Living / 11 October, 2022 / Christina Walter
We’ve scoured the internet to bring you our top toy predictions for Christmas 2022. We’ve seen what’s hot at Hamley’s, Smyths, John Lewis and more, and pulled together our very own cream of the crop so you can get your Christmas shopping done early.
As parents and gift-givers scramble to find the best Christmas presents for children this year, with a squish and a squeeze, tonies® magical storybox is now top of every little one’s wish list, ranking the fastest-growing preschool toy brand for 12M June 2022*.
tonies® enchanting world of music, storytelling and fun is busy captivating millions of children of all ages. Made especially for little hands and big imaginations, the Toniebox turns plant pots into jungles, sofas into pirate ships and breakfast time into a musical performance you won’t want to miss!
The huggable, bump-proof storybox is available in every favourite colour, and is brought to life by a troop of over 100 hand-painted figurines called Tonies.
The Toniebox is easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy to use; with a tap, a tilt, and a squeeze, simply pop a Tonie on top to transform bedrooms, living rooms, kitchens and car journeys into faraway lands and wondrous new worlds.
SUITABLE FOR: CHILDREN 3+ (but can be used supervised from birth!)
Ho, Ho, Ho! The Best Christmas Grottos To Book Now
8 London West End Shows You Should See With The Kids
Nurture your mama by patting her, feeding her and brushing her to make her heart light up, and then place her back in the hutch. Once her heart lights up, she is ready to enter her hutch and magically reveal her babies! Style each baby with its own surprise accessories.
There are 20+ sounds and reactions so you can reload the hutch and play again and again!
SUITABLE FOR: CHILDREN 4+
Play inside your own dollhouse world with DreamWorks Gabby’s Purrfect Dollhouse. Standing at over 61cm tall, this fantastical kids’ dollhouse is packed full of exciting features to find, including a Dollhouse Delivery tower, working Cat-A-Vator, sounds and so much more.
With an 8.9cm Gabby Girl collectible figure, Pandy Paws figure, furniture for each room, three accessories and two Dollhouse Deliveries, you can get right to the fun straight out of the box. Just like in the show, drop a delivery in the tower and press the button to retrieve it – unbox it to find a surprise accessory inside.
SUITABLE FOR: CHILDREN 3+
Turn your play space into the ultimate Play-Doh ice cream van party! This life-size kitchen set gives kids a big space to express their big imaginations. Create so many pretend treats with the 27 tools and soft-serve station, customise the creations with the Play-Doh sprinkle maker, tools and pretend sweet moulds, and check out customers at the register.
Fun music and cash register sounds make children feel like they’re really running their own ice cream van. 12 pots of Play-Doh modelling compound give them all the colours they need to get started.
The food van was also designed with parents in mind with lots of storage and easy ways to clean up when the fun is done for the day!
SUITABLE FOR: CHILDREN 3+
Show off your speeding skills with the Sky Crash Tower Playset from the Hot Wheels Action range!
Do you dare to tackle the Sky Crash Tower? Fit all the pieces together using the easy-to-follow instructions, then get ready for some awesome action! The Tower features a crazy drop, twisty track and upside-down section to make playtime even more exciting.
This set comes with 1 Hot Wheels car and a motorised launcher for plenty of fast-paced action. It’s compatible with other Hot Wheels tracks and cars, so start connecting to build the best track ever!
SUITABLE FOR: CHILDREN 3+
This cute little robot loves to draw and promotes drawing through fun dialogue and storytelling! Insert 1 of 15 double-sided drawing data chips to see JotBot draw the image on that chip. Code JotBot to draw using fun draw codes found in the included colour-coded guidebook, just enter the directional codes onto the arrow keys on JotBot’s head and away he goes!
JotBot can draw on A3 and A4 paper and features a child-friendly felt tip pen! JotBot can draw with most pens and pencils too! JotBot is full of personality and will even sing as he works!
SUITABLE FOR: CHILDREN 3+
With 10 play areas, cool customisations and tons of dreamy features, the playtime possibilities are endless. Step inside and discover WOW moments on every floor!
