Some girls are tomboys, who like to play with toys and games that are typically preferred by boys. Not my girls…they bury the needle on the frilly-lacey-pinkish scale. Tea parties, dress-up, princesses…their interests have always gravitated towards the traditional as far as playthings go.
Except for one thing – when Lauren and Amelia were smaller, they loved Thomas the Tank Engine toys. The brightly-colored trains and outrageously-expensive wooden railroad tracks provided hours of entertainment for them (and for their dad, I must admit.)
While the videos about working hard and being a good friend were mildly entertaining (at least in a Nineteenth-Century-Britain, Industrial-Revolution sort of way), I was always curious about the specific appeal of Thomas the Tank Engine for our kids, especially since it was so different from their other interests.
This might be one reason.
From CNN:
“A study conducted in the United Kingdom found that autistic children were far more fascinated by the television series, "Thomas and Friends," than they were with other fictional characters.
“The study, by the National Autistic Society, summarized that the show held such appeal because of the clear facial expressions of the characters, the pacing of the program and the easy-to-follow story lines.”
Which makes sense – the (older) cartoons use models and limit on-screen movement to one or two elements at a time. It’s narrated like a story, with one voice actor reading for every role. And since every engine character has a different “face” for emotional expression (happy, angry, frightened, etc.), it is ideal for children who have difficulty processing visual or social cues.
I’m just thankful they never got into Barney.
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