If so, watch this video - it might make you feel better ! And if you haven't got kids or if you managed to avoid the noisy toys (you lucky sods!), watch it and feel sorry for the rest of us walking around with headaches trying to locate the on-off switch ! Ah well, it'all all a traditional part of Christmas, right ?!
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PLAY IT RIGHT FOR A ‘SILENT NIGHT’
- It takes just seven minutes for a noisy toy to irritate parents
- 72% of parents admit noisy toys add to the stress of Christmas
- Siren sound effects top the poll as the most annoying toy noise
- Sales of ‘quiet’ toys are up 42%
Christmas time is full of festive cheer and merriment but it’s not without it’s stressful moments. A recent poll by Asda reveals that 72% of parents find kids playing with noisy toys one of the biggest stress triggers on Christmas Day and it takes an average of just seven minutes for parents to find a noisy toy exasperating.
Toys and Christmas go hand-in-hand but combinedwith final chores, hot cooking and early starts, noisy games can lead to headaches for parents. So it’s no wonder the supermarket has seen sales uplifts in last fortnight of colouring books (33%), puzzles (29%) and board games (42%) as parents stock up on quieter toys to entertain their brood.
With loud, abrupt noises proven to stimulate adrenaline and stress, sudden shocks from raucous toys can lead to hair tearing times. The retailer discovered that 32% of parents get annoyed when relatives give their children noisy toys as presents and 53% have found irritating toy sounds repeating over and over in their heads for up to three maddening days after first hearing it.
The Asda survey found that desperate parents will go to extreme measures to avoid the bleeps, bangs and blasts of earsplitting toys in the run up to Christmas including hiding toys (54%), removing batteries (46%) and avoiding buying pitch piercing games altogether (42%).
Although blaring toys aren’t totally unavoidable, there are certain culprits to steer clear of if you want some peace and quiet this Christmas time. The top five polled most irritating toy sounds are revealed to be as follows:
- Toy car siren sound effects
- Whistles
- Baby dolls crying
- Toy phone ringing
- Drumming
Tracey Walton, Asda’s toy expert, says; “At Asda we understand that Christmas day can be a stressful time, we have spent twelve months finding the very best toys that promise to keep kids entertained without the volume.”
Toyologist Peter Jenkinson commented; “Just as the sound of a pneumatic drill is something to avoid in the run up to Christmas day, so are noisy toys. So, do yourself a favour this year and keep stress-triggering toys out of sight, replacing them with fun, quiet toys to create a lullaby atmosphere at home. Silence is after all golden!”
Asda, with the help of Peter and some “little angels”, has created a fun ‘Silent Night’ video highlighting the stresses of noisy toys in time for Christmas :
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must admit it its the bleep bleep bleep of some of the electroninc games that get me, we play the wii with the sound turned down
ReplyDeleteThe worst culprits are the ones that don't have volume controls or on-off switches !
DeleteEvery single one of my son's toys were noise-making toys this year! Will there ever be another quiet time in my life?!
ReplyDeleteOh dear - they should come with earplugs for the parents !!
DeleteAnnoying indeed. I get very happy when they run out of batteries!!
ReplyDeleteWe have had a few noisy toys....7am this morning my eldest was playing her recorder I knew it was her and not my youngest as I could make out some sort of tune....Not the best way to wake up...lol
ReplyDeletei opted for mostly wooden toys for our 12 month old so its not been too bad this year
ReplyDeleteMy daughter has been bought a whole range on instruments which is lovely for her but not our ear drums! lol xx
ReplyDeleteMy son got a couple of noisy toys for Christmas - his VTech Toot-Toot garage can get quite annoying after a while. Luckily I can turn off the van when it starts to get too much! :-)
ReplyDelete