Game and Toy Awards 2022: Toys for Kids (2024)

Remember the original Digivice, the one you had to press two together to duel a friend and more often than not saw your monster die while you were in class because you forgot to clean up after or feed it? This generation has some upgrades, like more Digimon evolutions and colors, while maintaining the retro appeal from our childhood.

A good toy for would-be 3D printing enthusiasts, this pen set uses colored plastic rods as a sort of ink, which kids can then color over 2D images on paper or around 3D objects to create their own accessories. Our kids testers loved it and repeatedly came back to play with the Start+, but operation was not seamless; the pens had a tendency to jam up if they weren’t cleaned regularly.

The three toys in the Circuit Explorer line—a rocket, a rover, and a base station—are good stepping stones to gauge whether your child is interested in this side of STEM. While there could be more actual circuitry work involved, the toys are well made. Buy one, and if your kid takes to it, get them another or step up to something bigger.

The Kidscope wins here for its ease of use and the amount of content that comes with it. The 15 slides show 60 photos of plants and animals in a good variety (with hundreds of facts to accompany them) that led our parent and kid testers to give this microscope for the burgeoning young scientist positive reviews. Just know that the construction quality could be better.

Like the Genius Starter Kit in last year’s Game and Toy Awards, this interactive set for iPads and Fire tablets lets kids use physical pieces to work through puzzles on the screen. This one is focused on coding though, as the name says, and features Osmo’s signature well-thought-out design and interface.

Our kid testers stayed occupied with the customizable Boombox for a good long while, which parents liked. Though they might not be so keen on the price, which struck us as a bit high. Still, it blends the fun of a nearly 1,000-piece Lego build with the interactivity of the Vidiyo app, which has tunes to pair with the footage so kids can create and share their own videos (in a parental-controlled, moderated space).

Let them learn the ins and outs (and deal with the headaches) of Adobe Premiere later; the Tobi 2 boasts a 2.4-inch screen on the camera itself for easier editing. It also comes with a number of fun effects and is splash-proof should filming involve any water stunts.

Like the science lab kit that took home a 2020 Game and Toy Award, this atlas provides an immersive app, which you download to your or your kid’s phone and then attach that to the included VR headset. If you’ve got the storage to accommodate the app—and it takes up quite a lot—it expands the features, locations, and monuments within the 138-page book.

Despite its cute design and ease of use, the Player is a bit better for older kids. Similar to a Viewmaster, just for music, the speaker plays songs based on cards that you insert, but Yoto uploads new content daily that kids can access without the need for a card. They can also create their own for customized tunes, and the Player pulls triple duty as a clock and night light.

Another toy that’ll hit parents right in the nostalgia, this Koosh version has three modes to keep things interesting as the kids fling the balls at the targets. Our testers noted that it was best to set up the game hanging against a sturdy surface, even though it has a kickstand, so they could get enough force behind their shots.

This wouldn’t be a Popular Mechanics Game and Toy Awards edition without a car somewhere in it. This track is built to produce fun collisions as you load more and more cars into the launcher and shoot them off into the loop. Just be sure those crashes don’t result from track issues—testers reported that the pieces didn’t always align perfectly, so it can’t hurt to check and make adjustments before sending your Hot Wheels out onto the course.