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WonderKorner asked Fisher-Price for
a peek inside the development of Little People Animal Sounds
Zoo. Here is what we learned from the kind folks in Design, who
took time to answer our five questions:
Little People Animal Sounds Zoo
What sparked the idea for this toy/game
and what process did it have to go through on its journey to
the store shelves?
Wende Parrish, Assistant Marketing Manager:
We know from our experience with preschoolers that animals and
animal sounds are very engaging for children in this age group.
We've also created Zoo play sets in the past, which have been
very successful. So, we've taken basic elements of animal play,
along with the recognition of the zoo format and then added fun
animal sounds to round out this classic play pattern
What do you hope children will gain by
choosing this product?
Kathleen Alfano, Director of Child Research:
The first thing that we want children to gain from Little People
Animal Sounds Zoo is imaginative play and fun. We want them to
gain an appreciation of different roles that a zoo keeper plays,
and an introduction to the types of environments zoo animals
live in - even the food they eat!
Does a child's level of imagination play
a part in the success of this toy? Why or why not?
Kathleen Alfano, Director of Child Research:
The Little People Animal Sounds Zoo is all about imaginative
play, because children are playing differently at each age, allowing
them to play with the toy in many different ways. They start
out using imitative play, mimicking what they have seen animals
doing, but not yet coming up with their own original scenarios.
They then move to imaginative play where they begin to come up
with their own ways to play with the animals, rather than imitating
what they have seen. For example, pretending that the zookeeper
and animal are talking to one another. This helps to expand the
children's imaginary play. The next phase is social play where
the child invites others to play with them, such as a friend,
or they make up a story to share with others. The child brings
a different type of play to the toy each time.
What was your favorite toy from childhood?
Kathleen Alfano, Director of Child Research:
My favorite "toy" from childhood was more of a role-playing.
My sister and I would dress up in my mom's high heels, old lacy
curtains, and old purses that she gave us. We would push our
dolls in buggies all around. We also had a kitchen made of tin
that had a table and chairs at the end that we would play with.
This was how we played all the time.
- What is an average day at work like for
you?
- Kathleen Alfano, Director of Child Research: I attend
a lot of meetings each day that are geared around toys, content
development, age grading, evaluating the educational content
of toys, just to name a few. I keep in touch with all the communication
that goes on through email, voice mail, and the daily calendar..
. No matter what I am doing, it revolves around children one
way or another. I interact with moms as well. I am always in
touch with the end user and consumer, this enables me to see
first hand what is working and what is not.
- Visit the official Fisher-Price® Little People®
website for online coloring fun!
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