Influence of Popular Media Culture on Toy Choice: Opinions of Parents, Educators and Preschoolers

Modern media culture largely determines the content of children’s subculture and their interests, in particular in toys. The transmedia storytelling toys, which have the image of a cartoon, movie or computer game character, have appeared quite recently but have already gained great popularity. The article presents the results of a study conducted in the fall of 2023 by the Center for Interdisciplinary Research of Modern Childhood at the Moscow State Psychological and Pedagogical University to determine the influence of popular media culture on the choice of toys according to parents, educators and preschoolers themselves. The authors conducted a survey using Google forms posted on social networks on the Internet, in which parents of children aged 5-7 years ( N = 215) and teachers of senior and preparatory kindergarten groups ( N = 43) took part. In addition, a face-to-face formalized interview was conducted with children aged 5-8 ( N = 57). The results obtained suggest the popularity of the transmedia storytelling toys among modern preschoolers. Almost every child who participated in the study had such a toy but most often it was not a favorite. According to the teachers and parents, the popularity of these toys is tied to the popularity of media content and is determined by the child’s sympathy for a given character. A change in popular media content entails a change in children’s preferred transmedia storytelling toys. Parents have a predominantly negative attitude towards these toys, because many of them have characteristics that do not meet traditional aesthetic and ethical concepts (for example, monster toys). Educators, however, mainly consider these toys as game items and highlight both their positive and negative properties. The results of the study may be useful for preschool teachers and parents of preschoolers in matters of creating information content for children and purchasing toys.