Award season for toys runs longer than most holiday light displays. Some programs named their 2026 winners back in February, others in June, and Good Housekeeping published its picks on Oct. 1. The next big moment is Nov. 7, when the Toy of the Year (TOTY) finalists are revealed. Here’s who has announced, seven newer winners worth a look, and what’s coming up next.
By TDmonthly Staff · November 2026
How we picked: This is a research roundup, not a lab test. We didn’t play with these toys ourselves, and no company sent samples or paid to be included. Every toy below is a named 2026 winner on the awarding program’s own page, and we link to that page so you can see how each program judges. We picked toys that weren’t in our first roundup of 18 award-winning toys of 2026, which covers the big TOTY winners. We added each toy’s age grade, safety warnings, honest pros and cons, and the price on Nov. 1, 2026 (rechecked that night), and checked every one against U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recalls that morning.
June 2026: Astra Play Awards. The American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (Astra) announced 12 category winners at its Marketplace & Academy event in Milwaukee. Specialty toy retailers vote on the winners. Astra’s announcement (June 8, 2026). Astra’s own awards page hadn’t posted the 2026 list as of Nov. 1.
Through the year: NAPPA Awards. The National Parenting Product Awards posts 2026 winners on its site, with evaluator comments on many winner pages. NAPPA’s 2026 winners.
Monthly: Mom’s Choice Awards. The program announces honorees in monthly releases. The July 2026 list came out Aug. 6 and the August list on Sept. 6. July 2026 honorees · August 2026 honorees.
Rolling: Creative Child Magazine Awards. Creative Child says parents and educators review submitted products at monthly events, and entering a product costs a fee. How its awards work.
Games: 2026 NAPPA, Mensa Select and Mom’s Choice game winners are in our Award-Winning Games of 2026 roundup.
Not on the list: The Parents’ Choice Awards ended in 2022. The National Parenting Center says its Seal of Approval program ran from 1990 to 2024 (its site). Neither has 2026 winners.
Maker: hand2mind · Age grade: 36 months–7 years (Amazon listing)
Safety: CHOKING HAZARD: small parts. Not for children under 3 (Amazon listing). Keep the deflated ball and the pump parts away from babies.
Kid Hook
A plush cat that is secretly a 15-inch yoga ball. Kids pull a pose card, copy the move, then bounce, roll and flop on Sasha until somebody declares it nap time (it won’t be them).
Parent Reality Check
It’s a sneaky way to burn off energy indoors when the weather won’t cooperate. The plush cover comes off and is machine washable, and there’s a pocket to store the cards. You will have to inflate it, but a hand pump is included.
Maker: Upbounders · Age grade: 36 months–8 years (Amazon listing)
Safety: CHOKING HAZARD: small parts. Not for children under 3 (Amazon listing).
Kid Hook
Alma’s Bronx bodega shrunk down to pocket size. Pull the lever, tilt the board and steer the balls into the wooden pockets to score. Pinball wizardry, no quarters required.
Parent Reality Check
This is the toy for the restaurant wait or the line at the post office. It’s cheap and quiet, and there’s no screen to fight over when it’s time to put it away. The balls are small, so it stays out of reach of babies and toddlers.
Pros
Fits in a bag or coat pocket
Screen-free and quiet
Gift-friendly price
Cons
Small balls are a hazard around babies and toddlers
Maker: MAGNA-TILES · Age grade: 3 years and up (Amazon listing)
Safety: Contains small magnets. Swallowed magnets can stick together inside the body and cause serious injury or death, so get medical help right away if one is swallowed (Amazon listing warning). Choking hazard: small parts.
Kid Hook
Tiny magnetic tiles with cut-out windows, plus a gingerbread man, a candy cane and gumdrop pieces. Kids build a candy cottage, knock it down and build it again, and nobody has to stick frosting to the ceiling.
Parent Reality Check
NAPPA’s winner page says it comes in a slim tin that slips into a backpack and works with other microMAGS and classic MAGNA-TILES sets. Think of it as a stocking stuffer or an add-on, not a full building set.
Pros
Holiday theme with zero baking cleanup
Travel tin for on-the-go play
Works with other MAGNA-TILES sets
Cons
Only 24 pieces
Magnets and small parts mean little siblings need watching
Maker: Superspace (listed by Mom’s Choice under Everplay Labs Ltd) · Age grade: 36 months–10 years (Amazon listing)
Safety: The Amazon listing says every magnet is sealed inside a casing in the panels. No separate warning label is shown on the listing. An adult spotter may help with any build taller than the kids.
