Play figures and cuddly toys are the main characters in many children’s stories. Playing out your own stories not only in your own children’s room, but also filming yourself doing so and publishing it on YouTube is in vogue.
YouTube nursery stories usually focus on horse collectibles. Whether it’s series with several seasons, short films, music videos or even feature-length films: if you enter the search term “Schleich horses” or “model horses” on YouTube, you’ll get quite a few hits with tens of thousands of clicks. A lot of time and effort goes into the productions, many videos even have elaborate opening credits and their own theme music. The most popular videos are from female YouTubers between ten and fifteen years old. They come up with the content of the films themselves, which range from a classic horse farm story to a romance, speak the characters’ lines, and film and edit the film on their own. They themselves appear mostly only with their voice and the hand that moves the character.
The YouTubers have large fan bases and are also role models for their viewers. Compliments on props, characters and the story fill the comment columns. Among the many positive comments, there are hardly any negative or even insulting comments.
Compared to many other well-known influencers, private life does not play a special role. Many of the girls emphasize that they are primarily interested in being creative and exchanging ideas with others about their shared hobby. Some of them have been collecting small plastic figurines for years. Animals of the brand Schleich are the most popular. That is why the horse films are good advertising for this company in particular. But for the YouTubers and their fans, they are above all the common passion.
If your child wants to make their own movies with collectible figures or other toys, feel free to encourage them to do so. Think together about what your child wants to show of himself and whether it is necessary to show his own face or reveal his name. Discuss that anyone on YouTube can make comments about the videos, which can sometimes be hurtful. Consider turning off the commenting feature for uploaded content.
To protect your child’s personal information, you can also create a YouTube account together and use your own data for it.
Also talk to your child about the fact that some YouTubers make money from their channels by advertising certain products. If such horse stories get a lot of attention, they will also become interesting for companies like Schleich as an advertising market.
