades, having been first introduced as a toy range by Mattel in 1976, social media platforms like TikTok and YouTube have significantly re-fuelled slime play as a trend in recent times. In May of last year, Wired magazine reported that slime videos garnered 360m views across all age groups on social media. The hype continues, with plenty of DIY slime-making videos, ASMR-like videos and creative or playful slime videos still being uploaded daily and contributing to its ongoing popularity. After visiting this year’s London Toy Fair, it was evident that slime, dough and sensory play remain popular in Arts & Crafts, with multiple companies introducing new dough products featuring different textures, colours and scents.

Lisciani has launched a new sensory range called Slumi Science, designed to provide a hands-on and enjoyable experience that promotes creativity and emotional well-being. Among the offerings is the Slumi Science Squish and Slime 2-in-1 Kit, which combines squishies and slime in a DIY experience. The centrepiece of the collection is Slumi, a stretchy centipede that brings tactile exploration to life. With soft, bouncy legs, Slumi invites children to squish, squeeze and mould, providing a natural way to reduce stress, promote relaxation and enhance fine motor skills through play.

Canal Toys’ So Slime range will launch the ‘A Slime for Everyone’ campaign this year. The campaign, which aims to celebrate inclusive, expressive and mess-free compound play, will feature the Yummy Twist & Slime – a creative set that combines real mixing tools with fluffy slime and vibrant dyes to create sweet treats. The company plans to implement a multi-channel marketing strategy this summer, which will include content on YouTube, gaming platforms and collaborations with influencers, all designed to increase product awareness and encourage kids to explore which type of slime best suits them.

This summer will also see new additions to DKB Toys’ popular Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty range. Joining the portfolio are four new 4” tins: Goodnight Cactus, Total Eclipse, BFF and Liquid Glass, all offering unique new colours and textures to fascinate those who enjoy sensory play.

Friendship bracelets have experienced a resurgence, particularly following Taylor Swift's Eras Tour in 2023. The artist inspired fans to create and exchange custom-made, often beaded bracelets at her concerts, leading to a revival of the bracelet-making craze. As a result of the increased demand for bracelet-making kits, many suppliers are enhancing their DIY bracelet collections this year with creative new themes and innovative technology that allows crafters to make their jewellery with ease. Make It Real has elevated its collection of DIY jewellery with the brand-new Swift Clicks Bracelet Maker. Labelled a ‘game changer’, this range transforms a classic play pattern by uniquely organising and accelerating the bracelet-making process, enabling crafters to make beautiful pieces faster than ever before. Similarly, Bandai is continually improving the patented technology of its bracelet-making ranges to make the crafting process easy and accessible to all. Launching in the UK market this autumn under the well-known Rainbow Loom brand is Auto Loom – an easy-to-use mini machine that enables crafters to create single chain and fishtail rubber bracelets four times faster.

One For Fun is merging sensory play with bracelet-making in its new Pick n Pop range. Available in six unique and fun designs, this collection includes beads, charms and crystals packaged in silicone-shaped sensory pads that are satisfying to hold and fidget with. Kids can simply pick the beads out of the pads to create their own jewellery designs and collect them or trade them with friends.

Mary Wood, Tomy’s Managing director for Europe, points out that one area of Arts & Crafts in which the company is seeing the most growth is the intersection of the physical and digital worlds combining into a unique and satisfying play experience. “A perfect example of this is the brand Hey Clay, which Tomy markets and sells in the UK, Germany and now France for the autumn/winter season,” she tells us. “We are in our third year of selling Hey Clay in the UK and have seen strong growth since the launch. While distribution was initially limited, we have broadened the range with new themes, including breeds of dogs, the addition of licences like Minions and Bluey and themes linked to seasonal occasions, which we know from Circana presentations are a growing selling opportunity.”

As with most other categories, licensing plays a major part in Arts & Crafts. Jade Childs, Marketing controller at Crayola (distributed in the UK by Vivid Goliath), tells us that the company is less reliant on trends, as classic, proven licences continue to play an important part in the category’s growth by offering children a connection with the characters they love. “We’ve seen this with the continued year-on-year growth of Color Wonder, where key properties Bluey, Peppa and Paw Patrol enjoy increased distribution,” she says. The company is about to bring the much-anticipated Lilo & Stitch Crayola range to shelves, as well as other hot properties with a strong success in the US, including Pokémon.

Several other Arts & Crafts suppliers are expanding their licensed ranges this year, capitalising on popular movie launches such as the live-action Lilo & Stitch, A Minecraft Movie and Wicked, which all present excellent growth opportunities. Epoch will be launching two new Aquabeads Stitch hot on the heels of the live-action film’s release: the Stitch Keychain Craft Kit and the Stitch Nail Designer Kit. Meanwhile, Bladez Toyz is expanding its Creative Maker Kitz range with a Minecraft-licensed addition that enables fans to make their own supersize bee and life-size chicken – both prominently featured in A Minecraft Movie. New for 2025 from RMS International is the Wicked Arts & Crafts range, which is set to launch at retail in late summer, ahead of the highly anticipated Wicked sequel in November. The line-up includes Diamond Art, Hair Accessory Design Sets, Jewellery Making and stationery surprises.

In the following editorial pages, you’ll be able to read all about the latest launches within the Arts & Crafts category that will be hitting shelves in the coming months.

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