Dreamy features include a working elevator, party room with a DJ booth, second-story slide with a pool, balcony with a repositionable hammock swing and a puppy play area with its own pool and slide.
Customizations let kids design their own dream home — the grass area and pool can be placed in multiple configurations on the first and third floors, and the slide fits in 4 unique locations.
Set the scene for any story with realistic sound effects, 2 soundscapes, 3 songs, 8 light color options, and 4 light settings including day mode, night mode, party mode and mood lighting.
SUITABLE FOR: CHILDREN 3+
X-Shot Skins brings the in-game experience of skinning your blaster into the real world! Choose your Skin and join the battle. The Last Stand is the largest blaster in the X-Shot Skins range and comes packed with a punch! With a 12-dart capacity auto-rotating barrel you can hit multiple targets up to 90 feet away.
The X-Shot Skins Last Stand has a 14-dart capacity auto-rotating barrel. Unleash all 14 darts in seconds with its easy-to-prime and slam fire mechanism.
SUITABLE FOR: CHILDREN 8+
“I bumped my head!” Oh, no! JJ is hurt! With the CoComelon Boo Boo JJ Plush, JJ will show you where he’s hurt, whether it’s on his head, elbow, knee, or foot. These areas will light up so that your little one can quickly come to the rescue, with a bandage case in hand! The Bandage Case contains three CoComelon-themed bandages.
JJ reacts when he’s hurt, and then when he’s healed. When your CoCoMelon Boo Boo JJ Plush begins to cry, cure the boo boo by carefully applying a bandage over the lit-up area. Then, JJ will giggle or go “Wee” and say “Yay! My boo boo is gone!” among other great phrases and sounds.
SUITABLE FOR: CHILDREN 2+
It’s Nerf or Nothing! Blast, pedal and play with this awesome go kart! Featuring a removable printed wrap with holsters and pellet loops which hold 2 official Nerf Blasters and 10 darts, you can pedal into action to launch an assault!
The kart offers 2 modes which are easily switched via the slide lever on the gearbox. Mode one is pedal action where the rider can control the speed and motion in both a forward and reverse direction . Mode two is freewheel which can be activated whilst moving at speed or going down hills to prevent the pedals spinning. It features a robust steel frame and chunky tyres with deep tread to ensure maximum stability and grip even on uneven surfaces and the easy to reach handbrake provides fast yet smooth braking actions. For comfort and personalisation, the seat is moulded with a high back and is easily adjusted in position along the frame. Assembly is quick and simple ensuring that riders can be ready for action in no time!
SUITABLE FOR: CHILDREN 5+
RealFX Baby Blue is the perfect item for Jurassic World fans’ collections! This baby Velociraptor dinosaur comes to life in your arms, ready for your care and protection.
Baby Blue comes to life in movie scale, with a RealFX pistol grip controller mechanism built into the authentic Rangers handling glove! The controller allows you to control Baby Blue, eliciting roars, chatters, snarls and purrs. Watch as Baby Blue protects her owner, with lunge, battle, and bite actions!
SUITABLE FOR: CHILDREN 8+
Meet Ziggy the Robo Dog. This futuristic pup can sing, dance, bark and play. Control your robot dog with nine voice commands, a remote control and programmable actions.
Use the remote control to send Ziggy the Robo Dog forward, backward, left and right. Play with the dog to make it bark! You can program your own actions like singing and dancing, helping kids learn key programming skills.
SUITABLE FOR: CHILDREN 5+
This electronic puppy walks, barks and wags its tail whilst playing a catchy tune! Watch pup move to the rhythm of the music! This adorable pup is so soft to touch with a stretchy rubbery face and body.
With beautiful pink pearlescent finish, see how its stretchy fur shimmers as pup jiggles along! It’s the cutest, funniest pup – you’ll have so much fun as you watch your pup walk and jiggle to the music! No dog dances more adorably than Jiggly Pup. It’s the cutest walking dog! Listening to the catchy tune is sure to make you want to dance too!
SUITABLE FOR: CHILDREN 4+
Tear up the terrain with the new Nikko Rock CrushR! With patented auto-expanding wheels, this RC car has the grip to crush any course. These remote control cars feature reticulating arms, which automatically reach out to grip the terrain – giving you unparalleled performance.
