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Психологическая наука и образование Psychological Science and Education
2023. Т. 28. № 1. C. 85—96 2023. Vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 85—96
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/pse.2023280104 DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/pse.2023280104
ISSN: 1814-2052 ISSN: 1814-2052
ISSN: 2311-7273 (online) I SSN: 2311-7273 (online)
Preschoolers’ Perception of Monster Toys
(on the Example of Huggy Wuggy)
Ekaterina E. Klopotova
Moscow State University of Psychology & Education, Moscow, Russia
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1975-318X, e-mail: klopotovaee@mgppu.ru
Svetlana Yu. Smirnova
Moscow State University of Psychology & Education, Moscow, Russia
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8579-4908, e-mail: smirnovasy@mgppu.ru
Yulia A. Tokarchuk
Moscow State University of Psychology & Education, Moscow, Russia
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0690-0694, e-mail: lyusindus@gmail.com
Olga V. Rubtsova
Moscow State University of Psychology & Education, Moscow, Russia
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3902-1234, e-mail: ovrubsova@mail.ru
The article focuses on the problem of preschoolers’ perception of monster toys
and their role in contemporary children’s subculture. It also presents the results
of an empirical study of preschoolers’ perception of the Huggy Wuggy toy. The
research was conducted by the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Con-
temporary Childhood of Moscow State University of Psychology and Education
in November 2022. The sample included 298 children aged from 4 to 6 years.
The following research methods were used: conversation with children, non-
participant observation of children’s free play in kindergarten. The children
were also asked to draw a picture of a human being and of Huggy Wuggy. The
results obtained testify that the majority of preschoolers regard Huggy Wuggy
as an “object of prestige” — they bring it to kindergarten and playground, dem-
onstrating it to their friends, while they rarely interact with the toy in the process
of play (including episodes of role play). While being aware of the videogame
“Poppy Playtime” most children do not use its plot in the play process. Gener-
ally, play with Huggy Wuggy does not differ much from preschoolers’ play with
other toys. The revealed negative emotional charge, connected with the image
of Huggy Wuggy, in most cases relate to videos on Youtube that children have
watched, and where negative information both about the videogame and its
main character is presented in the most affective way.
Keywords: monster toys, children’s subculture, videogame, Huggy Wuggy,
play activity, preschool age.
Funding. The research was supported by the ANO (autonomous nonprofit organization) “Russian
System of Quality”.
For citation: Klopotova E.E., Smirnova S.Yu., Tokarchuk Yu.A., Rubtsova O.V. Preschoolers’ Percep-
tion of Monster Toys (on the Example of Huggy Wuggy). Psikhologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie =
Psychological Science and Education, 2023. Vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 85—96. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/
pse.2023280104 (In Russ.).
86
Клопотова Е.Е., Смирнова С.Ю., Токарчук Ю.А., Рубцова О.В. Особенности восприятия детьми
дошкольного возраста игрушек-монстров (на примере Хагги Вагги)
Психологическая наука и образование. 2023. Т. 28. № 1
Особенности восприятия детьми
дошкольного возраста игрушек-монстров
(на примере Хагги Вагги)
Клопотова Е.Е.
ФГБОУ ВО «Московский государственный психолого-педагогический университет»
(ФГБОУ ВО МГППУ), г. Москва, Российская Федерация
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1975-318X, e-mail: klopotovaee@mgppu.ru
Смирнова С.Ю.
ФГБОУ ВО «Московский государственный психолого-педагогический университет»
(ФГБОУ ВО МГППУ), г. Москва, Российская Федерация
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8579-4908, e-mail: smirnovasy@mgppu.ru
Токарчук Ю.А.
ФГБОУ ВО «Московский государственный психолого-педагогический университет»
(ФГБОУ ВО МГППУ), г. Москва, Российская Федерация
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0690-0694, e-mail: lyusindus@gmail.com
Рубцова О.В.
