Teaching about Captivity at 12 Months... Doesn't Your Baby Want an Aquarium?!

A while back, I was shopping at a toy store when I came across a captive dolphin play-set by the company Playmobil (please see my blog dated Sept. 16^th). This weekend, I was doing some shopping for a friend’s baby shower, and what I came across was even more disturbing. I came across yet another toy that encouraged children to learn about captivity from a VERY early age.... 12 MONTHS.

I believe I was even more disturbed this time, because I was in a BABY store, and this toy was in a bin of other toys called, “My First….” For example, “My First Doctor Kit” Or, “My First Purse”. I was looking through the bin thinking to myself, “hmmm, some of these are kind of clever”. Then, I found it. “MY FIRST AQUARIUM". I kid you not. There it was, for ages 12-18 months, by the company called, “Aurora Baby”. The Aquarium was a part of the company’s “Baby Talk” collection, and contained 4 animals tucked- wait, cramped inside this aquarium which looked like a circus tent with a see-through window. There was an orca, a dolphin, a seahorse, and a clown fish. I was SHOCKED. I knew this was something I had to get home and research about, get out to my fellow activists and most of all- contact this company about my concern about the selling of this toy right away.

 Here's the "My Aquaruium" set, after I took out all the animals that were crammed inside.

 The 4 animals that come with the set- an Orca, a Dolphin, a Clown Fish and a Sea Horse.

 An up-close shot of the Aquarium. Nice, eh?

 Front of the tag.

Inside of the tag.

According to an article on the company’s website from 2009, http://www.auroragift.com/xe/ “The company sells its products via a wide variety of retailers including major zoos (a fast growing market), department stores such as Mervyns and Neiman Marcus, high-end toy stores such as Learning Express, top gift chains such as Hallmark, Claire’s and Cracker Barrel, as well as hospital gift shops, fine florists, candy stores and gift/stationery stores worldwide”. You can find the entire article here.

What set off 2 red alarms for me is this: 1) It seems these toys are spreading like wildfire in zoos, and I am going to assume some Aquariums (although I know places like SeaWorld, it’s hard to find a product without the SeaWorld logo branded all over it). 2) I will be contacting the head of the chain store I was shopping at, where I saw the toy- to tell them my concerns that I saw the toy being sold there. However, these toys could be being sold all over. I would encourage anyone to not only contact the company- but also, anytime they see the product (the “My First Aquarium” toy), to also contact the stores as well. It doesn’t hurt to let the stores know about our concern about a product. That doesn’t mean that I am going to boycott said store- but letting them know of my concern about the toy may help if the store where it is being sold puts some pressure on the company about complaints they are receiving about the toy.

Please, I encourage you to contact this company and ask them to please stop the production of this toy. I see that they are selling other stuffed sea animals- such as dolphins, whales, sea turtles and many others. Why not let children play with these stuffed toys- and possiblilly even attaching educational facts about the animal on the tag that is attached (which contains the UPC code and whatnot). This way, our smallest minds can let their imaginations run wild with adventures of their new found friends- playing in a natural environment. Their toy is not in a cage, which holds their animals, which honestly is a perfect example of an Aquarium.

Yes. The company could lose profit from pulling that one toy from the shelves. But, think about the money that could be gained by adding more educational value to the toys they are already selling. Parents, educational institutions and caregivers would appreciate that it is more than just a toy- it’s also a tool that teaches.

Here is the contact information for Aurora World Inc.

The toy I am referring to through this blog is #20433, and called “My Aquarium”. It is a part of the “Baby Talk” Collection.

Aurora World Inc.

8820 Mercury Lane

Pico Rivera, CA 90660 US

Ph: 562-205-1222

Fax: 562-948-5567

Here are a listed of there other locations to contact, in other countires: click here! (Some countries include: Korea, UK, Hong Kong and China).

Also, if you go to their website, you can fill out a “product-related question” sheet here, and submit it right away. If you prefer to do that, please click HERE.

Here is the link to the toy directly on their site. You will notice under the toy, you can share your thoughts via Facebook, Twitter, Email, and other platforms. You can find that link HERE.. You can also find the company on Facebook under “Aurora World, Inc.”

I’m working hard on my next blog, should be a good one. Look for it soon- until then……….