Kid Hook
Twenty-four giant felt panels that snap together with magnets into forts, rockets and castles big enough to crawl inside. This is the couch-cushion fort, fully grown up.
Parent Reality Check
It’s a splurge. The listing says the panels are made from recycled-bottle felt and stack flat, which helps in a small home. Buy it if you have the floor space and a kid who lives for forts. Skip it if you’re counting square feet.
Maker: Skillmatics · Age grade: ages 4–10 (Amazon listing title; Good Housekeeping lists 4+)
Safety: CHOKING HAZARD: small parts. Not for children under 3 (Amazon listing).
Kid Hook
Color a flat animal with markers, brush it with the water pen and watch it puff up into 3D. Then it becomes a keychain, and every backpack in the house gets one.
Parent Reality Check
The kit includes 15 Aqua Puffs, 10 markers, 2 water pens and 6 keychains, and the listing says there’s no glue or scissors involved. Once the puffs are used up, the kit is done, so this one is about the afternoon, not the decade.
Maker: Toyish Labs (Clixo) · Age grade: 6+ (“Ages 6 to Forever,” maker’s product page)
Safety: The pieces have magnets built in. We couldn’t see the box warnings online, so check the package label before gifting to a home with babies or toddlers.
Kid Hook
Flexible magnetic pieces that bend, hinge and snap into a T. rex, a pterodactyl or a dinosaur nobody has discovered yet. The poses hold, so the battle scenes can stay up.
Parent Reality Check
The maker lists 36 pieces in 16 shapes, including 13 dino-themed pieces. It’s pricier per piece than basic magnetic tiles, and we didn’t find this exact pack on Amazon on Nov. 1. Buy it from the maker instead.
Maker: TOSY · Age grade: 9 years and up (Amazon listing; NAPPA lists ages 6 and up)
Safety: Contains small magnets. Swallowed magnets can stick together inside the body and cause serious injury or death, so get medical help right away if one is swallowed (Amazon listing warning). Keep away from younger siblings.
Kid Hook
Eighty little magnetic cubes, six faces each, so one box holds six different pictures. Solve the bunnies, flip everything and start again.
Parent Reality Check
NAPPA’s evaluators called it compact, great for trips and “quite challenging.” The award covers the Picture Cube line, which comes in 48-, 61- and 80-piece sets and several themes. We linked the Bunny Friends set because it’s the one NAPPA’s page links to. The built-in frame means the finished picture can go on a shelf.
Pros
Six puzzles in one box
Small enough to travel
Finished picture displays in its frame
Cons
Tricky for younger kids
Magnets mean it’s not for homes with toddlers underfoot
$24.99 on Amazon as of Nov. 1, 2026, 11:22 PM PT (sold by TOSY Store, shipped by Amazon).
What’s announced next
Sat., Nov. 7, 2026: TOTY 2027 finalists. The Toy Foundation says the finalists in all 17 categories will be revealed at 11:30 a.m. on the main stage of the Chicago Toy & Game Fair (CHITAG), with a national press release the same day. Voting then opens to retailers, media, industry members and consumers through early January. Families can vote at ToyAwards.org for the People’s Choice award, and Astra members alone pick the Specialty Toy of the Year. The Toy Foundation: finalists to be unveiled at CHITAG · how the 2027 awards work.
Fri., Feb. 19, 2027: TOTY 2027 winners. Category winners, People’s Choice and the overall Toy of the Year will be announced at Pier Sixty in New York City.
Every month: Mom’s Choice Awards keeps posting new honoree lists, and Creative Child keeps adding winners from its monthly review events.
Spring 2027: Astra Play Awards. Astra says its finalists are announced in April and winners at its June event.
We’ll update this section when the TOTY finalists post on Nov. 7.
Safety check: On Nov. 1, 2026 we checked CPSC recalls from Jan. 1, 2024 through Oct. 29, 2026 (the latest in the database that morning) for every product and maker above, using the CPSC recall database at saferproducts.gov. We found no recalls of these products or makers in that window.
Make toys? Sell toys?
Put your products where retail buyers already look. Get listed on ToyDirectory.com and show your wholesale info (minimums, terms, reps) to the retail buyers who use the directory. Won a 2026 award? Tell us at [email protected].