ФГБОУ ВО «Московский государственный психолого-педагогический университет»
(ФГБОУ ВО МГППУ), г. Москва, Российская Федерация
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3902-1234, e-mail: ovrubsova@mail.ru
В статье рассматривается проблема восприятия дошкольниками
игрушек-мон стров и обсуждается их роль в современной детской суб-
культуре. Пред ставлены результаты эмпирического исследования осо-
бенностей вос приятия детьми игрушки-монстра Хагги Вагги, проведен-
ного на базе Цен тра междисциплинарных исследований современного
детства МГППУ в ноябре 2022 г. при участии 298 детей 4—6 лет. В ис-
следовании были использованы следующие методы: беседа с детьми,
невключенное на блюдение за свободной игрой детей в условиях дет-
ского сада. Также детям было предложено сделать рисунок человека
и рисунок Хагги Вагги. Полученные результаты позволяют говорить о
том, что для большинства современных дошкольников игрушка Хагги
Вагги является, прежде всего, «статусным» предметом (дети приносят
ее в детский сад и на площадку, показывают друзьям), при этом непо-
средственно в игровой деятельности (в т.ч. в сюжетно-ролевых эпизо-
дах) игрушка используется достаточно редко. Зная о видеоигре «Poppy
Playtime» и имея представление о ее содержании, дети, как правило, не
используют в собственных играх ее сюжет. В целом, игра с Хагги Ваг-
ги не отличается от игр с други ми мягкими игрушками. Выявленная у
детей негативная эмоциональная нагрузка, связанная с образом Хагги
Вагги, обусловлена содержанием роликов на YouTube, где максимально
аффективно представлена отрицательная информация о содержании
игры и об этом персонаже.
Ключевые слова: игрушки-монстры, детская субкультура, видеоигра,
Хагги Вагги, игровая деятельность, дошкольный возраст.
Финансирование. Исследование выполнено при финансовой поддержке АНО «Российская
система качества».
87
Klopotova E.E., Smirnova S.Yu., Tokarchuk Yu.A., Rubtsova O.V.
Preschoolers’ Perception of Monster Toys (on the Example of Huggy Wuggy)
Psychological Science and Education. 2023. Vol. 28, no. 1
Introduction
In the research of the last few years
many authors emphasize the growing
popularity of monsters in contemporary me-
dia narratives oriented both on adults and
children [10; 12; 14]. Monster characters
appear in video games («Five Nights at
Freddy’s Slender: The Eight Pages», «My
Singing Monsters»), cartoons («Monsters,
Inc.», «Monster High», «Hotel Transylvania:
Transformania»), fairy tales («Smudges and
Smacks»), etc. Contemporary monsters are
presented by various images, and many of
them elicit sympathy and evoke a desire
to be like them (Hulk, Shrek, Pokemons,
Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc.). Their
differences from humans do not have any
negative connotation. On the contrary, they
usually have superpowers, which they use
for the sake of other people (Teenage Mu-
tant Ninja Turtles, Hulk, Spider-Man). Being
a monster has become culturally acceptable
and does not hamper monster characters to
become superheroes of modern time [4; 16].
It is important to highlight that “scary”
characters have always been a part of
children’s subculture. For example, Baba
Yaga and Koschey the Immortal tradi-
tionally appeared in children’s fairy tales.
However, as representatives of the “evil”,
these characters have never been central,
and they have never been regarded as a
pattern for copying. On the contrary, they
were regarded more as an instrument for
shaping an ambivalent image of the world.
According to the plot, the main character
was usually expected to fight with the “evil”
characters, while the main character was
courageous, and usually acted as the bear-
er of “traditional values” [3].
The fact that monster characters appear
in children’s subculture and are presented
as positive characters is a concern for par-
ents. Parents are anxious about the possible
negative influence of monster characters on
their children’s development. Therefore, the
problem of children’s perception of monsters
and peculiarities of play with Monster toys in
the last few years have attracted much at-
tention among psychologists and educators
both in Russia and abroad.
Most contemporary authors consider
that the main function of a “scary” toy for the
child is nowadays connected with the ne-
cessity to «flee from the boredom of every-
day life», to acquire new impressions and to
learn how to cope with the fears [2; 6; 8; 9,
10]. At the same time, a number of authors
have stressed the tendency of devaluation
of “the scary”, which is often referred to
post-modernist culture. According to Elena
Smirnova et. al., children who constantly
play exclusively with “scary” toys have dif-
ficulty in learning how to spot “the evil”
and “to live it through”, which leads to cer-
tain erosion of ethical and aesthetic ideas.
