Santa’s elves are putting the finishing touches on a new batch of toys, and our own little testing elves have had a tour of the workshop. Here’s what they say are some of the top and most noteworthy toys from about 500 new toys they play-tested this year.

  3-in-1 Learning Zebra (shown above) (18-36m, VTech, $44.99)
Parents loved that this low-to-the-ground riding toy was easy to transform between modes, and the kids loved everything else about it: the buttons, the lively music, and especially the basket at the front that holds snacks, doll passengers and other “can’t put them down” treasures.

  Lamaze Rusty the Robot Stroller and Car Seat Toy (0m+, Learning Curve Brands, $17.99) 
Featuring interesting textures to explore, bright colours, clacking rings and a mirror, this stuffed robot is well designed to keep baby amused in the car seat.

  Shapes & Sorting Picnic Basket (6-36m, LeapFrog, $24.99) 
Lay out the red-checkered cloth and have a pretend picnic. The basket plays catchy learning songs, asks questions about shape and colour, and makes a great carry-all for little treasures. Kids also enjoy some early puzzle play matching the shaped food pieces to indents on the plates.

  Brainy Baby Animals Book (12m+, The Brainy Company, $8.99)
Our testers loved using the tabs along the top of this colourful board book to flip the pages - especially to find their favourite pictures. Illustrated with real-life photos of animals, this is a great book thats sturdy enough for toddlers, but also interesting enough to appeal to their older siblings.

  Playskool Poppin’ Park Bounce ‘N Ride (12m+, Hasbro, $29.99)
As if bouncing’s not fun enough, each bounce on this toy also makes a fun new sound. Our littlest testers had as much fun bouncing in place, as the older ones had riding from room to room.

  Little People Zoo Talkers Animals Sounds Zoo (18m+, Fisher-Price, $54.99)
The animals are a huge hit, but this play set is also loaded with lots of intriguing features: peek-a-boo door, slide, swing, a hippo that opens its mouth, as well as fun sounds and a talking guide who identifies the animals placed in the “hut”. Includes a zookeeper and three animals. Additional Zoo Talkers animals are sold separately.

  3D Sneaky Puzzles Singing Sea Creatures (3+, Patch Products, $17.99)
While the 3D glasses definitely made the picture pop, that wasn’t the main attraction. Our testers just loved the colourful jumbo-sized puzzle itself – making it over and over again, and finding all the hidden numbers and letters.

Go to page 2 for more top kid toys!