SUITABLE FOR: CHILDREN 6+
Discover transforming fashions and glamourous accessories with the LOL Surprise OMG Fashion Show Style Edition series including the gorgeous 10″/25cm fashion doll, Missy Frost, with her stunning features and perfectly styled hair.
Keep Missy Frost’s style fresh with her transforming outfits. Her clothes can change length and colour, creating new fashions that you can mix and match with her accessories for hundreds of looks to strut on the runway.
SUITABLE FOR: CHILDREN 4+
Where would a princess be without her noble steed? The Baby Annabell Little Sweet Carriage & Pony is the perfect accessory for princess-themed play! Simply hitch up the plush pink pony with bridle, put your little one’s favourite doll inside the carriage and they’re ready for a royal ride around the house. When little ones pull the pony along, the two crowns on either side of the carriage will light up for a magical playtime experience. There’s even a seat on the back of the carriage for a little prince!
SUITABLE FOR: CHILDREN 1+
Kids can start their own crime-fighting adventures with the Imaginext DC Super Friends Bat-Tech BatBot playset from Fisher-Price. The BatBot is a transforming 2-in-1 robot with exciting lights and sounds designed to help Batman fight crime!
With a turn of a Power Pad, the BatBot goes into flight mode, and kids can then move the robot to save Gotham City. The set features projectile launchers, a prison cell and a light-up control centre with a cockpit for Batman (figurine also included).
SUITABLE FOR: CHILDREN 3+
Delight shopping-crazy kids with the Heartlake City Shopping Mall LEGO set! It comes with 6 characters, including a new-for-January-2021 micro-doll; kids will love exploring the stores and food court with Emma and her family!
This mall isn’t just about clothes. There are 5 stores reflecting kids’ broad interests, from food and music to tech and toys. It also comes with 2 separate play pieces to extend the fun. The photo booth and fashion turntable are separate from the main model, making them great interactive toys for kids – they’re small enough to pop in a bag for LEGO® fun at a friend’s house or at school.
SUITABLE FOR: CHILDREN 8+
Stranded on an uncharted planet, Buzz Lightyear and his crewmates will need to battle hostile plants, giant bugs and the ultimate threat, Zurg, to complete their mission and return home.
After the fusion canister is filled with water and loaded in, Buzz can snap on his helmet and spread his jetpack wings to their full 9.5-inch width to prepare for liftoff. When Buzz is lifted off the ground, light and sound effects play and an actual vapor trail comes out of the jetpack for realistic flying hero play!
SUITABLE FOR: CHILDREN 4+
With 10 surprises in 1 package, the Snowflake Sparkle Series of Barbie Cutie Reveal dolls deliver the cutest unboxing experience with plush winter animal friends, fashions, surprises and transforming fun.
Lift the costume head to reveal a posable Barbie doll with long, colourful hair and twinkle-shine face details. Open the 4 surprise bags to find clothes and accessories: a pink flower-print skirt, pair of golden boots, sponge-comb, deer-antler headband and mini pet deer! Kids can dress and accessorize Barbie doll by reversing the costume top to find a super-soft fleece jacket with a polka dot print. The costume head turns into a bed for the mini deer friend, too.
SUITABLE FOR: Children 3+
15 Festive Shows And Pantos To Book This Christmas
The Best Family Days Out: Where To Go This Autumn
36 Family Friendly Pubs In Surrey The Kids (And You) Will Love
Myavo is Graco’s game-changing compact stroller which offers the look of premium brands but at the high street price of just £130 – making it up to £300 cheaper than competitors.
It’s perfect for those who don’t want to blow the budget or compromise on style. And it’s packed full of features for comfort and convenience, including its incredible one-hand, one-second fold which makes Myavo ideal for use on the go. Plus, at just 5.8kg, Myavo is one of the lightest compact strollers available.
You can have it all with Myavo!
Activities & Days Out / 30 March, 2023
My Baba Measure / 29 March, 2023
Children's Health / 28 March, 2023
Kids' Fashion / 28 March, 2023
