Hundreds of new toys are released every year, making it difficult to know which ones will actually spark excitement, encourage skill-building and hold kids' attention long after the unboxing. That's why the Good Housekeeping Institute spends months researching and testing the latest toys to identify the ones truly worth bringing home.
For Good Housekeeping's 2026 Toy Awards, our experts—including engineers, product analysts and parenting editors—tested hundreds of toys through hands-on evaluations. But we also turned to the real experts: 370 kid testers, who played with the toys at home while their parents shared detailed feedback about their experiences. We also hosted an in-person day of play at the GH Institute, where children explored hundreds of toys side by side, helping our experts identify the products they naturally gravitated toward. These winners stood out for their quality, innovative design and, most importantly, how much fun the kids had playing with them.
Meet the Winners
How We Test
We evaluate toys all year long at the Good Housekeeping Institute. Our team of toy experts (with a combined 20+ years of experience testing and writing about the hottest toys) is always meeting with manufacturers and staying on the lookout for the latest and greatest. But toy testing really ramps up when we launch the annual Good Housekeeping Toy Awards. We scour over submissions, including reviewing any product claims and verifying certifications, and we get hands-on with them ourselves. Then, it's time to really put them to the test by sending the toys to hundreds of kids for playtime in the real world.
☑ Expert Lab Testing
After reviewing each submission, we check out the toys in person. In just a few weeks, hundreds of toys are delivered to the GH Institute Tech & Engineering Lab where our analysts and parenting editors open and review each one. We're not here to judge whether or not we think kids will like a toy (we leave that to the toy-testing kids themselves!), but we do judge each toy from a safety, instructional, and ease of use perspective.
Safety is a top priority. We use a specialized tool called HDXRF that screens for elements both on the surface and inside of a toy. This helps us ensure that the toy meets U.S. safety standards. We drop-test select toys to ensure they won’t shatter or break into sharp pieces.
Toys intended for children under the age of 3 require additional scrutiny. We use a small-parts tester to help determine whether any components could pose a choking hazard. We also consider age recommendations for certain toys and check whether constructions may be similar to past toy recalls to rule out any risks.
And when it comes to assembling toys, some are simply not worth the effort and confusion. Toy analysts unbox and build every toy, thoroughly reviewing instructions to ensure they're simple to follow and free of error. We also take note of how easy or complicated set up is for each toy and flag them if the quality isn't there; no one wants a toy that breaks upon opening.
☑ At-Home Testing
We built a thorough recruitment process to properly assign toys to kids between the ages of 0 to 13. Parents fill out a detailed form to help us understand each child's specific interests—from popular characters to specific themes like music or cooking. We even ask parents what skillsets they're most interested in working on with their kids, like gross-motor, hand-eye coordination, or reading.
This informations helps us to match kids with toys they'd be generally excited to try, rather than sending them something they'd never use in the first place. This ensures we receive accurate and meaningful data from our testers. Families play with the toys at home for extended periods before completing a survey collecting both scored and open-ended feedback. We're able to gather direct thoughts from the parents and kids who played and use this information to help us determine which toys will come out on top.
☑ Day of Play
Arguably the funnest day of the year for everyone at the Good Housekeeping Institute is our in-person toy testing experience. We invite families to come play with toys that we have assembled and prepped—from putting together art kits to charging remote-controlled cars to carefully connecting magnetic tiles and blocks, transforming them into cool creations.
When the kids enter, they get access to everything we’ve assembled without having to worry about setup or cleanup. Through hours of uninterrupted play, we're able to observe which toys kids truly gravitate towards and hold their attention. And since many of these toys are brand new to the market (or not even released) when we test, we're getting their organic, unfiltered feedback.
Meet the Experts
The GH Toy Awards are led by a team of product experts and parenting editors with decades of combined experience evaluating toys and parenting gear. They oversaw every stage of the awards process—from reviewing submissions and conducting hands-on evaluations to managing consumer testing—to identify the toys that truly stood out. Several of judges are parents themselves, bringing real-world perspective to the evaluation process.
Photo credits: Mike Garten and courtesy of testers
