Well, if anybody thinks that toys aren’t news, then they weren’t at the 2010 Canadian Toys of the Year presentation. Every TV station was represented and there were more cameras filming than kids playing with toys. The big news on the toy front is budget friendly toys. Out of the 110 shown, more than half were under $30. This is great news for us parents looking for quality toys within our price range. The kids who were at the presentation had no problem concentrating on playing with these toys. The girls seemed to love walking the Furreal Friends Gogo My Walkin’ Pup around the room the whole time while the younger boys didn’t stop playing with Wader Park Tower (a muli-level parking garage the height of some of the smaller boys).

Green/eco friendly toys are popular this year. Wild Creations EcoAquarium has an aquarium with 2 live African Dwarf frogs and solar powered toys are definitely trendy.

Hi tech is still popular. This year’s hits include guitars, RC helicopters and even a video Barbie to name only a few.

As a toy testing family, I love to check to see if any of the toys we tested were there … and my kids’ favourite toy this year – Perplexus, a 3D labyrinth, made the list. Another family favourite, Arlekino which is a board game also made the top 110. There were plenty of toys there that we hadn’t tried so I foresee a lot more games being played in my house.