Ant Attack

By london_will Last edited 230 months ago
Ant Attack
Not nice at all.

As Londonist gets older, toys seem to get stranger. Of course, there was nothing inherently "normal" about the space hopper, but the hot toy for 2005 is apparently going to be ... edible insects. No, not insect-shaped sweets or anything sane like that. Real insects. Oven-baked. For children to eat. For fun.

This is all according to CBBC Newsround's report from the London Toy Fair. In 2005, kids will apparently be bugging their parents for a game that tests their bravery and that of their friends by requiring them to eat our six-legged friends. The inspiration for this is the second-rate ITV reality show "Survivor", the programme responsible for hitching Jordan and Peter Andre, where contestants are forced to endure phobia-inducing trials that involve being covered in insects and such.

So, obviously, having watched the show the kids will be keen to repeat these trials at home, right? The CBBC report is ominous. Victoria, aged 10, said: "It was really disgusting but I managed to eat one of the oven baked worms! My mum tried to eat a toasted ant but chose a worm in the end because the ants just looked too horrid! It was certainly the oddest game that I saw." Not exactly the next Furby, then.

Fortunately, it seems there are some other guaranteed-hit toys to take the place of these entomophagic antics. Victoria liked the Robosapien V2 robot (successor to 2004's smash hit). "It was amazing - it could pick things up and throw them!" she reported.

In Londonist's day, things that did that were called "little brothers".

The London Toy Fair is at the ExCel Centre and runs until Sunday. Consumption of insects not required.

Last Updated 28 January 2005