Monsters, who are traditionally regarded
as scary creatures, become attractive for
children, which might make it difficult for
the child to shape the concept of good and
evil [7]. However, there is very few empirical
data which could support this point of view.
On the whole the problem of children’s
interaction with Monster toys remains to-
day very little studied and requires further
theoretical and experimental elaboration.
Research design and sample
characteristics
In November 2022 Center for Interdisci-
plinary Research on Contemporary Child-
hood of Moscow State University of Psy-
chology and Education conducted an em-
pirical research aimed at studying the pe-
Для цитаты: Клопотова Е.Е., Смирнова С.Ю., Токарчук Ю.А., Рубцова О.В. Особенности восприя-
тия детьми дошкольного возраста игрушек-монстров (на примере Хагги Вагги) // Психологическая
наука и образование. 2023. Том 28. № 1. C. 85—96. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/pse.2023280104
88
Клопотова Е.Е., Смирнова С.Ю., Токарчук Ю.А., Рубцова О.В. Особенности восприятия детьми
дошкольного возраста игрушек-монстров (на примере Хагги Вагги)
Психологическая наука и образование. 2023. Т. 28. № 1
culiarities of perception of monster toys by
contemporary Russian preschoolers. The
research was conducted on the example of
Huggy Wuggy — a monster toy, which has
gained extreme popularity among Russian
children in the past two years.
Originally, Huggy Wuggy is a character
of the video game «Poppy Playtime», which
is referred to the horror genre. According to
the plot, the player visits and abandoned
toy factory, meets the Huggy Wuggy toy,
who starts to chase the player. At the begin-
ning, the player tries to escape from Huggy
Wuggy, but later is challenged by a task to
catch Huggy Wuggy. The game is designed
for children older than eight years.
Apart from the video game, there are
many short videos with Huggy Wuggy on the
Internet, which are available among others
on YouTube and TikTok. Some of the videos
are devoted to the play «Poppy Playtime».
Some of them offer recommendations about
completing the game, others contain a cri-
tique of the game. At the same time many
of those videos are based exclusively on the
scary scenes from the video game. They
also include comments from their authors,
which exaggerate the feeling of fear. Anoth-
er group of videos consists of those which
have nothing in common with the original
video game. However, they use the image of
Huggy Wuggy. Many of those videos include
scenes of violence and aggressive behavior.
The research was neither aimed at the
analysis of the content of the original video
game, nor on the videos created with the
image of Huggy Wuggy. At the same time in
the framework of the research it was taken
into account, how well the child is informed
about the socio-cultural context of the toy,
as well as whether he or she knows the plot
of the video game, and whether he or she
watched the videos with Huggy Wuggy on
the Internet. The main goal of the research
consisted in revealing the peculiarities of
perception of Huggy Wuggy by contempo-
rary preschoolers. For meeting this goal,
the following methods were applied:
• conversation with children;
• non-participant observation of chil-
dren’s free play with Huggy Wuggy;
• picture of Huggy Wuggy;
• picture of human.
Conversation and non-participant obser-
vation were organized in three schools in
Moscow region. 298 children aged from 4 to
6 took part in the research at different stages.
More detailed characteristics of each stage of
the research are presented in Тable 1.
For conversation with children the re-
search group elaborated «The protocol of
conversation», which included 14 questions.
In the process of conversation with the
child, the following tasks were solved: de-
tection of the level of acquaintance of the
child with the character Huggy Wuggy; the
analysis of the child’s attitude to Huggy
Wuggy; revelation of the peculiarities of
children’s interaction with the Huggy Wuggy
monster toy in the process of play activity.
The analysis of children’s pictures (including
pictures of human beings and pictures of
Huggy Wuggy) was conducted with the aim
of revealing the child’s emotional charge
while interacting with Huggy Wuggy.
The research on the peculiarities of pre-
schooler’s interaction with Huggy Wuggy
in the play process was organized in two
Table 1
Sample characteristics
Method Conversation with children Observation of children’s
free play
Picture of Huggy Wuggy
and picture of human
Number of
participants
61 child
4—6 years
130 children
4—6 years
107 children
4—6 years
89
Klopotova E.E., Smirnova S.Yu., Tokarchuk Yu.A., Rubtsova O.V.
