Smart toys, smart tangibles, robots and other smart things for children

Still looking for new ways to play and learn… Expert perspectives and expectations for interactive toys

“…For example, an interactive teddy bear would laugh, giggle or tell a story when the user tickles or squeezes it. More complex interaction has been developed with toys that are smart (Prist 2019;Catala et al, 2020;Laughlin 2021), incorporating tangible objects and electronic components to provide two-way child-toy interaction to carry out a purposeful task. Many smart toys also aim to exhibit at least some degree of intelligence, autonomy and agency and in enabling such affordances many require connectivity.…”