The gift guides are here, the gift guides are here!!

How great would it be to feel confident your kids are not only going to love their Christmas gifts, they’ll keep returning to play with them again and again? These are the toys that are actually worth your hard-earned money.

These are the Toy Awards that parents in-the-know have already viewed over 7,000,000 Times!

Pin it to your favorite gift or toy board or bookmark it (and share it with your mom friends – they’ll thank you!).

There are 15 toy gift guides in total, some arranged by age and others by interest (STEM, outdoor play, etc.) but today I’m releasing my annual list of the the best toys of the year.

Because I’m all about high-quality, engaging toys not everything on this list is brand new.

This is not your run of the mill gift guide.  I work on these babies all year long, every year, researching, cultivating, and fine-tuning the gift guides until they’re just right.

Without further ado, here are my top picks of the year…

HOTTEST NEW TOYS 

Flying Owleez

$39.99 (4 – 9 years)

The Flying Owleez is sure to be one of the hottest toys of the year so it may be wise to grab it while you can.

The reason? Owleez is the ingenious combination of two toys that have topped the Christmas Toy list in year’s past: Hatchimals and the Flying Fairy Doll.

Like the Hatchimal toys, the Owleez is a robotic toy that expresses a large range of emotions and responds to a child’s interaction. Kids will love taking care of their Owleez and watching as it thrives under their care.

What they’ll really go crazy for, though, is teaching Owleez to fly.

You’ve gotta watch the video on this one- my bet is you know a kid who will totally flip over this one.

One last thing- I appreciate that there’s both a pink and white version of the Owleez, making it a toy that will appeal to both boys and girls. While there are certainly plenty of boys out there who appreciate pink, my sons aren’t among them. The white version will be a toy all three of my kids will enjoy.

Remote Control Super Friends Transforming Batmobile

$79 on sale $59 (4 – 8 years)

Every year when I put this lists together in October, I always get so excited about a few of the picks that I can’t stop myself from buying them for my own kids’ Christmas.

This year one of those toys is this one for my kindergarten son- it’s just SO cool! Check out this video…

Reviewers report that the remote control is very kid-friendly for little hands and that the generously sized Batmobile moves in a lot of cool ways. Not the least of which is the way it suddenly grows hugely tall with Batman standing on top to shoot bad guys.

I just know kids in preschool/kindergarten/early elementary school are going to be blown away by this one and the Batman lover in my family is going to be thrilled to find it under the tree.

ON SALE

Mind-Blowing Science Kit

$20.45 On Sale $9.97 (4+ years w/ adult supervision)

Performing some basic science experiments at home is a great way to inject a little learning into your quality time with the kids.

This set gets great reviews from parents and comes with step-by-step instructions for each experiment.

There’s also a detailed science guide that provides adults with “mind blowing science secrets” that help to answer questions about what’s happening in each experiment.

Wonder Crew Dolls for Boys

$24.99 On Sale $15.36 (18 mos – 6 years)

I’ve been talking about the social and emotional learning benefits of dolls for boys for years in our Best Dolls for Girls and Boys Gift Guide, so I was super pumped about the release of this line of dolls designed specifically to meet those needs while staying in-tuned with boy culture.

Created by a therapist and mom, after her son came home from preschool one day and announced that ‘boys aren’t supposed to cry’. Frustrated by many of the messages boys were (and weren’t) receiving and inspired by the way play influences child development, Wider created Wonder Crew to promote social and emotional learning, build confidence and imagination, and empower boys to see themselves as caring, creative and strong people. 

I’m totally on board and will definitely be getting both the superhero doll and the extra construction outfit for my son! I also love how each set comes with props for the child to wear too, so fun!

Kano Harry Potter Coding Kit

$99.99 on sale $48 (6+ years)

There are so many STEM toys on the market now that they can all kind of blend together. This Harry Potter Coding Kit from Kano, though, is a definite stand-out.

I love how it uses the magic of Harry Potter and the step-by-step building of a physical wand to encourage kids to learn coding.

This super innovative kit allows kids to build a wand that responds to their movements and then learn to code with 70+ step-by-step creative challenges. They can make feathers fly, goblets multiply, fire flow, pumpkins grow, and more.

My daughter is a huge HP fan and I could see her absolutely eating this toy up. And, of course, any toy that sneakily teaches coding skills while the kids are having fun is a big, big plus for me.

The tagline for this unique set says it all; Build a Wand. Learn to Code. Make Magic.

LeapFrog Scoop & Learn Ice Cream Cart

$39.95 on sale $29.82 (ages 2 – 6)

Harry Potter Labyrinth 

$29.99 (6+ years)

There are a few things that I especially appreciate about this super fun game. First, parents report that it’s one of those rare games that kids of all ages not only like, but are also able to win against the adults.

