The American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA) unveiled the finalists for its annual Best Toys for Kids award. The finalists include 52 products representing 10 categories.
ASTRA’s Best Toys for Kids award program is different from other top toy lists because it reflects the collective expertise of hundreds of toy retailers who know toys inside out,” said Sue Warfield, interim president of ASTRA. “We are excited to announce the list of finalists which will be voted on by hundreds of independent toy store owners to determine the winners of this year’s award.”
The Best Toys for Kids program was created by ASTRA to help its retailer members attract media coverage and customers to their stores during the all-important fourth quarter. Voting will open to all ASTRA member retailers mid-May.
The 2021 Best Toys for Kids finalists are:
Build & Play
- Boks Desktop Windmill (Plus-Plus)
- Incredible Aero Dancer (Thames & Kosmos)
- LEGO Super Mario Starter Course (LEGO)
- Unit Brick mini Unit Beams Eiffel Tower Set (Ukidz)
- Zig & Go Music (DJECO)
Craft
- Create Your Own Light Box (Avenir)
- Hat Not Hate (Creativity for Kids by Faber-Castell USA)
- Soapstone Carving Kit – Bear (Studiostone Creative)
- Space Immersion DIY Kaleidoscope (DJECO)
- Spirograph Animator (Playmonster)
Games
- Clack! Thwack! (AMIGO Games)
- Magic Mountain (AMIGO Games)
- Dragon Inferno (Smart Toys & Games)
- Kaboom Blocks (Roo Games)
- Mind the Gap (Solid Roots)
- Pancake Monster (Blue Orange Games)
- Story Time Chess (Story Time Chess)
- The Crew: Mission Deep Sea (Thames & Kosmos)
Impulse/Fidget
- Dohjees (Schylling)
- Fingears (Blue Orange Games)
- Hide Inside Putty – Flower Finds (Crazy Aaron’s)
- Loopy Looper (Blue Orange Games)
Infant/Toddler
- Dimpl Stack (Fat Brain)
- Dizzy Bees (Fat Brain)
- Push & Pull Puppy (Plan Toys)
- Spatial Rocket (Plan Toys)
Outdoor/Active
- 2 Liter Refillable Bubble Solution System (Bubble Tree)
- Drop Shot (Fat Brain)
- Rainbow Wobble Board – Regular Size (Bunny Hopkins)
- Ride-on & Foldable Engine Table (Hape)
- Skimbe (Waterline Toys)
- Surge (Gel Blaster)
Preschool
- Magna-Tiles Structures Interactive Story Time – The Monster at the End of This Story (CreateOn)
- Musical Whale Fountain (Hape)
- Rocket Ball Air Stacker (Hape)
- Sensory Bin Dinosaur Dig (Creativity for Kids by Faber-Castell USA)
- Toniebox Starter Set (tonies, US)
Pretend
- Galaxy Cape (Creative Ed)
- My Forest Floor (Tender Leaf Toys)
- Pearl Dragon Wristlet (Folkmanis, Inc.)
- Playdate Dolls Harper (Manhattan Toys)
Puzzle
- Caeser’s Codex (Project Genius)
- Escape Puzzle Kids 368 Pieces, Amusement Park (Ravensburger)
- Musical Crossroads 72 Piece Puzzle (Little Likes Kids)
- SmartGames IQ Circuit (Smart Toys and Games)
Science
- Bio Chem Creatures (Klutz)
- Gravity Bugs (Thames & Kosmos)
- Magical Unicorn Science (Klutz)
- Smartivity Pinball Machine (Smartivity Labs [Elenco Electronics, Inc])
- Teach Tech Dizzy, The 6-in-1 Gyroscope (Elenco)
- Trigmate (Mindwatts LLC)
- Wild Environmental Science – Mars Landing Survival Kit (Learning Advantage/Wild Science)