Play isn't just for kids. It supports mental health, creativity, and well-being across the entire lifespan.

Everyday objects can hold memory, carry deep meaning, and express who we are.

A beloved doll can be a psychological tool, helping adults process grief and stay connected to loved ones.

I so often get questions from the public or my colleagues in the field asking, What is it that you do? What is a Toy & Pop Culture Analyst? Is that a real job? Do you play with the toys or display them?

There’s a range of answers to this question, but let’s start at the beginning. Throughout the lifespan, researchers have noted, play is critical to mental health, creativity, cognitive flexibility, and well-being. And yet, we often view toys as being only for children. That is where the disconnect is for the general public, but also the toy industry. In recent years, post pandemic, the nostalgia boom across industries has certainly centered play and longing for simpler times as adults now have surpassed children in collecting and purchasing toys.

For me, it’s not that adults have surpassed the key demographics and that this discovery warrants longitudinal research but that we collectively have designated toy play as child development, excluding key research and also simply excluding an audience through the microaggression that as we age, play is designated to vacations, social outings, or job satisfaction, ignoring the critical elements that material culture research have often shown us: that items hold meaning and are a form of expression.

That is where my job comes in.........

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