Preschoolers’ Perception of Monster Toys (on the Example of Huggy Wuggy)
Psychological Science and Education. 2023. Vol. 28, no. 1
stages. The first stage included non-partic-
ipant observation of children’s free play in
kindergarten, which children attended (no
Huggy Wuggy among the toys offered). At
the second stage of the non-participant ob-
servation, the Huggy Wuggy toy was added
to the toys, which were usually available to
children in the kindergarten. The duration
of each episode of non-participant obser-
vation was 30 minutes.
Research results
Сonversation
The results of the conversation with chil-
dren showed: more than half of the children
possess their own Huggy Wuggy (44.3%,
N=27). Usually, the toy is offered to the
child by the adults (parents, grandparents)
on the child’s request (66.6%, N=18).
According to the data obtained (Fig. 1),
the majority of children know about Huggy
Wuggy even when they don’t have this toy
at home (88.5%, N=54). Most children —
37.7% (N=23) learn about the character
from their age mates (in kindergarten, at
playground, etc.) or from videos on You-
Tube — 26.2% (N=16). Fewer children see
the toy for the first time in a shop — 9.8%
(N=6), or when being offered as a pres-
ent — 3.3% (N=2). In our sample 11.4% of
children (N=7) failed to identify where they
had learned about Huggy Wuggy, however,
they stressed that everyone “is acquainted
with this character”.
While answering the questions concern-
ing the perception of the image of Huggy
Wuggy, the majority of children (60.6%,
N=37) regarded it as an evil character,
26.2% of children (N=16) — as a kind char-
acter, and 6.6% (N=4) — as an ambivalent
character, “kind and evil at the same time”.
Over 6.6% of the participants (N=4) failed
to answer the question (Fig. 2).
A little more than half of the children
(54.1%, N=33) considered that Huggy Wug-
gy behaves aggressively. The rest of the
children either didn’t answer this question
(19.7%, N=12), or in their answers identified
everyday behavior — “he loves to eat/to play/
to go for a walk”, etc. (26.2%, N=16) (Fig. 3).
According to the data obtained more
than half of children (59%, N=36) knew
about the video game «Poppy Playtime»,
while 41% (N=25) were unfamiliar with it.
Comparing these two groups of preschool-
ers allowed to reveal that children from the
first group (children who were familiar with
the content of the game) much more often
perceived Huggy Wuggy as an evil and ag-
gressive character (Table 2). Thus, the per-
ception of Huggy Wuggy as of an evil and
aggressive character is directly connected
with the fact whether the child is familiar with
the socio-cultural context of the character.
Fig. 1. Children’s answer to the question “How did you get acquainted with Huggy Wuggy?” (N=61)
90
Клопотова Е.Е., Смирнова С.Ю., Токарчук Ю.А., Рубцова О.В. Особенности восприятия детьми
дошкольного возраста игрушек-монстров (на примере Хагги Вагги)
Психологическая наука и образование. 2023. Т. 28. № 1
At the same time it is important to empha-
size that most children, familiar with the plot
of the video game, had learned about it from
the videos on YouTube and did not play the
game itself (65%, N=17). Thus, the percep-
tion of the image of Huggy Wuggy in these
Fig. 3. Children’s answer to the question “What does Huggy Wuggy like to do?” (N=61)
Fig. 2. Children’s answer to the question “Do you think Huggy Wuggy is an evil or a kind character?” (N=61)
Table 2
Manifestations of aggressive ideas about Huggy Wuggy
in children’s answers during the conversation
Familiar with video
game content
100% (N=36)
Unfamiliar with
video game content
100% (N=25)
Significance
of differences*
The answer to the question: «Is Huggy Wuggy a good or an evil character?»
Evil 28
(77.8%)
12
(48%)
φ*emp = 2.416
The answer to the question «What does Huggy Wuggy like to do?»
Behaves aggressively (attacks, strangles,
kills, eats, etc.)
28
(77.8%)
10
(40%)
φ*emp = 3.038
All obtained empirical values of φ* are in the zone of significance
91
Klopotova E.E., Smirnova S.Yu., Tokarchuk Yu.A., Rubtsova O.V.
Preschoolers’ Perception of Monster Toys (on the Example of Huggy Wuggy)
Psychological Science and Education. 2023. Vol. 28, no. 1
children was based on the videos, which
had little in common with the original plot of
the video game. This circumstance requires
further analysis and discussion, which are
beyond the framework of the present paper.
