WASHINGTON, July 9 (UPI) -- People are having fewer and fewer children these days, but for those that are born, many well-to-do parents are sparing no expenses to cater to their offspring's needs.
The problem for parents is actually knowing when to stop spending. From educational toys to give children an edge to get into an Ivy League school ten years down the line, to dressing kids in couture clothing to match Mom's Donna Karan knitwear.
Simply put, there are far too many choices for anxious parents who want to offer their children things that would give them a competitive advantage, be it through schooling or grooming. As if that weren't enough, mothers and fathers are also under constant pressure from their offspring to buy them the latest gadget that they claim all their friends already have.
Now, Swedish furniture manufacturer Ikea is offering home furnishings specifically designed for children, which they hope will prove both fun for kids and appeal to parents for their educational quality.
Launched earlier this year, the PS collection consists of 32 items that not only look fun and colorful, but apparently help get children smarter simply by using the furniture. PS is actually an independent company, also based in Sweden, which has been commissioned for the past four years by Ikea to design furniture with a different theme. Whilst the focus last year was designing furniture for both indoor and outdoor use, the theme for this year was to create so-called play furniture that would not only be of practical use, but also would help kids learn and be active.
The furniture group pointed out that children these days not only mature more quickly, they are more sedentary than the generations of kids before them, thanks to the popularity of videogames, television, and the rising number of latchkey kids whose parents aren't home to get children away from the TV set and play outside.
"We tasked designers to make interactive furniture," said Janice Simonsen, a spokeswoman for Ikea. About 500 product proposals were submitted, and a total of 22 designers, largely from Scandinavian countries, saw their designs actually being made into reality.
But before the designs had to provide more than just good design and functionality. They had to appeal to children too. As a result, a total of 16 kids ranging from four to seven in age were gathered to play for two days with the potential products.
"Sometimes they ended up playing with the furniture in ways we really didn't expect them to," Simonsen said, noting that kids can actually be very creative in the way they turn objects into toys.
So how can furniture actually be fun, functional, and educational all at the same time?
Take the Hoppig, a sofa that can be folded up to convert into a trampoline. Not only does it stop kids from jumping up and down on their beds and destroying the mattress springs, it's a good way to get them hopping about and getting some exercise in an entertaining way. Better still for parents, the sofa only sets them back $120, which actually makes it one of the pricier items on the PS collection.
Or perhaps the more cost-conscious parent can invest in the Fangst, a long tube-like container that is about 6 foot in length, which is divided up into six compartments, each with a circular hole. The idea is to hang the tube from the ceiling, and have children aim their socks and other personal belongings at the hole, The idea is that kids will not only learn how to tidy up their rooms, they will find throwing items into the hole as enjoyable as playing a game at a fun fair. And for parents, the fun would cost them only $9.99.
But one of the most popular items on sale is the Lomsk chair, at $69.
As designer Monika Mulder of the Netherlands put it, it's like a "big swivel chair" made of plastic, which has a pull-down hood "so that children can hide and open and close it themselves, as often as they like."
The idea is to give children a sense of balance through spinning around on the chair, and offer them a hiding place for their own sense of piece and privacy.
And if it's child-tested and educational specialist approved, it might be just be what it claims to be.
(GoToShop is a biweekly musing on where or where not to spend one's hard-earned paycheck. If there is, indeed, an opposite and equal reaction for every action, then shopping is no exception. The fine art of shopping can be a political statement, a social manifestation, an economic triumph -- or simply a dud decision on the part of the consumer.)
