By | February 9th, 2007 at 7:40 am
According to a press release, Richard Simmons and Fisher Price announced at the New York Toy Fair that they would be teaming up to introduce the Smart Cycle, a stationary bike that plugs into an ordinary television set and allows children ages 3-6 to play video games by pedaling and steering. Retailing for about a hundred bucks, the bike is designed as a fun way to help combat rising childhood obesity. The games will feature popular characters such as Sponge Bob and Dora, and retail for about twenty bucks each. Simmons is also involved in the AskAmerica program, which hopes to bring full-scale physical education programs back to public schools.
I have misgivings about the Smart Cycle, to be honest. I have quite a bit of control over my children’s physical activity levels at this point, and don’t see that changing until they’re older–past the age for which the Smart Cycle is designed. But I suppose that’s what Dance Dance Revolution is for, right? Seriously though, I feel like it’s better for them (and for me! I need to exercise too!) if we just go outside and ride our dumb cycles.
Well! Your kids don't have any toys left, do they? Because now that you've thrown away all their Thomas trains, their lead-coated Dora crap, and they're tired of playing with Lead-Poison Barbie , there's like nothing left in the toybox
It would be even more clever if they came up with a stationary cycle that POWERS THE TV. I belonged to a gym once that had those – there was a TV built in to the bike, but you had to pedal continuously to keep it going.