Pictures
With the aim of revealing the emotional
charge of the image of Huggy Wuggy on the
child, 107 pictures of Huggy Wuggy and 107
pictures of human being made by the chil-
dren were analyzed by the research group.
In most cases (90.6%, N=97) children
didn’t try to mitigate the negative charac-
teristics of Huggy Wuggy in their drawings,
which testifies that they were not afraid of
it. Trying to make the image smaller in size,
decorating the character with pastel colors,
adding decorative details (for example,
bows), which reveals the tendency to make
the image more acceptable and comfort-
able for perception, were revealed only in
9.3% (N=10) of pictures. While drawing
Huggy Wuggy children from this group
also provided comments, which testify, that
they tried to cope with negative emotional
charge, connected with this image.
Interestingly enough, aggressive trades
(teeth and claws) in pictures of Huggy
Wuggy were the most significant and at-
tractive for 58.8% of children (N=63), while
in pictures of human these details were
found only in 1.8% (N=2) of cases (Fig. 4).
The analysis of pictures allowed to re-
veal high levels of anxiety (identified with
thick lines, corrections etc.) in 91.5% of
cases (N=98) in pictures of Huggy Wuggy
and in 85.9% of cases (N=92) in pictures
of human beings. The obtained data testify
that the majority of children do not demon-
strate specific anxiety connected with the
image of Huggy Wuggy.
Non-participant observation
of play process
130 children aged from 4 to 6 took part
in the research of play with the Huggy
Wuggy toy, 43% (N=56) were boys and
57% (N=74) were girls. The research was
conducted in two age groups: middle pre-
schoolers — 49% (N=64) and older pre-
schoolers — 51% (N=66).
Non-participant observation of chil-
dren’s play in kindergarten revealed that
Huggy Wuggy is rarely used by children
in the play process. The research group
identified 133 episodes of children’s inter-
actions with the Huggy Wuggy toy, with
only 2.3% of them (N=3) being identified
as roleplay episodes on everyday plots.
Interestingly enough, not a single episode
of well-elaborated plots with Huggy Wug-
gy was identified. In the majority of cases
the research group observed manipula-
tions with the toy (6.8%, N=9): children
examined the toy, touched it and played
with its paws.
Fig. 4. Pictures of Huggy Wuggy
92
Клопотова Е.Е., Смирнова С.Ю., Токарчук Ю.А., Рубцова О.В. Особенности восприятия детьми
дошкольного возраста игрушек-монстров (на примере Хагги Вагги)
Психологическая наука и образование. 2023. Т. 28. № 1
In the identified play episodes with the
Huggy Wuggy toy, clearly aggressive actions
were spotted only in 6% of cases (N=8), and
it was not aggression towards other partici-
pants. Children started to imitate as if the toy
attacked someone, but stopped almost imme-
diately. There was one case, when a boy tried
to hit Huggy Wuggy with his hand, and then
he hit it with a toy hammer, and then sat on it,
trying to squash it. However, it is important to
highlight, that this very boy also demonstrated
aggressive behavior in the play without Huggy
Wuggy: he was trying to break down LEGO
constructions, pretended that instruments
looked like pistols, he also tried to put on his
group mates head objects from LEGO blocks.
Much more often in comparison with aggres-
sive actions (22.6%, N=30), the members
of the research group observed emotionally
colored active play episodes, where children
were excited. Children’s activity while interact-
ing with Huggy Wuggy toy was mostly physi-
cal: children tossed the toy up, threw it to each
other, played with its paws, and chased each
other holding Huggy Wuggy in their hands.
The results of the non-participant ob-
servation revealed that many children
(38.5%, N=50) used the toy as an attri-
bute of prestige — they held it while doing
something else (drawing, talking with each
other, playing LEGO blocks). At the same
time 8.3% (N=11) of children used Huggy
Wuggy as object to hug (a hugger).
According to the empirical data Huggy
Wuggy is attractive both for boys and for
girls (Fig. 5). Both boys (54.5%, N=6) and
girls 45.5%, N=5) use Huggy Wuggy as an
object for hugging.
