A Chinese father, worried about his daughter’s screen time, made nearly 300 homemade toys to compete for her attention. - Photo: SCMP composite/Douyin
BEIJING: A father in central China tackled the issue of phone addiction within his family by converting his home into a whimsical toy castle, creatively using range hood piping to fashion a pink dragon that captured the hearts of many across the mainland internet.
In a video shared by Henan Broadcasting System on September 11, the 35-year-old father, surnamed Zhang, from Zhengzhou, Henan province, elaborated on his motivation and the process behind transforming his house.
“If I don’t let my daughter use the phone or tablet, she needs alternative activities to engage her. Toys are ideal for a child around three or four years old,” Zhang explained.
He noted that he had observed his young daughter, nicknamed Nini, spending excessive time in front of screens and resolved to make homemade toys to “compete for her attention”.
The castle-home transformation was not a fleeting endeavour; Zhang has constructed nearly 300 toys for his daughter, including a train track along the ceiling of their home.
He even turned their door into a playful game of Tetris. His daughter plays on one side while Zhang, positioned on the other, assists in moving the blocks like in the classic video game.
“I created this door just a few days ago and cut a large opening in the centre for the Tetris. This toy definitely requires help from dad,” Zhang said.
In his creative venture, Zhang also transformed a power box in the wall into a charming “Mickey Mouse mouse hole”, complete with a miniature living space where Mickey can be seen lounging on a tiny sofa.
This cozy nook features a carefully crafted pink table, blue chair, lamp, and TV, showcasing Zhang’s meticulous attention to detail.
He designed the pink dragon using a 4-metre-long kitchen range hood pipe, inspired by the Year of the Dragon.
His Douyin account, “Creative Fun Brother”, boasts over 3 million followers, where he shares the intricate journey of crafting the dragon.
This process involved reinforcing the pipe with newspaper, creating a cardboard template for the dragon’s head, and molding the horns from clay.
Remarkably, he attached around 3,000 individual pink foam scales to complete the dragon. In the video, his daughter joyfully exclaimed: “This dragon is taller than me!”
Zhang’s imaginative projects have garnered widespread admiration online.
One commenter noted: “We should encourage parents like this to have more kids.”
Another said: “Not only do I want my child to have a dad like this, but I want a dragon as well! This is just too much fun, and I want to play, too.”
A humorous viewer quipped: “Delete this, please! What if my kid’s kindergarten teacher sees it and asks us to make something like this? I’m still traumatised from the last time when we were asked to make a paper house. I had to get a professional funeral craftsman to help.”
In a broader effort to address excessive screen time among children and teens, the Cyberspace Administration of China mandated that all mobile devices must include a built-in “minor mode”, limiting daily screen time to a maximum of two hours based on the user’s age. - South China Morning Post
