Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe NEW YORK, April 2 (UPI) -- It's always been trickier to create toys for girls than for boys, but the difficulty has been exacerbated as girls mature faster than ever before. At the International Toy Fair in New York in February, there were significantly more toys for boys than girls. Advertisement "Age compression" affecting all children is more acute with girls, The Washington Post reported. Children move through play stages faster, graduating quickly to the next level of toys. Barbie, which used to be an appropriate doll for 7- and 8-year-olds, is now the domain of 3-year-olds. By 8, girls are gravitating to fast-growing chains like Club Libby Lu, which give them the means to dress up like rock stars. Boys stick with toys longer, thanks to their unwavering interest in building things and wrecking things, in things that move fast and things that fight. The toy industry is still largely run by male executives who seem to instinctively know what toys boys want, the newspaper said. By 12, girls are starting to buy things that are not traditional toys, the Post reported.
