School Principal BANS Coles Little Shop Toys

A Victorian primary school is banning students from bringing Coles’ collectable toys to school, due to cases of bullying, fighting and stealing.

Peter Adams, principal at Pascoe Vale Primary School in Melbourne’s north, has slammed Coles over their Little Shop promotion, calling it ‘genius and (an) absolute disgrace’.

In the school’s most recent newsletter, he urged parents to prevent their children from bringing the plastic toys to school, citing a series of fights over them, shares Daily Mail.

Some schools are also being forced to deal with instances of theft, organising swap meets to help students collect the full set, the Herald Sun reports.

Mr Adams says the toys are creating headaches for teachers, with students reporting theirs as being either lost or stolen.

He says it’s gotten to the point where they can’t tell which is stolen and which is lost.

Parents are concerned that their children are being bullied, which is why Mr Adams has put the toys in the same category as mobile phones and other valuables; safer left at home.

Teaching tool

Meanwhile other schools are embracing the toys, using them as teaching tools.

Some Primary schools are urging students and parents to save any collectables that are not wanted and donate them to the office so they can be used for students to learn money and ‘play shops’ during maths lessons.

Has your child been caught up in any dramas at school due to Little Shop mini’s?

Share your comments below

We may get commissions for purchases made using links in this post. Learn more.

15 Comments

- - meedee said
  - 26 Oct 2022
    12:41 pm
I am amazed at how many articles there are on these items.

- - Blossom said
  - 01 Sep 2018
    12:50 pm
With some imagination parents could teach their children the value of money by setting up a “toy” shop and something as money to teach them that food and other items have to be paid for, not free. You could use scrap paper with numbers on them as money.

- - rovermum said
  - 29 Aug 2018
    10:15 am
No, but this is not new! You know the toy has made it big when it’s banned from the school ground. Schools just need to manage these things better.

- - BellaB said
  - 29 Aug 2018
    9:46 am
This seems to happen with any “collectable” – thefts are particularly regrettable though.
- mom93821 replied
  
  30 Aug 2018 , 6:49 am
  It is quite sad that anyone would steal and clearly this needs to be addressed.
- - mom93821 said
  - 29 Aug 2018
    4:57 am
So sad that these minis are being stolen – there is a lesson to be taught by the school about theft. Adults and children decide on their experience with Coles minis and adults need to role model the right way to collect and use them and also the rules involved with swapping them and being honest. Setting up a swap day is a good way to address part of the issue in the article.

- - Ellen said
  - 29 Aug 2018
    3:47 am
To slam Coles over their Little Shop promotion, calling it ‘genius and (an) absolute disgrace’, is in my opinion crazy ! That children at some schools seem to lose them or have them stolen, says something about the kids and the school. That other schools are well able to use them as a teaching tool, says that it has nothing to do with the product or promotion itself, but all with the people who deal with them.
- Ellen replied
  
  29 Aug 2018 , 3:55 am
  And no, my kids haven’t been caught up in dramas at school due to the Little Shop Mini’s, they don’t bring them even to school.
- - musicmum said
  - 29 Aug 2018
    1:05 am
Hope Coles are happy about this digusting fad they started. Absolutely ridiculous, getting out of hand. I just don’t get why people are getting so into these, they are just bits of plastic promoting big business.

- - nealsq said
  - 28 Aug 2018
    10:18 pm
all fads end up being banned, get over it

- - mom101628 said
  - 28 Aug 2018
    8:31 pm
Can understand both sides of the argument – it will work itself out once the store stops giving them out at the end of this month.

- - mom90758 said
  - 28 Aug 2018
    4:54 pm
Oh, I would have never imagined kids stealing the minis.
I think I will never finish my collection!

- - becstalou said
  - 28 Aug 2018
    1:35 pm
Kids are still probably behaving better than some adults. My nephew had a heap of his stolen but luckily he learned his lesson about leaving his stuff where it can be taken. Better to learn with these than something really valuable.

- - mom160421 said
  - 28 Aug 2018
    12:41 pm
This is so ridiculous … they are little bits of plastic.
- musicmum replied
  
  29 Aug 2018 , 1:03 am
  I agree