Alison Curtis: Pop-its and the enduring appeal of childhood toys
Pic: Marc O'Sullivan
Over the past three weeks pop-its have taken over our lives! Blue pop-its, rainbow ones, Among Us-shaped, unicorn-shaped, round, and square. Home-made pop-its, tangles, dimples, and a whole array of fidget toys.
Parents of young children will know exactly what I am talking about. My daughter Joan, who is 10, is obsessed. I mean, obsessed. When she isn’t talking about them, she is making her own. When she isn’t playing with them, she is looking up new ones to buy.
They have taken over the classroom too. Everyone is bringing in their latest pop-its, sharing and trading. Joan even snuck a tenner in one day to buy a few off a classmate who is clearly a young entrepreneur in the making.
They ask to FaceTime each other after school to “rate” their pop-its. It is so all-consuming I find myself picking one up and absentmindedly popping!
I have to admit my appetite for playing with fidget toys and rating them with Joan is limited. But she wants to play this game every single night, and as it means she isn’t on the screen, I go along with it when I can.
It really is amazing how much they have taken over, and become the 'it' thing, as they are actually so simple. They are almost like versions of classic wooden toys of years gone by. They aren’t complex, multi-pieced toys. They are really, really simple, and they only do one thing - pop!
I know there is a science behind them, and they are really useful for children with sensory issues, and there is something very meditative and calming about playing with fidget toys. But I think I am amazed at the power they have over kids at the moment.
The positives are there, though. They are a physical thing to hold, and reuse, over and over again. They are therapeutic. They seem to be bringing kids together to share, compare and play with them together as a group.
Lovely, giddy chatter, and a full-blown discussion about the merits of each toy.
One concern, though, I have heard expressed, is that if they become too distracting in classrooms they might be banned, which would be problematic for children who actually rely on and need them. So hopefully that doesn’t happen.
Another positive is that they are largely affordable, so hopefully, children won’t feel excluded, like, say, back in my day, when Cabbage Patch Kids were roughly 30 dollars and I was told by my mom I could have a knock-off one instead. Which, if I remember rightly, was distinctly different looking than a bona fide Cabbage Patch doll!
There is always the pressure for parents to buy, and in some cases buy loads, of the 'it' toy. Like Tamagotchi in the 90’s, which again cost between 18-20 dollars at the time. So the fact that pop-its don’t break the bank is hopefully a good thing.
Joan’s obsession with them does bring me back to my own childhood, and thinking about the times when my friends and I were also obsessed with certain toys. It is quite a defining thing, and I am sure, like with all generations, when our kids grow up and come across a dusty old pop-it in an attic, they will think back fondly to their own childhoods.
