The children's toy market is bustling during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Purchasing power increased sharply.

In contrast to the desolation ofchildren's toy marketDue to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic during the 2021 Mid-Autumn Festival, the children's toy market in the province has seen a resurgence this year. Walking along streets specializing in children's toys in Vinh City, such as Dinh Cong Trang, Le Loi, Nguyen Van Cu, the Vinh market area, supermarkets, and parks, one can easily see a wide variety of children's toys, attractively displayed to appeal to parents and children.

People are buying children's toys for this year's Mid-Autumn Festival. Photo: Quang An

Ms. Nguyen Quynh Nga, owner of a children's toy store in Vinh City, said: "To prepare for this year's Mid-Autumn Festival, we started importing children's toys with a full range of designs and types to serve our young customers from the seventh lunar month. From the beginning of August, the number of customers buying and ordering online skyrocketed, and the closer it got to the Mid-Autumn Festival, the more orders we received. Because it's the busiest season of the year, I had to mobilize family members to help with sales and shipping orders on time."

According to reporters' observations, children's toys this year are diverse. With the criteria of choosing toys that can both entertain and stimulate children's curiosity and desire to learn, parents often seek out intelligent toys such as building blocks, letter puzzles, modeling clay, and alphabet boards as gifts for their children. Therefore, these types of products tend to have higher sales.

The children's toys are diverse and abundant. Photo: Quang An

Besides, traditional children's toys such as lantern parades, star lanterns, fish lanterns, paper masks, lion, dragon, and unicorn heads, priced from just tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dong, are made from natural materials like paper, bamboo, and rattan, ensuring safety for children. Therefore, many parents choose these as gifts for their children. These games help children learn about cultural values ​​such as the spirit of learning and patriotism; and understand the images of familiar Vietnamese folk characters like Ông Địa (the Earth God) and Chú Tễu (the clown).

Traditional toys are popular in the market. Photo: Quang An

Sharing her thoughts on this year's toy sales, Ms. Le Thi Mai, owner of a children's toy store, said: Compared to last year, the consumption of children's toys has increased two to three times this year because the Covid-19 pandemic has been brought under control, and many parents are buying gifts to encourage their children for the new school year. In addition, restaurants, hotels, cafes, amusement parks, etc., are ordering large quantities of toys to decorate their establishments. Youth groups and associations are also ordering many toys for performances and Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations for children, so sales have increased significantly.

Strengthen control over toxic toys.

Although educational and traditional toys dominate this year, many violent, low-quality, and unbranded toys are still being sold on the market. The most easily recognizable characteristics of these items are the lack of labels and their low prices, designed to appeal to consumers. In particular, violent toys such as guns, swords, spears, and horror masks are still openly sold in crowded places like schools, parks, and playgrounds.

Consumers need to choose children's toys carefully, avoiding toxic and violent toys. Photo: Quang An

In particular, with the explosion of social media, children today are exposed to many harmful images and cultures when watching phones and tablets, so the search for and pursuit of violent and offensive toys is becoming increasingly common. Unlike traditional shopping methods, many children's toys are now ordered online, making it difficult to inspect and handle items of unknown origin or poor quality.

Mr. Nguyen Van Huong, Director of the Nghe An Market Management Department, stated: "The Mid-Autumn Festival is the busiest time of year for businesses selling items such as confectionery and children's toys. This is also the time when the trading and transportation of mooncakes and toys of unknown origin flourishes. The department has directed market management teams in the area to strengthen operational measures and proactively coordinate with relevant agencies to promptly inspect, prevent, and handle substandard children's toys and mooncakes without clear origins."

Market management forces, along with relevant authorities, confiscated violent children's toys. (Photo courtesy of the agency)

Besides the involvement of authorities, consumers need to change their perceptions and consumption habits, not sacrificing their children's overall development for the sake of cheap toys. When choosing toys for their children, parents should pay attention to labels, origins, and ingredients. They should also choose reputable, high-quality toy brands to ensure their children's health and avoid unfortunate incidents from playing with toxic toys.

Quang An