This multi-function play centre has been designed to ensure that playtime is a journey of fun and discovery.

Promising to encourage classic play while allowing children to develop their skills and have fun, the 4 in 1 Grow with me Playland features bright colours, engaging characters, air powered ball popping, flashing lights, and funny songs and sounds.

The action-packed activity centre has been thoughtfully designed to support staged learning and provides endless play opportunities from 9 months to three years. The engaging toy encourages gross motor development, and helps little ones reach various milestones such as independent sitting and standing.

Tots can watch the balls shoot out of the zebra’s head, powered by a two-speed air flow, and fall down the hippo’s pinball slide. Little ones will also enjoy catching the balls themselves or in the monkey cup as they pop out. Little hands can press the hippo’s levers or drop the balls into the character’s mouth to watch them jump and bounce around the light-up plinko board. Kids can also play pin bowl by throwing the coconut into the monkeys to be rewarded with sounds and fun colours.

The 4 in 1 Grow with me Playland will help develop hand eye coordination and also offers an early introduction to numbers, while parents will love that it folds easily for compact storage.

Nivi Bhide, marketing manager at Infantino, said: “We are thrilled to finally unveil our 4 in 1 Grow with me Playland. Our Infantino play experts have been hard at work creating this toy and we are all so pleased with the result. It truly incorporates so many elements of educational fun, and will amaze and engage little ones as they develop.”

The campaign communicates how important learning and development through play is in the early stages of childhood.

Fisher-Price has launched a PR campaign with Binky Felstead, celebrity mum and founder of The Mummy Tribe parent and baby retreats,  to launch the new Fisher-Price Linkimals toy range.

An interactive range of toys with fun features to keep little ones engaged, the new Linkimals infant toy range includes five products with innovative technology that work together to help babies learn better. Sounds, songs and phrases teach numbers, colours and enhance motor skills to children aged 9 months+. The Smooth Moves Sloth, Musical Moose, Lights and Colours Llama, A to Z Otter and Happy Shapes Hedgehog are each packed full of fun features which promote development, and, when joined together, create an immersive learning experience.

The social campaign is now live, with Binky and her daughter India testing out the product range and talking about it through a series of Instagram posts. As a mum of a 2-year-old, Binky regularly shares the ups and downs of her parenting journey.

Kelly Philp, UK marketing lead, Mattel, commented: “We are delighted to be working with Binky and her daughter to launch the new Linkimals range. Learning through play is so important to Fisher-Price, as we continue to invite parents back into the world of childhood.”

The partnership is part of a wider marketing campaign to support the new range, including digital and social activations and TV advertising.

The event showcased the company’s latest ranges to up-and-coming YouTube and TikTok talent.

Visitors to the Vivid toy takeover day had the chance to enjoy a range of Crayola activities including the Silly Scents Sniff Challenge, and could cool down at water stations with Washimals and Muddy Buddies. Tech toy Pooki and Animagic’s new pets were also featured, while proceedings were rounded off playing a selection of Vivid’s new game launches including Boomtirx, Gator Golf and the Freeze Fall ice challenge game, which was welcomed by attendees given yesterday’s temperatures.

Meg from the Meg and Mo Show was delighted to be given the opportunity to attend, commenting: “I loved coming to play at Vivid; Washimals was my favourite toy, as you can redesign it again and again.”

Lucy Vaughan, assistant brand manager at Vivid, commented: “With the cameras rolling, we also took the opportunity to give visitors a sneak peek of Nestlings – they all loved seeing the baby Nestlings delivered.”

The merger will result in a company with a joint turnover that is expected to exceed 700m euros.

Italian toy group Giochi Preziosi has acquired the Spanish toy company from Sun Capital Partners, Inc., which invested in Famosa in 2010.

The two companies will share a complementary product catalogue, comprising Famosa brands such as Pinypon, Nenuco, The Bellies, Nancy, Barriguitas and Feber; and Giochi Preziosi’s brands that include Cicciobello, Gormiti, Trudi and Sevi. Each company’s respective national presence will complement the operation, with Famosa in a prominent position in Spain, Portugal and Mexico and Giochi Preziosi having a strong presence in Italy, France, UK, Greece and Turkey. Both companies will maintain their trademarks while initiating an integration process that is expected to be completed in 2020.

“Joining forces with the industry leader in Italy at a time when Famosa leads in Spain is fantastic news and means we can continue to grow and strengthen our market leading position. As president and CEO of Famosa, I will continue working with my team to ensure the success of the union,” commented Marie-Eve Rougeot, who will remain at the helm with her existing management team.

