Top 10 New Toys for 2011

Walking the Toy Fair aisles is every bit as tiring as a mega holiday shopping spree. But we trudged through booth after booth in New York and Toronto, and with about 7,000 brand new items debuting in 2011, we’ve seen so many toys it feels like December is just around the corner.

Here’s a few that caught our attention...a small taste of what you’ll see on toys shelves this year.

(6-36 months, Fisher-Price)
Available July 2011

Babies love a grown-up’s electronic things even more than their own toys. But even the most indulgent parent gets a little uncomfortable watching their expensive device mauled and mouthed. This durable, rubber case has a clear screen cover that protects mom or dad’s iPhone or iPod Touch from baby’s dribbles and drools. Easy-grasp handles help baby hold the device while she plays with it, or you can use the flip-out stand to prop the screen for easy viewing. Fisher-Price even provides a number of apps that are just right for baby (you can download these free from the iTunes store). Best of all, the case is designed to entertain baby even when the electronics aren’t in it—in case you want to use the device yourself on occasion.

(3-6, Be Good Company, $9.99) Available March 2011

The classic versions of this brainteaser puzzle—which challenge puzzlers to match pictures on all three sides of each piece—have been confounding fans since 1991. This new line for preschool puzzlers is a simple, straightforward matching challenge: fewer pieces (9 instead of 16), and a single, one-sided match to either the frame, or one other piece.

(3+, Learning Curve) Available Now

Based on the popular Chuggington series, this new wooden railway toy features rich colours, versatile designs and a wheelbase and track that are compatible with other wooden railway sets. What differentiates Chuggington sets is that sitting on that standard size wheel base is a chunkier train thats a better size for younger hands.

Despite the name of the toy, no yelling or screaming is needed. All you do is talk—or even whisper, into the Skreem-intake valve. The longer you talk (up to 15 seconds), the further the car goes (up to 50). According to Bandai, the car uses patent pending technology to turn ordinary speech into the energy that powers the vehicle. Real or not, the idea that speech powers a car is just plain fun, and there are lots of opportunities for creative families to extend play. Challenge your kids to a battle of words: give each a topic, let them talk away, then see whose car goes the furthest.

(Games are for 3+, 4+ and 6+, Patch Products) Available June 2011

Eye-catching, with attractive graphics and detailed 3D figures, these new preschool games are a great way to bring classic childrens stories to life. Interesting design features, like molded Max pawns that piggyback onto their Wild Thing when they meet up, are an added bonus.

(4+, Busy Life) Available Spring 2011

A 3D maze enclosed inside a clear plastic ball, the original Perplexus was phenomenally popular. The new Rookie version is smaller, both in terms of its 6.5” physical size, as well as having fewer challenge barriers (just 75 instead of100). Ideal for younger players who want to try this addictive ball-turning, marble-rolling challenge.

(5+, Glitter Pie) Available Now

Definitely NOT the usual assortment of basic supplies, the materials in this kit are whimsical things that pop with vibrant, attention getting colours and fabulous “I want to touch them” textures. Just seeing all the cool stuff in these kits would make anyone want to grab the glue and scissors and get creative.

(5+, Skyrocket Toys) Coming Soon

This has the same playing with light appeal as Lite Brite, except that the Meon activity is more like doing lacing cards than a peg board. At $29.99, the deluxe size is the set to buy. In addition to the lacing activity shared by the smaller sets, this larger set features some rudimentary animation that pulses to the beat of music playing nearby, interactive games, and a room alarm. Available in a variety of licensed themes, including CARS and Disney Fairies.

(6+. Spin Master) Available Spring 2011

Each card in this new collectible game has a holographic 3D image, as well as some pretty sophisticated animation (eg a monster with a swinging tail). The largely see-through cards also make a composite picture when a card is played on top of another. Besides the cool graphic representations of what’s happening in the game (eg. seeing the character actually trapped inside an attacking green vortex), the game data is also displayed in an easy-to-grasp way. So instead of just admiring the cards, younger players can actually play the game. But the game also has enough depth of game play to capture the interest of older core gamers, too, so that kids will keep playing it for years to come.

(8+, ThinkFun) Available Now

An innovative new take on the classic sliding puzzle, your goal is to slide and sink the green disks through the center exit hole. The challenge, is that you need to keep the blue sliding disks on the board while you do it. Fortunately, each puzzle set-up includes a few strategically placed blockers that you can use to hold the blue chips in place while you dump the green ones.

Check out the complete profiles of these and other new toys at thenoiseontoys.com, an independent consumer guide to over 2,200 kid-tested & parent-approved toys. Heading into her 26th year writing independent toy reviews, Marcia MacQuarrie is the Editor for The Noise on Toys.

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Marcia MacQuarrie

The Noise on Toys features independent reviews of the best kid-picked and parent-approved toys on the market.

Former Toy Editor for Today’s Parent Magazine (1998-2009) and past Chair of the Ratings and Awards Committee for the Canadian Toy Testing Council, Marcia MacQuarrie also shares her 25 years of expertise with parents looking for the most enriching and fun toys they can find. With over 2,500 toys profiled, users can search for specific toys or generate a list of gift ideas to suit a child’s age and interests – and the purchaser’s budget.

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