Second, it can also be used as a single-player logic game during quiet time (I always LOVE that option). Finally, it’s a total classic and families absolutely love the components of both chance and strategy in the game.

And now it’s available in this sure-to-please Harry Potter version! We were sent this version to review and it was a big hit for my son’s recent 11th birthday– for both him and his 9-year-old daughter.

Hatchimals: Llalacorn

(part Llama, part Unicorn)

$67.00

The newest version of the interactive, magical creatures that come (and eventually hatch out of) their own egg continue to be one of the “It” toys of the year. Every elementary aged girl I know, including my daughter, has one at the very top of her list every Christmas and this year is no different.

This brand new iteration- the Llalacorn- is unique in a number of ways:

1. Unlike previous Hatchimals, with this version you can re-hatch the egg as many times as you want. Each time Llalacorn wakes up, she’ll be in 1 of 10 surprise moods!
2. It’s the largest Hatchimals egg ever
3. It grows! To an incredibly impressive 32 inches tall 

With over 250 sounds and reactions, Llalacorn shrinks down when she’s held; chases her accessory up and down; sings along to music; grows tall to reach the high note and more.

This one is going under the tree for our daughter this year for sure.

Air Fort The Original Build A Fort in 30 Seconds

$49.95 (ages 2-12)

This is AMAZING for rainy day play.

Such an easy way for kids to set up a fort- set up (and clean up!) is so simple… like 30 seconds easy. Check out this video to see it in action.

My friend got one of these for her kids last year and she reports that they spend hours inside playing together and on their own. This one is going under our tree this year for sure!

Hand-Operated Drone

$29.99 (5 – 12 years)

One of my good friend’s recently texted me this about these, “My son just got this toy for his birthday and it’s a HUGE HIT.”

So I checked it out for this guide and the reviewers agree.

These are a super fun and inexpensive introduction to the world of drones and robotics. They’re super easy to control with just your hands and can be played with along or in a group.

One of the major “it” toys of the year… If you want a gift that’s sure to impress, this is it.

Wireless Bluetooth Karaoke Microphone

$34.99 (3 – 9 years)

If you’ve got a singer in the house a karaoke microphone is a great present to consider. We got a karaoke machine for our daughter last Christmas and it has been the best thing ever. 

Anytime she has a friend over, they always immediately disappear into her room and start singing away. And she also spends plenty of time using it all on her own.

The only drawback was that it was kind of clunky and my daughter kept losing the cord. This new compact microphone version is brilliant! 

Plus, it does so much more than just connect to your phone via bluetooth for karaoke.

It can also be used as a speaker and a recorder plus it has 48 colorful LED lights that flash with the rhythm of the music.

If you’ve got a performer in the family, this is the gift for them!

Snap Circuits Jr

$24.99 (5+ years)

& Snap Circuits

$62.98 (8 – 15 years)

This clever kit is the all-time-best-seller on our gift guides and another multi-award-winner that takes advantage of kids’ natural interest in building toys (like LEGOs) to teach the principles of electricity.

The components aren’t intimidating, snap together simply, and can be used to create a bunch of cool projects. The standard set comes with 60+ pieces to create over 300 different electronic projects. The pieces include snap wires, slide switches, an alarm circuit, a music integrated circuit, and a speaker and are numbered and color-coded to make identifying them easy.

The latest and hottest iterations include:

• Snap Circuits Lights – This colorful lights edition puts on quite a show and is another favorite around our house.Just connect any MP3 player and be amazed as your music creates a mesmerizing light display.No two songs will ever produce the same light show. Includes prepunched patterns for motor, strobe light, and color-changing LED, lighted and glow-in-the-dark fans, strobe integrated circuit, color organ controlled by MP3 player, voice, or finger. Builds over 175 experiments.
• Snap Circuits 3D Illumination – Allows kids to go beyond the flat surface to build circuits horizontally, vertically and even upside down. The 3D setup means you can actually build a house and there’s even a projector that projects things onto the wall.
• Snap Circuits Arcade – Lets kids actually build – and play! – mini arcade games. There’s also an incredibly cool fan that can be programmed to project any word or phrase onto it with lights.

The components in Snap Circuits combine to create working circuit boards just like the ones found inside televisions, radios, and other electronic devices.

The HUGE popularity of these sets means there are now lots of options to choose from, check out this video for the run down:

Bedtime Math: A Fun Excuse to Stay Up Late

$6.99 (4 – 7 years)

When my son was in kindergarten, he really started getting into math and began asking for story problems at night before bed, so imagine my excitement when I saw this book, which contains just that! From the publisher, “Inside this book, families will find fun, mischief-making math problems to tackle—math that isn’t just kid-friendly, but actually kid-appealing.

