Why kids love weird and basic toys: my lesson in Hot Wheels

I really don’t get the appeal of finger-boarding. “How is this even fun,” I asked my 8-year-old nephew who was beside himself with excitement when I brought over two sets of Hot Wheels Skates.

This simple little toy with the most basic of instructions has somehow become an overnight sensation with him and his peers, and honestly, I was struggling to grasp why.

Like a typical old person, I started questioning the school’s education system.

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Hot Wheels Skate, for those unfamiliar, is an apparently exhilarating world where miniature skateboards, known as fingerboards, take centre stage.

The recent global launch of Hot Wheels Skate and its partnership with the legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk ignited immense excitement among skating enthusiasts of all ages.

I remember playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater as a kid on my brother’s PlayStation.

Now that was awesome. If Tony Hawk had hitched his skateboard to this toy, there had to be more to it.

Aha moment?

But at the moment, it all just seemed like really great marketing and nothing more.

I needed to understand why children loved it so much. Barbie, yeah – I got the appeal of that; but I just could not understand the appeal of Hot Wheels.

So one day, I brought over two sets of Hot Wheels Skate to see what exactly the kid was going to do with it to afford me that aha moment.

After carefully opening the box and removing the tiny little skateboard and what looked like Barbie-sized plastic sneakers, I watched him fix them onto the board and then stick both of his little fingers in a shoe each.

Then he pushed the board around with his fingers.

“Really? That’s it?” I asked.

“Yes!” he gushed.

“How is this even fun?” I asked

“Well, I can’t do all the tricks yet,” he explained, “So it doesn’t look cool yet.”

“Keep them. I’m going home. See you tomorrow,” I said.

Driving home, I wondered why kids just love weird toys.

Slammers and slinkies

In my day, it was equally basic stuff, like slammers and slinkies with their kaleidoscopic colours and patterning but very limited functions that were also such a major sensation.

I remember how I just had to have a slinky when I was my nephew’s age.  

But according to Parents.com, there is a proper explanation for children’s inclination towards these basic toys.

Children have a remarkable knack for fully exploring the functionalities of basic toys until they can effortlessly perform them.

Once mastered, they enthusiastically seek new ways to play, discovering new tricks and later use those tricks to captivate an audience of onlookers around them.

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The next day, when I returned, my nephew was ready to show me a few tricks he mastered.

One of these he called the Shuvit (pronounced shove-it), which was a flat 180-board spin – something I myself did while playing Tony Hawk years ago.

The was also a blunt stall – which I wasn’t really too impressed by, but pretended to be – and the Ollie, which I also recognised and thought was actually pretty cool.

Somehow, he was able to make the board jump while it stuck to his fingers.

I remember after bouncing the slinky up and down as many times as I could, I eventually learned how to make it walk and go down stairs.

This was his slinky flex.

It’s a skillful art (or so he says)

Apparently, playing with a Hot Wheels fingerboard is also a skillful art.

The simple instructions to turn the board by pushing down on the back lip, moving it forward on a flat surface, and lifting the front wheels into the air with a press of the middle finger create a surprisingly realistic skating experience.

At first glance, it may appear like child’s play, but the appeal of Hot Wheels Skate goes beyond mere amusement.

The intricate moves, delicate balance, and the sheer satisfaction of mastering a trick make it an engrossing pastime for skate enthusiasts – especially those who spent hours play Tony Hawk, when screentime wasn’t really a thing.

It requires precision, focus, and creativity, providing a sense of accomplishment with each successful manoeuvre.

Okay, so I stuck my fingers into those shoes as well and tried it. Listen, fun is for all ages – so I’m not going to explain myself too much.

Just an acknowledgement that trying to master some of the tricks the kid tried to show me was somewhat fun and challenging – giving me the same sort of joy I felt when I spent a copious amount of hours on the PlayStation.

It was enough joy to convince me to promise him a real skateboard when he was old enough.

For now though, I was happy with him safely skating with his fingers on the coffee table, bones intact.