At National Parenting Product Awards (NAPPA), they unboxed, tested and played with lots of toys. And now, bringing you the best of the toys they love. Here’s a few ideas for the babies, toddlers and preschoolers on your list.
Infants
Bebé Fuerte Collection
Features a colorful palette of fitness themed and LatinX culture. Spanish motivational words and phrases are displayed on each toy so parents can share as they play with baby. $8.99 – $23.99, ages birth+, us.tomy.com
My Recordable Storytime: Welcome Little One
Create lifelong memories by putting yourself into this beloved story so little ones can hear you read again and again. $24.99, ages birth+, read.sourebooks.com
Goodbye, rocking horse. A great way to learn balance and improve dexterity. Once they’ve mastered rocking, detach from the base to ride as a balance bike. $249.98, ages 6-18 months, striderbikes.com
RAW Baby Changing Basket
Handcrafted from sustainable seagrass using heritage techniques by fair trade certified Vietnamese artisans. Includes memory foam mattress with a removable and water-resistant bamboo blend cover, a cotton leaf liner for milestone photos, and a vegan leather changing mat. $149.97, bebebask.com
Philips Avent Soothie Snuggle
A lightly weighted plush toy with a pacifier attached. Helps calm babies by securing pacifiers in place while acting as a cuddly source of security. Detach for easy cleaning/sanitizing. $15.99, ages birth+, various retailers.
Baby’s First Book of 44 Sounds
This research-based board book includes all 44 sounds found in English to jumpstart a baby’s literacy journey. Allows your baby to hear each sound used in a word and then pronounced in isolation. $24.99, ages birth+, smartnoggintoys.com
ABC Affirmation Baby Book
Teaches letters and helps build your baby and toddler’s confidence with positive words and 26 affirmations. $12.99, ages birth+, kidsforculture.com
Toddlers & Preschoolers
Playskool Weebles My Smart House
Full of action on every floor—down the chimney and onto the bed, then off the bed and down the slide. Enjoy a virtual visit with grandma and grandpa. Then take another slide down to the kitchen for a snack and swing ride. $49.99, ages 12 months+, playmonster.com
The Mischievous Matching Mushrooms
Help your baby learn colors and develop fine motor skills as they sort each mushroom into the board. And help identify emotions associated with colors. $14.99, ages 12 months+, sassybaby.net
Enchanted Rainbow
There is a whole lot to discover in this beautifully designed wooden stacking toy. Features a five-piece rainbow, two play figures and much more. $35.50, ages 2+, us.bababooandfriends.com
Rainy Ranch
Build fine motor skills, color matching and shape recognition as you help them roll the dice to lead animals into the barn. But watch out for raindrops. $19.99, ages 2+, various retailers.
Monster Jam ThunderROARus Drop
Take their stunts higher. Drop the truck down the epic six-foot ramp and watch it speed toward the dino’s mouth. Attaching the ramp to your wall is made easy using 3M hooks leaving no damage behind. $99.99, ages 3+, spinmaster.com
GooGames
Hand-held pocket-sized sensory water games that are squishy and visually mesmerizing. Three styles echo themes from popular mobile games for a nostalgic experience. $9.99, ages 3+, skycastletoys.com
Cry Babies Magic Tears Stars Talent Babies
Embark on an interstellar adventure with eight dolls to collect. Each one cries real tears and includes six surprises for mix and match fun. $9.99, ages 3+, various retailers.
BIZYBOO Hide ‘N’ Seek BUSY BAG
Soft, whimsical, portable and mess free. Kids can prod and push the beads around keeping occupied while on the road, in a car or plane. $8.99, ages 2+, vangotoys.com
Numberblocks Step Squad Mission Headquarters
Play out your favorite action-packed missions and embark on exciting number adventures to practice counting, sequencing, and other early math skills alongside these favorite characters. $39.99, ages 3+, hand2mind.com
Amazon’s Fire HD 8 Kids
Comes with an included subscription to Amazon Kids+ for access to thousands of age-appropriate and ad-free books, games, apps, videos and more. Easy-to-use parental controls, allowing guardians to set screen time limits or adjust age filters. $149.99, ages 3-7, various retailers.
Smashers Monster Truck Surprise
Get ready to build, race, crash and smash to discover and construct your Monster Truck. Features 25 smashing surprises. $24.99, ages 3-5, zurutoys.com
LeapFrog Rainbow Learning Lights Mixer
Create their own recipes or follow the instructions on the two double-sided recipe cards. Little bakers can make more than 40 pretend recipes for cookies, cupcakes, pies and more. $29.99, ages 2+, shop.leapfrog.com
Curious Kingdom
Combines building fun with creative play. Construct the castle and let imaginations soar with these seven silly characters. Each playset comes with two sticker sheets, plus an optional free app with learning games and more. $34.99, ages 3+, playper.com
Storypod
This adorable interactive system now features recordable stickers that can be placed anywhere for your family and friends to share special messages. Record stories, songs, memories and more for the kids in your life to enjoy over and over again. The system includes pre-recorded multisensory stories, music and more. $99.99, ages birth-6 years, storypod.com
Mini Brands Series 5 Capsule by ZURU
The real brands that fit in your hand. Features 90+ miniatures to collect, including ultra-rare frozen moments and new Mini Minis. $7.49, ages 3-5, zurutoys.com
VTech Switch & Go 3-in-1 Rescue Rex
Easily combine the fire truck, rescue copter and electronic police car into a roaring T-Rex over 20 inches long. Cool action sounds, phrases and digital effects inspire play and adventure. $42.99, ages 4+, vtechkids.com
PLAYMOBIL Rainbow Castle in the Clouds
Climb up the rope ladder and join the princesses. Find a seat on the rainbow merry go round or look out on the horizon through the telescope. $99.99, ages 4-10, playmobil.us
Ninja Kidz TV Giant Mystery Ninja Ball
This giant mystery ball has over 25 blind-bag surprises for inspiring Ninjas to unbox. $52.99, ages 3+, bliptoys.com
Sesame Street Elmo Slide Plush
Little ones can dance, sing, and play along with their fun-loving pal in English or Spanish. $49.99, ages 2+, various retailers.
BobBee
A water toy that is three boats in one with a special message about friendship and teamwork. Features soft silicone and advanced buoyancy engineering; plus social-emotional facial expressions and storyline. $40, ages 2-4, griddlygames.com
Disney Junior Mickey Mouse Roarin’ Safari Dino
This interactive set features ground-shaking sound effects with a kid-powered dinosaur. Press the lever on its back to open and close its jaws, hear it roar and activate exciting Mickey Mouse phrases. $34.99, ages 3+, various retailers.
Nia
This 18-inch doll embodies beauty and confidence. Her half cloth body offers a cuddly and comforting touch and she has 20 inspiring phrases to motivate and inspire young children. $89.99, ages 3+, brainsandbeautydolls.com
Pop Out Dinosaurs
Both a book and a play set. Kids can learn about each dinosaur species and then build their own using chunky press-out pieces. $12.99, ages 4+, read.sourcebooks.com