With over 100 math riddles on topics from jalapeños and submarines to roller coasters and flamingos, this book bursts with math that looks nothing like school. And with three different levels of challenge (wee ones, little kids, and big kids), there’s something for everyone.”

This is a great way to change up story time at night and encourage math skills in kids that are excited about the subject as well as those who need some help getting excited.

Psst – We’re now on the second and third books in the series.

Squishy Circuits Kit

$19.99 (ages 3 – 12)

A few years ago tutorials for making your own electric play dough were popping up all over Pinterest. I would excitedly click on them with the intention of whipping up a batch for my kiddos, quickly get defeated by ingredients I didn’t know how to get, and give up.

I was so excited when I was sent some samples of Squishy Circuits- the answer to my prayers! I’m so excited about the possibilities for teaching the kids about circuits in such a fun new way!

It’s got so much that kids love, i.e. play dough and and things that light up, and there’s a Squishy Circuits app with easy, step-by-step instructional slides and videos for all of your project

This one is a multi-award winner and sure to be a big crowd pleaser!

Educational Insights Design & Drill Activity Center 

$37.52 (3 – 8 years)

I particularly like how this particular toy combines fine motor skills with pattern recognition AND adds a great dramatic play element. We got it for our son when he was 4 and he played with it quite a bit until his little old sister took it over.

Our 1 1/2-year-old is started to getting in on the fun sorting and manipulating the pieces with his hands and was off and drilling around the time he turned 2. Now this is one of the first toys he goes to, again and again, when given a choice.

The popularity of this toy has also led to some cool variations, including the Design & Drill Flower Power Station, the Design & Drill Power Play Race Car and, my favorite, the Design & Drill BrightWorks– which is like if the Design & Drill had a baby with the classic Lite Brite from my childhood (in other words, the pieces light up and it’s totally awesome).

Qwirkle 

$24.95 (5+ years)

One of the best-sellers ever amongst all 350 toys on our gift guides. My son got this strategic domino and scrabble-like game for his 5th birthday and, since then, has asked to play it during our one-on-one time over and over.

Although we altered the rules and points system a bit to adjust for his age, this Parents’ Choice Gold Award and Mensa National Competition winner is still fantastic for working on shape and color recognition as well as pattern perception and spatial and critical thinking skills.

Not long after we brought the game home, my 4-year-old daughter got in on the fun too. I can tell this is one that our family is sure to be playing for years to come.

Educational Insights Magic Moves Talking Electronic Wand

$15.99 (18 months – 8 years)

Normally I’m not big on electronic toys with lots of sounds and lights, but when said toy can help my kids get rid of all their pent-up energy inside on a stormy day, it becomes my new best friend.

This inexpensive magical wand uses 90 silly commands (sway, creep, stomp like a dinosaur, leap) and 26 songs, along with a light show to get kids moving.

This is one of those rare toys that’s great for siblings of different ages to play with together (my kids have loved it at various ages ranging from 18-months-old to 7-years old).

It will keep the bigger kids interested (who doesn’t like having the mic and being the star of the show?) while developing listening skills in the younger set along with enriching their vocabulary and ability to follow directions.

Tot Tube Playset – Toy Car and Ball Tunnel, Ramp, Race Track

$19.95 (1 – 10 years)

This deceptively simple toy is so much more than it appears. Parents and teachers rave about the hours and hours their kids spend shooting things through this heavy duty tunnel.

This is a great toy to get kids hypothesizing about, “what will happen when I… (put something heavier in, tilt it higher, put more than one thing in it, etc…)

When my friend first introduced me to the Tot Tube, I really liked the idea but wondered if it was worth the money- couldn’t we essentially do the same thing with a cardboard wrapping paper tube?).

What I like about this, though, is that it’s a lot more durable than a cardboard tube, it’s wider shape accommodates bigger sized cars and balls, it can break apart for easy storage or you can attach more than one for a super long tunnel, and the kids can see through it- making it so much more engaging. Read the reviews on this one and I think you’ll be sold.

Read the reviews on this one and I think you’ll be sold.

Hasbro Connect 4 Shots Game

$19.99 (ages 5 – adult)

A gloriously smart combo of Connect 4 and the ultra popular Bounce-Off… this game of strategy and luck is equal parts exciting and goofy fun.

Talk about the perfect rainy day activity and just the thing to pull out for family game night. This one’s ideal for a range of ages and interests, it’s sure to be at the top of lots of kids’ Christmas lists this year and will lead to hours of good ol’ fashion family fun.

