In our first quarterly review of 2018, we surveyed PopJammers across the UK, US and Australia to reveal what’s been trending with kids so far this year.
SPOILERS: Fortnite and the Floss are HUGE.
In January we revealed Kids’ Trend Predictions for 2018 – as chosen by kids and submitted on our PopJam platform. They suggested slime, unicorns, fidget spinners, squishies and iPhones would be the top trends for 2018.
JoJo Siwa, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, Stranger Things, Spongebob Squarepants, Wengie, DanTDM, gaming, singing, gymnastics and art have all been popular – but here are the top 5 for the first quarter of 2018.
Interested in kids trends? Every month we create a Kids Insights Report, digging into all the trends in our highly-engaged PopJam community. If you’d like to check out this month’s report, click here.
Roblox
Roblox is hugely popular with kids, and has been a firm favourite for years. PopJammers believe Roblox is easier than Minecraft, plus they enjoy the range of different games and ability to develop their own challenges. Roblox (along with slime and unicorns) is one of the online search terms PopJammers say they use the most.
They also search content surrounding Roblox (fan sites, wikis and codes) as well as influencer videos (tips, stories and walkthroughs). Playing a game is one thing, but widening the experience to excel in it and learn everything about it, makes it feel like more of a shared community experience or hobby.
Fortnite
In the words of PopJammers, Fortnite is “a game where you have to survive the longest, either in teams or on your own.” And why is it so popular? “Most people like it because it’s free and involves fights.”
They also love the game play, the characters, the dances and the skins (different character looks and costumes). They like playing with friends, or at least competing about wins. There’s been some concern about the safety of Fortnite, especially with kids communicating with people they don’t know through voice and text functions – concerns that can apply to a number of other games. PopJammers say: “It is unsafe because you could be playing with a 40 year old, for all you know,” and “I personally don’t think Fortnite is dangerous, it’s just for fun!”
The Floss
The Dab is dead. When asking PopJammers what the latest trends were, and what everyone was talking about, they were happy to tell us about the death of the dance move and how it was ‘so 2017’. Instead, the Floss has been born.
It was created by 16 year old Instagram-famous dancer The Backpack Kid, and then brought to fame when he was a backing dancer for Katy Perry’s performance of Swish Swish on Saturday Night Live. (He’s not Katy Perry’s first on-stage viral sensation – remember Left Shark?). Kids love recreating the stiff-armed dance, which becomes increasingly tough the faster you do it.
Squishies
From mini blind-bag collectables to huge scented cushions, squishies, stress toys or squish toys are very popular. Check out the blog to explore our thoughts on kids playing with tactile and comforting toys in a digital age of flat swipe screens.
During a recent PopJam research session, a few kids told us that kids like to play with their slime and squishies whilst watching YouTube videos about slime and squishies. Are they miles ahead in creating their own fully immersive experience?
Slime
Slime is still huge, as predicted. It has now overtaken the fidget spinner as the longest running trend of recent times. ‘How to make slime’ was the most popular ‘How To…’ Google search of 2017.
There is an ever-increasing variety to explore: classic slime, soap slime, glitter slime, fluffy slime, floam slime and edible slime. It’s not just about making it, either – kids particularly love watching videos of other kids making it.
Check out our own take on the trend – YouTubers Life with Brothers making PopJam slime!
Look out for our Q2 trends update in a couple of months…
Chris Williams is Head of Community and Insight for PopJam, the largest kid-safe social content platform.