Interestingly enough, in our sample only
girls used the toy in roleplay on everyday
subjects (100%, N=3). At the same time, girls
more often than boys manipulated with the
toy (77.8%, N=7), while boys more often than
girls used Huggy Wuggy as an attribute of
prestige (70%, N=35). Moreover, boys more
often interacted with Huggy Wuggy in emo-
tionally colored play episodes (61.9%, N=39).
The analysis of the empirical data al-
lowed to reveal differences in peculiarities of
children’s play with Huggy Wuggy in two dif-
ferent age groups (Fig. 6). Children of middle
preschool period (4 to 5 years) more often
used the monster toy as an attribute of pres-
tige (72%, N=36), and hugged a toy (72.7%,
N=8). At the same time, only older preschool-
ers (5 to 6 years) used the toy in plot episodes
(100%, N=3). It is important to highlight that
in episodes of active (emotionally colored)
play no age differences in interaction with the
Huggy Wuggy toy were identified.
Fig. 5. Features of interaction with Huggy Wuggy among boys and girls
93
Klopotova E.E., Smirnova S.Yu., Tokarchuk Yu.A., Rubtsova O.V.
Preschoolers’ Perception of Monster Toys (on the Example of Huggy Wuggy)
Psychological Science and Education. 2023. Vol. 28, no. 1
Discussion and concluding remarks
The empirical data gained in the pro-
cess of research testify that in November
2022 the Huggy Wuggy monster toy was
extremely popular among Russian pre-
schoolers — almost all of the research
participants were familiar with the charac-
ter, and a bit less than half of the children
owned the toy. Most children, who took part
in the research, were not afraid of Huggy
Wuggy and did not behave aggressively
while interacting with the toy. The majority
of children also did not demonstrate spe-
cific anxiety, connected with the image of
Huggy Wuggy.
More than half of the children knew
about the origins of Huggy Wuggy and
were familiar with the video game «Pop-
py Playtime». Children, familiar with the
content of the video game, more often
perceived Huggy Wuggy as an evil and
aggressive character, in comparison with
children, who were not familiar with the
content of the video game. Overall, chil-
dren, who did not know anything about the
context of Huggy Wuggy, played with it as
with any other soft toy.
The data obtained echoes the data of
similar research, devoted, particularly, to
the toy Monster High [5; 7]. This Monster
dolls appeared in Russian shops at the be-
ginning of 2010s together with the TV se-
ries, and quickly became parents’ concern.
The authors of the research concluded that
Monsters High did not scare children, did
not provoke aggression, and did not im-
merse children in the “topic of scary death
world”. Children played with these dolls the
simple plots which were clear and interest-
ing for them. Thus, the content of the play
depends not that much on the toy itself, but
rather on the socio-cultural context of the
child’s life, and on those relationships in
which the child is involved [5; 7].
According to the data received in our
research, preschoolers relatively rarely use
Huggy Wuggy in the play itself (particularly
in roleplay). The Huggy Wuggy toy attracts
them mostly as a “hugger” — an object,
which is required for emotional support,
a toy which children take to bed, hug and
touch when they need it. Due to long arms,
Huggy Wuggy is comfortable to use in such
kind of interactions.
Fig. 6. Features of playing with a Huggy Wuggy toy in middle and older preschool age
94
Клопотова Е.Е., Смирнова С.Ю., Токарчук Ю.А., Рубцова О.В. Особенности восприятия детьми
дошкольного возраста игрушек-монстров (на примере Хагги Вагги)
Психологическая наука и образование. 2023. Т. 28. № 1
Huggy Wuggy is also often used as an
attribute of prestige (fashionable object),
which children demonstrate to age mates.
Today the phenomenon of children’s use
of toys for gaining prestige remains poorly
studied. In some research works on this
problem, it was demonstrated that age
mates’ opinion is one of the key factors
of children’s choice of toys. Particularly
L. Borenstein argues (1996) that children
prefer toys which are liked by their friends,
because this has a positive influence on
interaction with them [11]. A.-M. Puroila &
E. Estola (2012), who studied popular chil-
dren’s toys, used the term «social value
of toys», which describes the toy’s ability
to influence children’s position in a group,
and their relations with age mates [15].
The social value of the toy for the child
was also studied by P. Mertala et al. The
authors argue, that children want to pos-
sess certain toys, but it does not neces-
sarily mean that they have the intention to
play with them. In certain cases, toys are
regarded more as objects for collecting, or
objects of prestige, rather than objects for
play itself [13].