Fort Boards

$94.49 (ages 4 – 10)

Kids LOVE making forts and, I gotta say, I‘m a big fan of anything that will buy me a solid hour or two of busy time.

What I’m not the biggest fan of? The beating my couch cushions take when my kids get into fort-building mode.

That’s reason enough alone to love the Fortboard kits but there are quite a few other reasons too.

First is all the super cool kinds of forts you can build. After Fortboard sent us two boxes to review, my kids started with the instructions for making a house on their website company’s website. Next up was the submarine.

After a little trial and error, they pretty quickly got the hang of it and, let me tell you, they were pleased as punch about their new fort– which they insisted stay up for a week. That was fine by me as it resulted in TONS of cooperative dramatic play.

Next up was the submarine and the castle, both of which were equally successful. By then, even my 3-year-old was able to build stuff with these on his own. His current favorite is to make cubes, which he calls “bombs” and use them to knock down stacks of even more cubes Angry Birds style.

Fast forward a few months and they’re now building their own master creations like that 6-wheeler semi-truck pictured up top. It’s become a thrilling game to challenge each other to see what they can build next.

The second thing to really love is the ingenious ways these boards can connect in different ways to create all sorts of angles, and even curves.

The secret is the connector arm that can be moved to join the boards in different ways (and teach your kids about angles in the process).

It’s so innovative, in fact, that it’s won multiple awards and even a Microsoft Small Business Contest.

The final thing I love about Fortboards is how compact they are when it’s time to put them away. Unlike with their competitors’ sets, there are no awkward polls to store (and no polls for kids to hit their siblings with). Everything tucks into a box and neatly stores under a bed or in a closet when playtime is done.

Like other fort sets, this one is spendy but if your kid is a builder it’s worth the investment, especially if you’re looking for something great for play dates or for siblings to play with together.

Mecards

$19.99 (5+ years)

This is the rare toy that truly is like no other I’ve ever seen.

Imagine if three of the all-time most loved toys in history- Hot Wheels, Pokeman Cards and Transformers- had a baby… you’d have Mecards.

You really have to watch the video to understand the magic of how this works… but basically kids “battle” by each rolling their cars over a facedown card.

What happens next is some crazy cool “magic”. The car not only turns itself into an action figure, it also picks up and displays the magnetic card to show who has won the battle.

Both my son and daughter have gone through big Pokeman card stages, mostly so they could battle, and I just know that my son is gonna flip out when he sees this.

In fact, every year when I start working on these guides I vow that I will not buy anything for the kids yet… Nevertheless, 4 of these Mecard sets are on the way to our house as we speak.

Each vehicle comes with 3 cards and I’m thinking a good starter pack for would be 4 vehicles (which will come with 12 cards). To see the true magic of these cards, you have to check out the video above- you will be sold!

The last thing I really like about this set is that the cards make it really easy to tailor the game to the age of the player– you can keep it super simple for preschool and kindergartners and much more complex for elementary aged kids.

In the meantime, don’t forget to check out all of our picks from last year’s…

MPMK Toy Gift Guides: The Complete Collection

*Post contains affiliate links

Still want more ideas? Don’t forget to check out all 15 of the MPMK Gift Guides, organized by your child’s age:

• The Best Toys for Babies

• The Very Best Toys for Two-Year-Olds

• Go-To Gifts for Preschoolers

• The Most Exciting Gifts You Can Give a Kindergartner

• Go-To Gifts for Elementary Aged Kids

For the hottest toys of the year see:

• The Hottest 20 New Toys of the Year!

• 50+ Toys for Kids (Ages 2 – 14) for $20 or Less!

Plus, the rest of our guides organized by interest:

• Best Toys for Fostering S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Skills

• Best Toys for Staying Active Inside and for Getting Outdoors

• Best Toys for Art & Craft Lovers

• Best Kid Games for Family Game Night, Playing with Siblings, or Playing Alone

• Best Learning Toys for Quiet Time & Independent Play

• Best Building & Construction Toys (Including Best LEGOs)

• Best Dramatic Play Toys

• Best Toys for Vehicle Lovers

• Best Toys for Doll & Princess Lovers

• Best Toys for Baby

Tens of thousands of parents use these lists every Christmas to find the perfect gift!

If you like these recommendations, I encourage you to pin or bookmark them for later when you’re ready to start shopping.

I would also love it if you forwarded the list to your parenting friends or shared it on facebook – trust me, your friends will thank you for the help and you get to be the cool mom (or dad) with all the best resources. It’s a win-win.

Also, don’t forget for even more recommendations and alerts when we spot our gift guide items on sale:

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