Desk Report,
Why do children like toy dinosaurs so much, is it harmful?
Tanmoy Goswami’s son is five years old. He is introduced in the article as ‘A’. ‘A’ suddenly announced one day that a toy T-Rex is his son! Before buying this toy dinosaur, the situation was different. Earlier, ‘A’ thought of himself as a lion cub. He even asked his father to pet a water lion cub. But after getting the new T-Rex, ‘A’ has completely forgotten about lions.
Why do children like toy dinosaurs so much, is it harmful?
‘A’ now puts his ‘son’, that is, the toy T-Rex, to sleep before going to bed at night. He holds the hand of the battery-operated green dinosaur. Immediately, the dinosaur’s eyes light up. Then it makes gurgling sounds.
‘A’s collection of toy dinosaurs is quite large. Apart from these, he has many books on dinosaurs, dinosaur movies and cartoons and animations that he is fascinated by. The songs from Disney’s ‘Gigantosaurus’ TV series are playing all the time at home. In Tanmoy’s words, ‘No other animal has ever taken up so much space in the house; whether living or extinct.’ It is difficult for Tanmoy to say when and how his son’s love for dinosaurs began. He thinks, ‘It seems like he knew from birth that Stegosaurus and Spinosaurus were different types of dinosaurs. Maybe he also knows why Parasaurolophus had a hollow crest on its head. Of course, he still roars like a lion when he doesn’t like the orders of an adult; but his love for dinosaurs is different. He now dreams of becoming a dinosaur’s father.’
Watch a sample of Tanmoy and his son’s conversation about dinosaurs—
Tanmoy: Well, why do you like dinosaurs so much?
A: I like dinosaurs because…when I learned about them, I really liked them.
Tanmoy: Which is your favorite dinosaur?
A: I like roaring dinosaurs. But my favorite is the hadrosaur, even though they don’t roar.
Tanmoy: And the T-Rex?
A: I like the T-Rex too. Because it walks with a stomp and leaves big footprints.
The business of dinosaurs
This love for dinosaurs for other children like ‘A’ is nothing new. American journalist Kate Morgan wrote in another article on the same subject, ‘Almost all children love dinosaurs. Even if you weren’t a dinosaur fan as a child, you probably know someone who did.’ As a result, children can easily memorize the scientific names of dozens, even hundreds of dinosaurs. They know the answers to all the questions about what they ate, what they looked like, where they lived. These children also know the difference between the Mesozoic and Cretaceous periods. However, if you ask an adult, it is doubtful that they will be able to name more than ten dinosaurs.
The huge popularity of dinosaurs has created a huge business around the world, from toys and T-shirts to theme parks. And China is no exception to this business.
