Do you know what to get the children in your life for the holidays? The Toy Insider has created a list of The Hot 20, featuring the top toys this holiday season.
The list is a mix of classic toys and newer ones. Familiar favorites such as Furby, Elmo and Legos are on the list. The Toy Insider also creates age- and interest-specific lists.
Ali Mierzejewski, editor-in-chief of The Toy Insider, said unlike in years past, 2023 does not have a clear top toy of the season.
"Because kids are so exposed to content across so many different platforms, interests are so varied," she said. "They're able to find things that they like on social media, on YouTube, on regular TV, that I think that when you're shopping, those hot toys really depend kid to kid."
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Mierzejewski highlighted some of the newer toy options popular among children. One such option is Storytime with Sunny, which includes 300 activities that tell stories along the way.
"These are conversation starters, they're habit builders, they're bedtime routines, all kinds of things like that, mindfulness activities," Mierzejewski said about the $59.99 toy. "So kids will get tons of interactive play with this."
Mierzejewski said the Toniebox remains a popular option. Tonieboxes are screen-free speakers that can tell stories and play music. Tonies of various characters tell different stories and sing various songs.
"You can upload your own content, too," she said. "But when we put a favorite character like Batman on top of it, it's immediately going to start telling us stories that include all of our favorite Batman characters, everybody from Gotham City, the Penguin, Harley Quinn, all the great villains. But what I really love about this is it's just easy to travel with."
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Mierzejewski said the Pikachu Squishmallow remains popular among young children.
"They're huggable, squishable plush that kids love as their pals, but also as room decor and things like that," she said, adding they come in other Pokemon characters.
For those celebrating Hanukkah, Mierzejewski said the Meaning of Hanukkah Game from the Rugrats is a good choice.
"Each player will get this candle holder that features a character on it, and they're going to match tiles to build up a candle. Once they are able to light their candles, that's how they keep score," she said as she held the game. "So they get a point for each tile that's in each of the lit candles. And it, of course, features all of our favorite characters from that episode of Rugrats."
