MadeForMums, the UK’s number one parenting site for product reviews, has announced the winners of the MadeForMums Toy Award 2021, as judged by kids, recommended by parents and approved by experts.
Ranging from a £3.99 fidget toy to a £300 mega playset, this year’s festive winners include toys from well-known brands such as Barbie, Thomas & Friends, Peppa Pig, CoComelon, Bluey, Playmobil and LOL! Surprise. MadeForMums’ extensive child-testing programme has also shone a spotlight on lots of other brilliant toys, too – from the Xootz BMW ride-on car with its own MP3 player to the pint-sized (and fully working) Casdon Kenwood Mixer and hilarious family board games A Game of Cat and Mouth and Flip Over Frog.
Interactive, gadgety toys like the Tobi 2 Director’s Camera, the My Jam Electric Guitar and the roaringly funny Squeakee the Balloon Dino are still very popular. But this year many of MadeForMums’ child testers also picked ‘slower’, less showy toys – often with no electronics or batteries. And, given the current focus on eco-friendliness, our testers’ parents were delighted to see so many new toys that are sustainable, recyclable and set to stand the test of time.
Susie Boone, Editor MadeForMums, says: “From all our hours of testing, we’ve had some amazing, honest feedback from our child testers. They’ve loved the bright, loud ‘wow’ factor toys with interactive features but they’ve also really rated lower-tech toys, such as the Dino Snore-Us board game (where you mustn’t wake the sleeping dinosaur), simple plush toys and the standout Peppa Pig Wooden Playhouse.
“We’re also seeing a welcome shift towards more eco-friendliness – from toys that put sustainability front and centre, like the Planet Junko Zoomer Kit and the Build a Bee Hotel, to toys that have more recyclable elements, less packaging (or boxes that become part of the toy) and string ties instead of plastic ones.”
The MadeForMums Toy Awards 2021 celebrate the best children’s toys at every age and stage, from newborn to teens, and cover 44 categories from Best Toddler Toy and Best Doll to Best Science Toy, Best Playset, Best Educational Toy and Best Scooter.
From a record number of entries, almost 300 toys were rigorously tested at home by children and their parents, who marked toys for play potential and value for money. These scores were combined with the verdicts of expert (grown-up) judges from the MadeForMums editorial team and specially invited judges, including Toyologist Peter Jenkinson, to find the eventual winners.
For the full list of winners, click here.