Before you read ahead, know that I’m not endorsing this product in any way. Im expressing my love and amazement for it. Now read ahead.
Like all kids, Ryan loves Kinder Surprise Eggs that, in India, are named Kinder Joy. A simple egg shaped confectionery, the packaging has a ‘joy’ on one half of the egg, and a ‘surprise’ on the other. The joy is a bed of yummy white chocolate with two round wafer-like egg yolks embedded in it. The crunchy yolks are not yellow, but brown. Chocolatey. The surprise is a toy on the other half of the egg shell.
The truth is I love Kinder Joy more than my kid does. I hate to say it to him, but I’d love to admit it here. I love the satiny white chocolate inside. But what I love more is the surprise. The surprise never stops to surprise me. From the moment I buy a Kinder, Ryan and I almost have a debate over who should open the surprise. I tend to get impatient until I see what appears from inside. Its almost like opening an oyster shell to see the pearl within.
The toy surprise that appears from inside the egg shell never ceases to amaze me. The toys are power-packed with fun, creativity, eye-hand coordination exercises, and activity. I wonder about the kind of research that goes into conceptualizing these toys. They are simple, yet extremely creative. Its almost phenomenal to see how much activity these Kinder guys can squeeze in a hen-egg sized packaging. They pack in around 4 to 6 small toy parts that need to be assembled. There is a small instruction sheet, and often stickers too! I see the parts of the toys, and I try to fathom the precision and the thinking that goes into the creation of them. Do they bring in designers, child-psychologists, product managers all at the same table when they conceptualize these objects? How long does the brain-storming last to decide on one toy? Wow, I think I’m in love with these Kinder guys!
A simple frog with a finger loop (to tuck in the index finger) and a tiny painting brush on the frog’s head. A basketball set up complete with a hoop and a ball and also almost a court! Bowling pins! These are a few of the surprises that come out of the boys’ Kinders. Most recently, I have been bowled over by a 6 piece Transformers toy that I found inside a Kinder. I mean, really? How do you even think about packing so much into so small a confectionery?
Here are a few pictures of the Transformers surprise I got.
The same guy standing above can transform itself into a car as below:
Another example is an fish/rhinoceros toy with three crayons embedded on its back. See the pic below and try to spot the crayons!
Here is the basketball set up I mentioned above:
Amazing right?
I know that the Kinder is banned in a few countries following accidents of 2 kids choking on the toys, but then, they do take care to separate the chocolate from the toy, at least in the Indian version of it. The Kinder guys also label it as not safe for kids less than 3. Plus, we parents always have to keep a sharp eye on our babies at all times, no matter with a Kinder Joy or not.
Having said that, I’ll still proclaim my love for Kinder Joy. I love it so much that even if I was walking down the street, and I spotted a Kinder Joy instruction manual in a trash can, I’ll probably take it out just to see what toy was inside in there. Ummm…. I see a few eyebrows go up and a few cringed faces on reading that. 🙂 Still, I love the Kinder!
The Sunny Window 