[Children's Play] The fun of snapping them together: 'LaQ', the building blocks made in Japan
This was a toy introduced at the kindergarten my children attend.
Hearing that my children were playing with LaQ, I became interested in it too.
I remembered that the childcare worker 'Oto-chan', whom I introduced before, also recommended LaQ, so I decided to introduce it to our home as well! I happened to find a large set at a reuse shop and bought it. Since play doesn't expand unless you have a certain amount, I prioritized quantity over buying new for the same price.
At kindergarten, the homeroom teacher adjusts the toys brought out to the room based on the children's behavior, the stability of the class, and their level of play.
I don't remember the season, but at that time, there were no 3D parts in my eldest son's class, and it seemed they were only playing with flat parts.
My eldest son loves mechanisms above all else.
When he was one, he loved the movement of railroad crossings. More than the trains, he loved the crossing that moved when the train passed. He didn't even look at the trains.
When I gave LaQ to such a son, he just kept building and building!
He started with simple things, and then challenged himself with 3D models while looking at the instructions.
Since books with blueprints are also published, we bought books in genres he was interested in.
I think the appeal of LaQ also lies in the satisfying feeling of snapping the pieces together.
The basic parts of LaQ are squares and triangles, and you attach connecting parts to them to extend the flat surface.
When you attach a connecting part to the hole of a basic part, it makes a nice snapping sound!
You know it's attached, so once you get used to it, you can assemble them quickly without even looking at your hands.
Since you build while thinking about structure and 3D shapes, it really uses your brain, but the snapping sensation is intuitive, so I'm impressed by the good balance.
Once you can build to a certain extent using the blueprints, you can make whatever you like on your own.
Around the age of 8, when they started getting into castles, they built Kakegawa Castle. When they play with it this much, as a parent, I feel glad I bought it. We've bought quite a lot of extra pieces!
By the way, regarding the cleanup that everyone worries about, in our house, it was the parent's job...
Since children enjoy building, they will display or play with the finished creations for a while.
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Eventually, their interest fades and they leave them alone.
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I check if it's okay to take them apart, then gather them up.
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Once they pile up, I disassemble the parts and sort them.
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When I'm snapping them apart, the kids come over and help me.
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They gradually get the urge to build again, and the creative process begins.
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It's a loop that returns to the beginning.
I think to myself that since playing is a child's job, it can't be helped, but I still clean up while asking them to help out.
It's also great that it's a Japanese manufacturer.
The money circulates within Japan.
Also, the fact that they are sold in bookstores is a point that makes them easy to buy.
In our family, when we went shopping at a mall and the kids got bored, we'd say, 'Shall we buy a picture book at the bookstore?' and we've bought small LaQ sets along with picture books several times.
Since they have the image of an educational toy, I think it's easy for adults to pick them up while they're at the bookstore.
I looked at the official website this time, and it said:
Sales started in 1994. At first, they tried selling them in toy stores, but they couldn't compete with video games and the analog games didn't sell well. However, once they were placed in bookstores, they sold out immediately, and their sales channel was established.
Wow. That's amazing!! It's a shift in perspective, isn't it?
Toy stores are colorful, and they have videos and sounds playing, which is stimulating. Your eyes wander all over the place.
In that environment, it's extremely difficult for a simple, high-quality toy to catch someone's eye.
On the other hand, bookstores are quiet to begin with. The way the space is designed is also calm.
In the children's section, besides picture books, there are also plenty of knowledge-based sections like illustrated encyclopedias, children's books, and history manga. I think parents who come to these sections are likely to be interested in toys that make you think, like LaQ.
Even if you make a good product, it depends on your target audience and how you sell it. I thought this was a good example of marketing.
This time, when I asked the kids, 'You guys aren't playing with LaQ at all anymore, what should we do? Should we get rid of them?', they said, 'A boom might come again, so keep them,' so I'll store them for a little longer!