Old-school favourites (Transformers), really old school favourites (welcome back Simon), sophisticated tech (kid-sized tablets) and, of course, everything Frozen are topping wish lists, making these 13 toys the most talked about of the holiday season.
Word on the playground: These are the toys every kid wants
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Disney Frozen - Snow Glow Elsa
“There’s always one gift that goes ballistic,” says Jim Donnelly, who tracks what toys Canadians are tweeting about for media monitoring firm Media Miser. “People can’t find it, parents start to freak out. This year it is Snow Glow Elsa.” The Frozen princess recites quotes from the movie and sings “Let It Go.”
$40 at Toys ’R Us Photo courtesy Toys ’R Us
Ice-Skating Elsa and Ice-Skating Anna
You think one Frozen doll is enough? Not this season! “Older girls might not want Snow Glow Elsa because she looks more like a baby,” says Laura Wiese of the Canadian Toy Association. “The skating dolls are really cute for an older girl.”
$27 at Toys ’R UsPhoto courtesy Toys ’R Us
Skylanders Trap Team Starter Pack
The Xbox series is a perennial favourite and this year is no exception—so far it’s the most mentioned toy on Twitter, Donnelly says.
$75 at Toys ’R UsPhoto courtesy Toys ’R Us
Transformers Stomp & Chomp Grimlock
Transformers is another enduring toy franchise, especially after the summer blockbuster Age of Extinction. One of the film’s dinobots, Grimlock, is gnashing his way into stockings this season.
$80 at Toys ’R UsPhoto courtesy Toys ’R Us
MiP
The Terminator movies warned us about trusting robots, but how can you not when they’re this cute? Zipping around on two wheels, MiP’s path is controlled through a smartphone app. Not quite sophisticated enough to replace the babysitter, MiP can perform such butler-y moves as carrying a can on a tray.
$100 at Toys ’R UsPhoto courtesy Toys ’R Us
Crayola Paint Maker
For future Debbie Travises, this station teaches kids to shake up their own paint colours. “It’s great for creativity,” says Toys R Us’s Tamar Nersesian. “It really educates kids on how to form different colours, and they also have the freedom to create their own colours outside of that.”
$25 at Toys ’R UsPhoto courtesy Toys ’R Us
Lego Duplo: The Joker Challenge
The under-five set may not be acquainted with Heath Ledger’s psycopathic Joker, but they are very familiar with the citizens of Gotham. “With Batman and Spider-Man, it’s everywhere,” Wiese says. “It’s the most licensed property probably for kids ever. It’s in front of kids’ faces at a young age.”
$30 at shop.lego.comPhoto courtesy the Canadian Toy Association
InnoTab MAX
Today’s kids can use an iPad before a potty, so they’ll surely get lots of use out of this child-friendly tablet, which comes with WiFi, 8 GBs of storage, a camera and over 500 educational activities. “They are a little bit more sturdy for younger kids than walking around with an iPad Mini,” says Weiss.
$100 at WalmartPhoto courtesy Toys ’R Us
Simon Swipes
Generation X remembers Simon as the height of technological innovation. Today, the classic has been reinvented with a swipe interface to appeal to a new generation while still trading on its old-school nostalgia. “A lot of parents see it and identify with it from their youth,” says Donnelly.
$23 at WalmartPhoto courtesy the Canadian Toy Association
Nerf Combat Creatures Terradrone RC Robot
This remote-controlled Nerf gun moves forward, backward and side-to-side on its six spider-esque legs, firing up to eight darts in a row—bound to make Christmas morning as much fun for your child as it is miserable for your dog.
$70 at WalmartPhoto courtesy the Canadian Toy Association
Kidizoom Smartwatch
Kidizoom’s getting a jump on the iWatch with its own kid-friendly smartwatch. The tech toy includes a camera, an array of educational games, voice modifier and even—what?--an actual watch!
$60 at vtechkids.comPhoto courtesy the Canadian Toy Association
LeapBand
The perfect present for the kid who can’t sit still—the LeapBand gives them points every time they move their body, kind of like a Fitbit for kids. Kids follow the moves of a virtual pet, which then gets powered up by the playtime points.
$45 at WalmartPhoto courtesy Toys ’R Us
Zoomer Dino
Dino trainers can school this robotic T-Rex to be a fierce predator that chases, chomps and roars, or a gentler giant with Swayze-worthy dance moves. Pulling his tail enrages him, but that’s not the worst of it. “If you get him really upset, he will turn around and let out a big fart,”
$110 at Toys ’R UsPhoto courtesy Toys ’R Us
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