It is common knowledge, that contem-
porary children often ask for toys, because
they want to possess something, what an-
other child possesses, or something, which
is more often possessed by everyone [1].
This process is stimulated by contempo-
rary toy industry, which is aimed at creating
such characters, who have already proved
their popularity in other forms, particularly
films or series (e.g. figures from Angry
Birds and Star Wars) [13]. In the same way,
the history of Huggy Wuggy started, who
originally was a character of a video game,
and who gained extreme popularity as a
character of YouTube videos. Possessing
this Monster toy affirms a certain status of
the child, which in turn helps them to hold a
particular position in group.
Thus, being, first of all, a fashionable
toy, Huggy Wuggy is likely to quickly give
way to another monster toy, which has
already happened, e.g. with Monsters
High.
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Клопотова Е.Е., Смирнова С.Ю., Токарчук Ю.А., Рубцова О.В. Особенности восприятия детьми
дошкольного возраста игрушек-монстров (на примере Хагги Вагги)
Психологическая наука и образование. 2023. Т. 28. № 1
Information about the authors
Ekaterina E. Klopotova, PhD in Psychology, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Educational Psychology,
Senior Researcher of Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Contemporary Childhood, Moscow State
University of Psychology & Education, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1975-318X,
e-mail: klopotovaee@mgppu.ru
Svetlana Yu. Smirnova, Researcher, Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Contemporary Childhood,
Moscow State University of Psychology & Education, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-
0002-8579-4908, e-mail: smirnovasy@mgppu.ru
Yulia A. Tokarchuk, Researcher, Center for Interdisciplinary Research of Contemporary Childhood, Mos-
cow State University of Psychology & Education, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-
0690-0694, e-mail: lyusindus@gmail.com
Olga V. Rubtsova, PhD in Psychology, Associate Professor, Head of the Center for Interdisciplinary Re-
search on Contemporary Childhood, Moscow State University of Psychology & Education, Moscow, Rus-
sia, OR CID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3902-1234, e-mail: ovrubsova@mail.ru
Информация об авторах
Клопотова Екатерина Евгеньевна, кандидат психологических наук, доцент кафедры дошкольной
педагогики и психологии факультета «Психология образования», старший научный сотрудник
Центра междисциплинарных исследований современного детства, ФГБОУ ВО «Московский госу-
дарственный психолого-педагогический университет» (ФГБОУ ВО МГППУ), г. Москва, Российская
Федерация, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1975-318X, e-mail: klopotovaee@mgppu.ru
Смирнова Светлана Юрьевна, научный сотрудник Центра междисциплинарных исследований со-
временного детства, ФГБОУ ВО «Московский государственный психолого-педагогический универ-
ситет» (ФГБОУ ВО МГППУ), г. Москва, Российская Федерация, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-
8579-4908, e-mail: smirnovasy@mgppu.ru
Токарчук Юлия Александровна, научный сотрудник Центра междисциплинарных исследований со-
временного детства, ФГБОУ ВО «Московский государственный психолого-педагогический универ-
ситет» (ФГБОУ ВО МГППУ), г. Москва, Российская Федерация, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-
0690-0694, e-mail: lyusindus@gmail.com
Рубцова Ольга Витальевна, кандидат психологических наук, руководитель Центра междисципли-
нарных исследований современного детства, доцент кафедры «Возрастная психология имени
проф. Л.Ф. Обуховой» факультета «Психология образования», ФГБОУ ВО «Московский государ-
ственный психолого-педагогический университет» (ФГБОУ ВО МГППУ), г. Москва, Российская Фе-
дерация, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3902-1234, e-mail: ovrubsova@mail.ru
Получена 26.11.2022 Received 26.11.2022
Принята в печать 08.12.2022 Accepted 08.12.2022
Journal of Early Childhood Education Research. 2012.
Vol. 1. № 1. P. 22—43.
16. Werner T. Welcome to Monster High.
Entwicklungsgeschichte und Bedeutungswandel von
Monster High // In: Ute Dettmar, Ingrid Tomkowiak
(Hg.): Spielarten der Populärkultur. Kinder- und
Jugendliteratur und -medien im Feld des Populären.
Berlin: Peter Lang, 2019. P. 217—238.
