2006 Award Winning Toys
And the Winners Are…
Toy Awards
By Amy Carney Bevins
You’ve seen them announced on TV, read about them in magazines, and
looked for their “Seal of Approval” on boxes. But what does it mean to
say that a toy or game is an award winner? When buying an award-winning
toy, you know it has passed some form of testing or review, but who
evaluates these products and what criteria do they use? Below is a brief
description of several preeminent toy award organizations and a peek at
how they make their selections for best toys and games. Be sure to visit
their websites for more information and to view their award lists.
The Oppenheim Toy Portfolio (www.toyportfolio.com)
Founded in 1989, the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio is an independent consumer
review of children’s media and does not charge entry fees or accept
advertisements for products they review. Year-round, toys are tested,
played with and evaluated by child development and education experts, as
well as a national cross-section of parent and kid testers who take the
toy home for an extended testing period. The reviewers consider
“educational and play value, safety, age appropriateness, and other
factors.” The Oppenheim Toy Portfolio is headed by Joanne Oppenheim, a
foremost authority on child development and education and author of over
40 books, and by Stephanie Oppenheim, a former corporate attorney and
publisher and co-founder of the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio. They publish a
quarterly newsletter and contribute monthly to NBC’s Today show.
Dr. Toy (www.drtoy.com)
Stevanne Auerbach, PhD, better known as Dr. Toy, is a leading expert on
toys and children’s products. With extensive training in child
psychology, education, special education, and child development and over
30 years experience as a speaker, consultant, and author, Dr. Auerbauch
has had a major impact on childhood in this country. Four times a year,
she publishes her list of award winning toys in categories such as 100
Best Children’s Products, 10 Best Creative Products and Best Vacation
Products. Among her criteria for selecting winners are “safety,
age-appropriateness, design, durability, lasting play value, cultural
and ethnic diversity, educational value, learning skills, creativity,
good value for price, and, naturally, fun.”
Parents’ Choice (www.parents-choice.org)
Parents’ Choice Foundation, established in 1978, is the nation’s oldest
nonprofit guide to quality children’s toys and media. Parents’ Choice
Awards committees, comprised of educators, scientists, performing
artists, librarians, parents and kids, review children’s books, toys,
music, television, software, videogames, websites and magazines. To be a
Parents’ Choice Award winner, a product must “entertain and teach with
flair, stimulate imagination and inspire creativity. Judges are
interested in how a product helps a child grow in many ways: socially,
intellectually, emotionally, ethically, and physically. Products must be
free of racial or gender bias. Above all, products must not extol
violence.”
The National Parenting Center (www.tnpc.com)
Since 1989, The National Parenting Center has been advising, supporting
and guiding parents with the assistance of worldwide authorities in
child development. The Seal of Approval Program, created in 1990 seeks
to identify quality child-focused products and services. During an
eight-week period, volunteer testers (educators, parents and children)
play with and evaluate products using criteria including “level of
desirability, sturdiness, interactive stimulation and other ingredients
essential in the make-up of a quality product.” Testers fill out
questionnaires and provide comments, which are then analyzed to select
the winning products.
Major FUN (www.majorfun.com)
Major FUN awards go to toys and games that are just that – FUN. While
the products are not put through a rigorous, scientific screening, Major
FUN Awards offer a reliable list of family favorites. Toys are reviewed
at “Tastings”, where game-players get together and try them out. The
ones that are the most “fun” are then considered for an award. “Major
FUN especially likes games that make people laugh, are original,
flexible, easy to adapt, are well-made, durable, easily stored and are
easy to understand and teach.”
Other organizations that evaluate and review toys include:
iParenting Media (www.iparentingmediaawards.com)
NAPPA – The National Parenting Publications Awards (www.nappa.parenthood.com)
AblePlay – Products for children with special needs (http://www.AblePlay.org)
The Lion & the Lamb Project – Non-violent toys (www.lionlamb.org)
Canadian Toy Testing Council (www.toy-testing.org)
TOTY – Toy Industry Association (www.toy-tia.org/toty)
Amy Carney Bevins is a freelance writer, magazine editor, educator and
mom. |
