Why kids are obsessed with cars, trucks, and other vehicles

Every kid has their own obsessions. Dolls, plushies, dinosaurs, remote controls, cell phones—they might have a toy box with a wide range of playthings to keep them entertained, but there's a firm favorite they always reach for first.

Read more

Researchers call this phenomenon "extremely intense interests" (EIIs). These interests start to emerge at around 18 months of age and are evident in around a third of preschool-aged children. For many children, this obsession revolves around cars. Although the sex divide in the toy world remains, it's not only little boys who are drawn to all things with wheels. My 20-month-old daughter and her treasured red bus are testament to this.

So what's the big deal about cars, trucks, trains, and buses?

From age 0-2, children are in the sensorimotor stage of development

Alyssa Wilkins, a music therapist who specializes in early childhood development and the treatment of children with autism, explains: "They are learning by absorbing everything through their senses—sight, touch, taste, smell, hear. Toys and real-life objects like cars are very sensorily engaging. Kids can interact with toy cars, trucks, etc., through spinning their wheels, watching them move in various directions, or hearing the sounds they make."

Kids are naturally drawn to loud, moving objects—it's all fun sensory input. Wilkins adds, "They see the lights on the cars, the rolling wheels, the sound of the revving engine, and it's very engaging. Kids will always be drawn to flashy and loud things because that engages their brain and sensory systems."

Another appeal of toy vehicles is that they're typically small enough to fit in a child's hand. "Cars become the favorite of both boys and girls because they're the kind of toy that they can take—and play with—anywhere," says licensed professional counselor Roseann Capanna-Hodge, EdD. "And because they can pop their cars in their pocket or carry them around, they're easy to get attached to."

A car is also a cause-and-effect toy—it teaches children that their actions can make something happen. "It's super interesting and exciting for kids to learn that they can change something in their environment," Capanna-Hodge says. "With cars, kids can work out all kinds of fun scenarios like going up the wall or having a crash."

The benefits of toy cars are numerous, and experts agree they should be part of both boys' and girls' play environments.

"The toy car is an inexpensive, accessible toy that promotes learning, environmental exploration, independence, motor skills, problem-solving, and creativity," Capanna-Hodge says. And above all, they're fun. "There's nothing like hearing a kid work through a crash scenario with all the sounds, and listening to how when one road closes they find another, or watching the thrill as the car goes up a wall to avoid a monster."

Every toy car has the same basic parts, but how your child plays with it depends on their unique characteristics. Nobody knows exactly what is at the root of a kid's individual play style. For instance, one child might "drive" their cars into the wall, another might line them up, bumper to bumper, and another might wrap them in a blanket.

Every child is unique in how they engage with toys, and the reasons for their play style may be diverse and complex. Children often interact with materials in similar ways to how their families interact with them. Wilkins explains, "If a child sees a sibling or parents modeling play with a car going fast down a track, they are likely to interact with the toy in that same way."

Some children seek sensory engagement from their toys in different ways. "The feel and sound of crashing cars might be interesting to them, or they may like organization and neatness so lining their toys up in a certain way may bring them calm," Wilkins says.

Ultimately, how your kid plays with their toy vehicles could be a little window into what regulates or excites them.

Want more essential commentary and analysis like this delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for The Week's "Today's best articles" newsletter here.

The distinction between the terms benefits and features is important in developing and marketing a product or service. Features are characteristics that your product or service has. For example, some ovens include features such as self-cleaning, smooth stovetops, warming bins, or convection capabilities.

Benefits are the reasons customers buy the product or service. For example, the benefits of some ovens to buyers include safety, ease of use, affordability, or—in the case of many ovens that feature stainless steel casings—prestige.

Just like products, services differ from one another in having distinctive features and benefits, though these differences may not always be so obvious to potential customers. One building contractor may use master painters while a second uses laborers to paint. Both will tell you they do painting, but one has master painters (a feature) and produces a better-looking paint job (a definite benefit).

Every product or service has a purpose. For example, the purpose of an oven is to bake raw food, but not all ovens have the same features and benefits.

The uniqueness of a product or service can set it apart from the competition. Features can communicate the capability of a product or service. But features are only valuable if customers see those particular features as valuable. You want products or services with features that customers perceive as valuable benefits. By highlighting benefits in marketing and sales efforts, you'll increase your sales and profits.

It’s important to remember that customers buy products and services because they want to solve a problem or meet a need. Consciously or unconsciously, your customers will always be asking, "What’s in it for me?" Your product and service offerings have to deliver solutions and satisfy needs, or they won't be successful.

Given that benefits are ultimately more important to your customers than features, it is imperative that you understand the benefits your products and services provide. Emphasize these benefits in your sales efforts, and update your products and services when new or additional benefits are desired by your customers.

Think about how automotive manufacturers advertise. To sell minivans, they don't emphasize the layout of the vehicle or its carrying capacity. They show images of happy families loading their kids, sports equipment, and toys into the vehicle. They emphasize the benefits above and beyond the features.

Here are some other examples emphasizing benefits beyond the features:

• A website shopping cart vendor who offers hosted solutions to medium-sized businesses can emphasize the convenience and time-savings of not having to maintain a website. It’s selling convenience, not software.
• A carpet company might be more successful if it illustrated how its carpets could help create attractively decorated interiors. Pictures of beautiful rooms could be more beneficial than a stack of carpet samples or a list of fabric features. It’s selling beauty, not carpets.
• A consulting company might focus its marketing efforts by highlighting its end product—improved performance and increased profits—not its consulting methods. It’s selling profitability, not consulting.
• A manufacturer of computer printers might emphasize less hassle or less wasted time rather than emphasizing reliability or quality. It’s selling ease-of-use, not printers, and not quality.
• A salmon fishery might emphasize the health benefits of eating salmon. It’s selling health, not fish.

When Do Features Matter the Most?

Features always matter because they provide your customers with hints about how well your product or service will deliver its benefits. Although benefits are generally more important than features, there are some times when features make all the difference:

Are you interested in learning more about Children Ride On Toy Car? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!

• When all the products in a category provide the same basic benefits, a unique feature may provide a competitive advantage. For example, when all boom boxes played tapes and CDs, the one with the bass booster stood out even though the benefit to the consumer was minimal. As another example, when all leadership consultants referred to similar performance improvement outcomes, the ones who developed online diagnostic tools distinguished their work from competitors.
• When products or services can be easily compared with competitors—as the Internet makes increasingly possible—consumers can choose products and services with the most features. Thus, even though most cell phones will provide their owner with the same general benefits for communication, a person considering which cell phone to buy may not choose a certain model if it is missing a feature not found on a competitor’s. For example, if one phone has Bluetooth connectivity and a second one does not, consumers may choose the one with this extra feature even if they don’t even know what Bluetooth connectivity is. It’s not that such connectivity is important, it’s just that it is so easy to compare the feature sets.