reviewing toys » and another thought

toys, toys and more toys

We’re just wrapping up our third year of being a toy testing family for Canada’s national magazine, Today’s Parent. It’s been a lot fun, but there’s a lot of work involved too. My kids (age 2, 5, and 7) enjoy getting access to some of the hottest new toys, sometimes even before they’re even released to the public. In the past we’ve been able to test some amazing awarding winning toys before they were released, like the LeapFrog TAG reading system, the Fisher Price Smart Cycle, Lamaze Balancing Bug Stackers to name a few of our favourites.

Playing with the toys is great fun, for both the kids and myself. But there is work involved too. Each child (not infants) is required to fill out a testing report on each toy they’ve tested, telling what they liked or didn’t like about the toy. This sounds easy, but it can be a lot of work, especially if you want to avoid a report like ‘The toy was fun. I like it’. Not much of a review. Sometimes it means I have to ask my kids questions about the toy in order to get an idea of what’s good and not so good about the toy: was it hard to use? did you need mom or dad to help you? which of your friends would like this? why? where do you like to play with it? and so on. When working with my two oldest kids, it can sometimes take an hour to get just one report done.

Then there are the reports that I have to fill out. These are much more extensive (check out the sample toy report form to get a better idea of the questions). I find it helps me to keep notes on how the kids interact with each toy or my own thoughts after using it or assembling it).

Then near the end of the toy testing session there are final reports that I have to fill out on each toy. This is a great opportunity to add anything new after the kids have had more time to play with the toys. In the past, a toy that my kids didn’t really enjoy become something they played with more often after they figured out how to use it. Or a toy breaks often and the kids loose interest. The final report gives me a chance to note these things.

After all the reports are done and the testing is over, we make arrangements to donate everything. I like to pick charities in our neighbourhood. The kids enjoy dropping the donations off and meeting the people who will be receiving the toys; they like to tell the families what they liked about the toys.

My son in toy testing mode

So yes, it’s a lot of work and some days my kids want nothing to do with the toys. But most days they enjoy playing and even writing the reports. They love the idea that what they say in their reports could help other parents decide if this is a good toy for their little boy or girl. Once the testing is done and the donations have been made, the kids can’t wait for the November toy issue to see if their favourite toys are included (and sometimes they’re quoted). Then they start counting down until next years toy testing.

If you think your family would be interested in becoming a toy testing family, checkout the online report testing site for more information and to fill out an application. I should point out that due to logistics toys are only distributed in the Toronto and Ottawa surrounding areas.