Kids are picky, fickle little creatures, and honestly, that’s a big part of their charm. The toys they want are ever-changing, and it can be hard to keep up with what trend is cool and what’s “Ugh, so lame, Mom.” Thankfully, there are people out there like myself whose job is to figure out what our kids want before it’s sold out and going for the price of a small car on eBay.
This year, there have been a few new themes that have stood out to me: robots, food toys, and dinosaur toys like this cool three-in-one that provides hours of play and all things remote-controlled. It makes sense given the recent 30th anniversary of Jurassic Park, the new Transformers, and the focus on STEAM toys, which food is very much a part of. (What is baking if not art and math?)
I’ve spent over 200 hours researching toys this year between meetings with brands, toy fairs, and testing toys with groups of children, so trust me — these are the toys your kids will definitely want this year.
I cannot stress just how fabulously quirky this set is. It’s a tough build but doable for kids over age 10. My 12-year-old put it together in about 4 hours, and while she’s a Lego expert, she’s also positively bedeviled with ADHD just like her mom.
I got a chance to play with this one early, and it’s going to be one of the hottest toys of the year. Not only is it a fun Hatchimal, it’s a whole interactive toy that does just so much. Our favorite? When you put your dragon or unicorn back in their nest and they rock and coo themselves to sleep before snoring and shutting down.
Our 2025 Toy of the Year, Dog-E is one of the most fun toys I’ve seen in recent history. It’s an app-controlled robot dog that does tons of tricks, including playing tug of war, making tons of sounds, and even playing games with your child through the app.
Yes, it’s a dinosaur, but it’s also a police car, a fire truck, and a helicopter. It transforms into all three. It’s not a tricky transformation, either. Once your child figures it out, they’re good. It’s four toys in one.
Do you have a future Picasso on your hands? Let your child indulge their inner artist and love of cute creatures with the Crayola Scribble Scrubble Cloud Playset.
In the kit your child will get a koala-corn and owl-icorn and a set of special markers, a rainbow slide, and a tub to wash off the creations. It’s utterly charming.
If you want your doll- or makeup-loving kid to lose their mind, get them a Yummiland lip gloss doll. Not only is she adorable and fun to play with, she comes with genuinely great (sheer) lip gloss for your little to play with/make. And honestly? It smells great.
Watching the kids go wild for this retro-style toy was truly wonderful. They love the little Weebles and their silly, unsteady bodies, how they slide down the slide, hang on the swing, and more.
Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Baby & Toddler Toy Mix & Learn Dj Table
No matter how old you are, being a DJ is the coolest. With the Mix and Learn table, kids get to play some sick beats all while learning their colors, numbers, and even their ABCs. Our 11-month-old tester thinks it’s aces, and also, apparently, delicious.
Hasbro Spidey and His Amazing Friends: Web-Spinners Web-Quarters
Have you ever watched a group of 4-year old boys lose their minds? I have, and it was because of this toy. In Spidey’s Web Spinner Web Quarters, you place Spidey in the spinning web room right below the light up top, hit the button, and he spins. Then you empty him right into his car.
Take cornhole and mix it with ring toss, and you’ll get close to the fun of this game, but it won’t quite make it because this is so much better. Plus, the bean bags look like magma!
What Do You Meme? Search Party: Chaos at the Park
Part hidden figures, part Where’s Waldo, part Clue? This game is made for elementary-age kids but is seriously fun for the whole family. Honestly, I brought it to a brewery after the kids played it, and a bunch of tipsy women (like myself) loved it.
You want your kids to ride something over and over again until they pass out? Here is the answer. This is an indoor/outdoor roller coaster that cannot be killed. You could leave this out in the worst weather, and it would still work.
Can you say “coolest toy at Christmas?” I can, and it’s this 12V ride-on truck. It has various safety measures like seatbelts and only going a few miles per hour. But come on, your child is going to feel like Hell-on-wheels in this, and that’s amazing. Better grab some cool bumper stickers.
It’s a real telescope, I promise. It’s also a learning tablet that comes complete with tons of different cards that teach your little ones all about space. It also has games for your kids to play as they learn about our universe, making each of them a tiny astronaut.
Boop the cat board game really came out of left field for me. I hadn’t heard of the brand until a toy fair, and when I watched the gameplay, I thought it could be fun but wasn’t totally convinced. Then, I played it with my 12-year-old, and we both fell in love. She then played it with her friends, who also fell in love.
It’s a simple line-up game that’s easy to learn, with the goal of “booping” others out of the way.
Your little future mail carrier will be bringing all your Amazon packages right to your door in this USPS ride-on toy, complete with a mailbox. It’s run by a rechargeable 12-volt battery and has a maximum speed of 2.5 miles per hour.
Got a little future daredevil on your hand? Why not get them one of these very slow (1 mph) bumper cars? It’s battery-charged and controlled via dual joysticks under each hand.
Just make sure that your child is at least 18 months old, and always strapped in and buckled before setting them loose to annoy the cat and each other. They will have tons of fun, though.
The most satisfying of the ASMR toys. This set is 4.5 pounds of the gritty goodness, with tons of molds and shapers just begging for your kid to dig through and shape.
And honestly, once they’re in bed, it’s pretty therapeutic for parents as well.
This was our 2024 Toy of the Year— But I get if, you’re scared of AI, I am too. (I am a journalist, after all.) But this doll is a completely closed unit. There is no access to the outside world in this bear.
Poe is a bear that tells stories that your child and AI create together by choosing the plot and character of the stories.
Remember the bottle trend from a few years ago where kids were trying to flip a half-full bottle of water to land on its base? This is like that, with the addition of having a dart element to it. Also, it’s way easier to land these darts.
The darts are built with suction cups that stick pretty well to most surfaces without damaging them. How do I know? My kids landed their darts on my brand-new television, and it was fine.
