Children’s and leisure products Institute of Technology (Aiju), with support from the European Union Intellectual Property Office (Euipo), has created an innovative free educational tool to start the new school year. The program teaches children about the value of intellectual property and the health risks associated with fake toys, helping safeguard both people and the environment and economy.
The latest Euipo youth barometer on intellectual property reveals that 45% of young Spaniards knowingly bought at least one counterfeit product in the past year. This underscores why education and awareness in schools about the risks of such items matter. Young consumers from Aiju are encouraged to learn to make informed choices, with learning beginning at an early age.
Thus, the project “safe or fake?” targets girls and boys aged 8 to 12 and primary school teachers, offering free educational resources designed to support responsible consumption. The tool provides a range of engaging materials that can be used at home, in school, or during extracurricular activities to empower the education community.
According to project coordinator Mari Cruz Arenas, this initiative enables students to become designers of new toys or authors of stories, applying what they know to protect their own creations. It also teaches them how to determine if a toy is genuine or counterfeit. The resources are intended for third to sixth grade and aim to illuminate the non obvious risks to health, the environment and society when counterfeit goods are involved.
Teachers and education professionals involved in the project value the opportunity to use toys as a vehicle for reaching students and addressing responsible consumption while integrating it with traditional subjects such as social sciences and natural sciences.
The resources align with classroom topics from the perspective of consumption and social reality to new online shopping models. Data indicate that toys for children aged 0 to 2 accounted for 60% of purchases in the toy category, while online gift purchases for children represented 43% of total purchases, according to the Aiju Guide 2021-2022.
Online commerce has become the main distribution channel for counterfeit goods. A study by Euipo and the OECDE shows that more than half of seizures of counterfeit goods entering the EU are connected to online trade. This rapid growth of e commerce has expanded opportunities to offer counterfeit products to consumers globally, with toys among the most affected items.
In this context, the tool introduced by Aiju and Euipo aims to convey the importance of intellectual property and the dangers posed by imitations for children’s health, including the risk that toys may contain toxic substances, small parts or flammable materials that could cause harm.
Educational materials also address the environmental and economic consequences of buying fake toys, highlighting losses for companies and for society at large, including reduced public funds and a weaker welfare state.
Additionally, crimes linked to intellectual property infringement often intersect with other serious offenses such as money laundering, document fraud, cybercrime, fraud, drug production and trafficking, and terrorism.
Ana Sánchez, head of the Aiju laboratory, notes that using toys as a focal point helps motivate and engage children in learning about intellectual property and the harms caused by counterfeit toys.
The project offers an educational tool that allows parents and teachers to work on core skills while respecting others creations and the values of European consumers and the environment, maintaining a practical and engaging approach to responsible learning.