Enrico Preziosi, founder and president of Giochi Preziosi, added: “We are very excited to bring Famosa on board, just when the company has shown its best results, with important new product launches that have become best- sellers during the last year in Spain. The company’s own brand model, its commitment to innovation and its solid management team are of great value and are all elements that complement Giochi Preziosi’s business.”

tori allows families to enjoy interactive play while encouraging individual creativity, collaboration and critical thinking.

Leveraging the breakthrough Mirror Play, the perfect combination of the augmented interaction solution powered by ISKN with the latest cutting edge technologies, tori makes children’s creations come alive and enables their every move to be instantly reflected in the supported apps. By using their tori Wand, tori Catapult and tori Spacecraft over the tori board, children can break down the barriers between their imagination and reality to open a world full of fun and creativity.

“We’ve always imagined our augmented interaction technology as a user-friendly means to spark creativity and emotion. Collaborating with Bandai Namco Entertainment was the opportunity to bring fun, magic and imagination to everyone,” said Timothée Jobert, ISKN co-founder & CXO.

The tori Explorer pack enables children to express their personality by crafting and customising both digital elements and the toys through its creative kit before finding them back in their own world. This creative journey allows a balanced experience between on and off-screen activities.

“We believe in creative, playful and active methods that develop activities where problem solving, creativity and concentration are at the core,” commented Herve Hoerdt, SVP of Marketing, Digital & Content at Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe. “In this way, tori allows kids to have fun and express their personality through creative and interactive experiences with a perfect balance between on and off-screen time.”

The tori Explorer Pack will be released on 2nd October and is compatible with iOS and Android smartphones and tablets. Starting with five apps available on the App Store and Google Play Store at release, the tori ecosystem will be enriched with new apps & toys over time.

StikBots have been on TV every month throughout 2019, with investment to continue throughout the rest of the year.

As well as advertising across all major kids TV sales-houses during Q4, StikBot will be sponsoring CITV Breakfast every weekday morning throughout the whole of November and December.

Aimed at driving awareness and sales pre-Christmas, the sponsorship will include 16 sponsorship idents per day on the popular children’s channel, totalling 640 idents which will appear before, during and after programmes.

Debra Tiffany, marketing manager at Brainstorm, said: “StikBot continues to be a best-seller and it’s important that we show our commitment to the brand with support throughout the year and particularly during the crucial fourth quarter.”

Shares in the company have climbed after it logged its first revenue gain in two years.

Mattel has released Q2 results which show that revenue has climbed 2.3% from a year ago to $860.1m.

Gross Sales in the International segment increased 3%, primarily driven by growth in Action Figures, Building Sets and Games (including Toy Story 4, partially offset by Jurassic World), Dolls (including Barbie and Polly Pocket, partially offset by Enchantimals), and Vehicles (including increased sales for Hot Wheels, partially offset by lower sales for Cars and Jurassic World vehicles). This growth was partially offset by a decline in Infant, Toddler and Preschool (including Fisher-Price Core and Thomas & Friends).

The company still hasn’t returned to profitability, reporting an adjusted loss per share of 25 cents, but the results are much better than the 40-cent loss Wall Street had been forecasting. Mattel remains “on track to restore profitability and regain top-line growth in the short to midterm,” its CEO Ynon Kreiz said. “We’re making real, tangible progress,” he said in an interview.

After a little more than a year on the job, Ynon is making the case that he’s stabilised the toymaker following five straight years of revenue declines.  Ynon, who spent his career in Hollywood before joining Mattel, has been trying to transform Mattel into an IP-driven company, an approach that competitor Hasbro has successfully deployed.

Mattel will face challenges ahead. Barbie – which saw a double-digit spike that helped drive Mattel’s North American sales up 2.5% – has more competition in store, with Hasbro’s new Frozen dolls expected to launch during the holiday season, and a number of new doll ranges from MGA also set to launch. Mattel’s Hot Wheels brand also declined in its home market, a rare occurrence for a usually strong property.

Ynon also said on Thursday that Mattel has already exceeded his $650m cost-cutting initiative for 2019 and now boasts a run-rate savings of $754m. It expects to shave off another $100m by year-end.

Joseph Euteneuer, CFO, Mattel, added: “We continue to move towards our goal to restore profitability and regain topline growth in the short-to-mid term, and to capture the full value of our IP in the mid-to-long term. The benefits of the team’s hard work are clearly materialising across the P&L. We remain focused on sustained progress, methodical execution and the creation of long-term shareholder value.”

Mattel’s shares rose 5% as of 4:08 p.m. in New York. They had already climbed 25% through Thursday’s close.