Adults aren't just buying toys for kids anymore. They're buying them for themselves, and toy companies are racing to capitalize on a behavior that's been hiding in plain sight for decades.

The global toy market hit $123 billion last year, and adults 18 and older drove 35% of toy industry growth through April 2024, according to Circana. "I think the most important lesson here is don't be blinkered when you're kind of defining your customer base," said our analyst Carina Lamb on a recent episode of "Reimagining Retail."

What toy executives are calling "kidulting" isn't new. The term dates back to the 1950s. What's changed is how deliberately brands now target adults, with products built for them: Lego's Botanicals collection, Play-Doh's Blooms floral crafting kit.

Adults are driving toy sales in unexpected ways

Households without children now buy most of the toys. Adult-only households accounted for 55% of toy sales, up 16% YoY, per Circana.

In the UK, adults over 12 account for one in every three pounds spent on toys, and nearly half of UK adults bought a toy for themselves or another adult during the year, Lamb noted. That spending has a shape: Building sets are the fastest-growing category, driven by Formula One sets and Lego Botanicals, which skew toward older audiences.

Adult consumers offer year-round revenue, not just fourth-quarter holiday sales. 

"These people have credit cards. They have disposable income, and they're ready, willing, and able to spend all year long," said our analyst Zak Stambor.

Brands are creating explicit adult product lines

Toy companies have stopped hoping adults will pick up children's products. They are designing for grown-ups outright.

Crayola launched alcohol-based markers that "look and feel and function very differently than the rest of their marker products," Stambor noted. Build-A-Bear created Bear Cave, a separate section of its website for shoppers 18 and older. Play-Doh partnered with the Whitney Museum to launch Blooms, rolling out the product through TikTok and the museum before hitting retailers.

Lego sells sets explicitly labeled "18 and older," some running to thousands of pieces. Its TV show "Lego Masters" then models the behavior, showing adults that building can be "fun and engaging and intellectually stimulating," Stambor said.

Adult toy products work when they keep the brand recognizable and add complexity or sophistication. 

"You need to have that kind of enduring emotional relationship, but also a kind of credible adult use case," Lamb said. "So is it something that's gonna give some creative satisfaction, or relaxation, or a challenge, or connection?"

The lipstick effect meets digital detox

Squeezed budgets and screen fatigue are pushing adults toward toys.

"In the world that we live in today, there's kind of times of economic difficulty. People are having their income squeezed," Lamb said. "Toys give this kind of escapism. They give some joy, and they're a relatively inexpensive purchase."

Toy brands are also chasing the same customer arts and crafts retailers have served for years: the adult who wants something to do with their hands. 

"Getting off our screens, getting off our phones, having something which is reminiscent of our youth when we didn't have all of those things," Lamb said.

Collectibles and blind boxes add a third pull. 

"People love gambling, right? And this is low stakes gambling," Stambor said. Opening a Pokemon card pack is a small bet, and it is one worth filming: the surprise creates shareable moments that drive social connection.

What non-toy brands can learn

Kidulting's lessons extend well past the toy aisle.

Look beyond traditional customer definitions. "Toy companies had long thought like, 'Oh, we're a toy company. We serve kids.' And then you start to look into your data, and you start to see some adults buying Legos," Stambor said. The customers were already there, in the sales data, before anyone marketed to them.

Reframe existing behaviors to remove stigma. "What they've helped do is that kinda cultural relevance, that social permission, by reframing it as something else. So it's kind of stress relief, it's unplugging, rather than immaturity or childishness," Lamb said.

Model the behavior you want to normalize. Content like "Lego Masters" shows adults using the products, which makes the activity more acceptable. 

"Once you see people doing a behavior, it becomes far more acceptable for you to then say, 'Hey, maybe I'll go buy some Legos and start building,'" Stambor said.

Listen to the full episode.