Each February the toy industry gathers in New York City for an annual trade show known as Toy Fair.
This year's Toy Fair was one of the biggest in recent memory, as toy companies look to fill the gap left by the demise of Toys R Us.
We visited the show to scope out what's hot for 2019 and what to expect this holiday season. Here's what we found:
1. Glitter and sparkles are hot!
Basically, if a manufacturer could add glitter or sparkles to something ... they probably did! And these toys are fun. We saw examples from Ty, the makers of Beanie Babies, with sequined sparkly Flippables plush toys; Sea Star sparkle sunscreen; Crayola and their new Sparkle Dots (available by fall); and Mad Mattr's Unicorn Sparkle Mattr.
2. Everything old is new again!
OK, we'll admit we are parents "of a certain age," but apparently so are many toy manufacturers! Many of the toys we saw were a blast from our past. The cool thing about this is that we can also enjoy them with our kids. Do you remember any of these faves? Pound Puppies, Bath Foam, and Lite Brite all made appearances at Toy Fair.
3. Who doesn't love a surprise?
The element of surprise was huuuuge this year. Toys that come in some kind of packaging that hides what's inside was all the rage. Kids won't know what color, or what type of toy they'll be getting until they open it. Ryan's World of Youtube Fame is a big driver of this trend. We saw toys that surprise from Portable North Pole and Crush Plush.
And while not part of one of these trends, we loved the new board game Friends of a Feather from Ravensburger. Look for it this fall!
As always, we left Toy Fair feeling like kids -- it's such fun getting to spend time playing while we're also working! It was a great reminder to us of our 2019 Macaroni Kid theme: Fun and success are not mutually exclusive. After all, we can all use a little more play time in our lives -- and the Toy Fair was definitely a chance to exercise those play muscles!