Chaz Stensness, 6, has been appointed an official The Warehouse toy tester. Photo / George Novak
Chaz Stensness, 6, has been appointed an official The Warehouse toy tester. Photo / George Novak
Six-year-old Chaz Stensness is taking his new job as a toy tester seriously.
The Tauranga boy is one of four children nationwide selected to be an official toy tester for The Warehouse for one year. To enter, he had to send in a video explaining why he would be goodfor the job.
He will get up to $200 worth of new toys sent to his house every month for testing plus $8000 cash. He gets to keep all the toys he tests.
Chaz, a huge Lego fan, wanted to make sure all the toys he tests were safe for other children.
"I will test if the Lego clips together and if the brakes work on bikes ... I'm going to make sure they are safe.
"A toy should be easy to use, colourful and they should have noisy ones and quiet ones."
Chaz had not yet told his friends about his important new job.
His mum Angela Stensness said Chaz had to share a piece of news at school on Monday and had been tossing up between telling his class about becoming a toy tester or showing them his latest Lego creation.
"I don't think he understands the nature of the prize, which is quite good because it's not going to his head."
Mrs Stensness got the phone call from The Warehouse on Friday to let her know Chaz had won the competition.
When she told Chaz, he was doubtful at first.
"He started off by saying 'are you serious?' I said yes and he flung his arms backwards. He was so excited he bumped his hand on the window sill. He was bouncing, just over the moon."
Mrs Stensness said Chaz had put a lot of thought into his video entry for the position.
He started off by saying 'are you serious?' I said yes and he flung his arms backwards. He was so excited he bumped his hand on the window sill. He was bouncing, just over the moon.
"He really took to the idea of making sure things are safe as well as fun. He had to talk about his favourite toy, Lego, which he is hoping he will get to test.
"He got all his Lego out and decided to make up some examples of what he had done. He was keen to share the idea that he liked Lego because you can either follow the rules or use your imagination."
The Warehouse Tauranga manager Andrew Long said it was great a child from Tauranga had been selected as a toy tester.
"He's going to get lots of toys to test and play with to discover the positive and negative points. Head office will send him toys about once a month, Chaz will test them and give them his feedback."
The Warehouse received more than 370 entries from around the country for one of the four positions.
Chaz's new tester colleagues are Ella Garlick, 6, from Whangaparaoa, Samuel Collins, 7, from Rotorua, and Evie MacDonald, 9, from Christchurch.
The competition was open to children between 5-10 years. Entry was for those who spent more than $30 and sent in a video explaining why they would make a great toy tester.
Here's Chaz's entry video:
Mobile and app users click here to watch the video.
What was your favourite toy as a child? Have your say by commenting below.
