The 2021 Good Housekeeping Best Toy Awards

The Squishmallows world expands with new, plush Squishville play sets, including this mall, which lets the furry friends roam around in a food court, arcade, toy store and rooftop terrace. It comes with two, 2" plushes who can squeeze themselves into accessories like the shopping cart, cash register and arcade game.

Lab Results: Collecting Squishmallows is a huge trend, and the new smaller size of the mini-plushes makes them easier to tote around than the bigger pillows. Ages 0+

The secret to a cleaner painting experience, Crayola's spill-proof paint is not the consistency of regular paint — it's more of a semi-solid that stays put in its pot and doesn't drip all over the place.

Lab Results: One tester noted this formula is mess-hating-Grandma-approved! (Though parents should be warned that kids cans till get paint on themselves if they touch their creations before they're dry.) Ages 3+

Fans of Numberblocks will love this set, which uses the show’s characters to teach basic math like counting, addition and subtraction. The interlocking cubes add a hands-on dimension to learning about numbers.

Lab Results: “My kids have learned so much math from it, it’s mind-blowing,” one parent reported. Ages 3+

It’s a classification game with a sustainably-minded twist: Players must collect materials and put them in the proper recycling bins. The bins themselves have fun, cartoony designs (and they sure look hungry).

Lab Results: “LOVE this game!” raved the parent of one tester. “So educational and fun.” Parents also liked that it helps with sorting skills and memory. Ages 3+

Sensory bins are often a DIY affair, but this set does the work for you, as it comes complete with sensory sand, water beads, scoops, river rocks and plastic animals.

Lab Results: While the sand and beads inevitably come out of the bin, parents liked how they could just snap the lid back on during cleanup. Ages 3+

Fans of creepy-crawlies will thrill to this set, which uses Hexbug technology to make bugs that realistically scamper and even move around objects. The set comes with a cicada, a cockroach, a Japanese beetle, a water scorpion and an assassin bug.

Lab Results: These insects are extremely realistic. Families who love pranking each other will get a kick out of how much they look just like the real thing! Ages 3+

Gorgeous hairstyles, shimmery iridescent clothes and super-trendy accessories make the Barbie Extra line of dolls more fashionable than ever. The bodies are posable, too, and each one comes with a pet that's just as stylish as she is.

Lab Results: Kids loved Barbie’s new look, and testers rated this line off-the-charts great. Ages 3+

With this set, kids take a trip through the Feelings Forest and use storytelling to explain their emotions. Magnetic faces help them portray the emotions of their characters, and there are prompts and games to play that help them describe their own feelings.

Lab Results: Kid testers were enamored with the magnetic faces, and parents found it an innovative way to get preschoolers talking about their emotions. Ages 3+

These Rainbocorns have everything a magical collector could want: They come with fairy wings a kid can wear, color-changing slime called "fairycorn poop," glittery accessories and other fun surprises. These come in seven different animals, including a kitty, an owl and a hippo.

Lab Results: "I like that it comes with a little friend so it's not lonely," one 5-year-old tester says of the included "Boo-Boocorns" pet. Ages 3+

Fans of the Care Bears in the '80s should thrill to the news of their return, sporting brighter colors and cuter designs. New for 2021, the Togetherness Bear sports every color of the rainbow as a nod to inclusivity and kindness. No two are alike, just as no two people are alike. This bear also has a great motto: "Love all."

Lab Results: Testers liked these bears’ supersoft fur, smiling faces and mix of colors. Ages 4+

Kids are encouraged to take a scruffy pup with overgrown hair and give it the full salon experience by trimming the excess fur (with a tool that looks and feels like an electric razor), styling the pet and even painting its nails.

Lab Results: There's a huge trend in toys that teach kids empathy by having them care for pets, and parents found this as one, a much-improved update over a previous Toy Award winner, the most engaging. They were impressed by how easily the hair shaves off! Ages 4+

Players are invited to a tea party at a tipsy table. Cards tell the players what size cup to stack on the table and where. But they have to do it carefully — the cups are off-kilter and the whole stack can fall!

Lab Results: Testers enjoyed the cute design of the cups, and one parent liked how the game doesn’t end when the teacups tumble, so it’s a little lesson in getting over failure. Ages 5+

Kids can learn more than 200 facts about animals, plants and the world around them by looking at these kid-friendly slides through a double-eyed microscope. When they're not in use, the slides store away easily in the base.

Lab Results: The microscope was easy enough for elementary schoolers to use on their own, and kids loved reading up on all the animal facts. Ages 5+

Part toy, part accessory, these kittens, puppies, koalas, pandas, unicorns and more can be used as hair scrunchies, bracelets or backpack clips.

Lab Results: Colorful, cute and cool — who wouldn’t be charmed by these wearable toys? Plus, they’re priced to be perfect stocking stuffers. Ages 5+

Whether the kids are fans of the OG Ghostbusters or the new Ghostbusters: Afterlife, they'll have a blast defeating ghouls with this role-play toy. It has two different attachments — "Blast ‘n’ Trap" and "Proton Stream" — and it makes different sounds depending on which one is in use.

Lab Results: The different attachments meant that kids got a lot of use out of this for the price. (Though, be warned: Parents reported this one was very noisy.) Ages 5+

As the first board game adaptation of the popular card game, the set contains everything kids need to easily learn how to play the game. It also comes with three decks, so families can dive in and start playing right away.

Lab Results: One parent saw her kid go quickly from not understanding the rules to regularly beating her father. Ages 6+

Each of these girls has an interest in making the world better, from caring for animals to cleaning up the beach. In addition to the eco-message, they all come with some kind of DIY activity, from sewing an outfit and purse to making BFF jewelry.

Lab Results: Families liked the environmental focus of the dolls, and loved the DIY projects and found them as good as activity kits that are sold on their own. Ages 6+

In this game, everyone works together to tell an adventure story and hopefully guide the main character to a happy ending. Players are dealt cards they can use to keep the tale going.

Lab Results: Parents appreciated that the game was driven by imagination and creativity. One tester observed her older and younger kids all loved playing it together. Ages 6+