Top of the Toys

With only 114 sleeps from today, September 2^nd, until Christmas, we shouldn’t expect anything less from John Lewis who this week announced their top 10 toys for Christmas 2024 !!

“Never Knowingly Undersold”, most of us are familiar with the employee-owned partnership’s claim and marketing statement and of course those Christmas adverts which have us all reaching for our tissues as they tug at our emotional heartstrings.

Last year they enlisted the help of the leading authorities in the field – children themselves – to give their verdict on the best toys. Their panel of tiny testers, who ranged from five to 10 years old, spent hours playing, evaluating and competing in order to approve the final list of 10 must-have toys for Christmas 2023.

And they came up with some winners - Barbie, Lego and a wooden play cafe made the top ten.

This year, the children lost out to the toy buyers who have spent months deliberating on their top ten favourites and, guess what …. Barbie, Lego and a wooden play kitchen – have been chosen among the top ten favourites for wish lists this Christmas.

That hint of nostalgia feeds into our general Christmas traditions looking back on our children’s and our own Christmas expectations as kids. So these old favourites  are still able to trigger memories of Christmas past even as we look to Christmas present and  those to come – somehow I think those three products will continue to feature large in the Christmas wish lists of children of the future.

John Lewis say that the buyers have selected toys that have a focus on togetherness, designed to play with friends or family and encourage imaginary play and escapism. 

Last year the Barbie Car was the must have item, this  65 th anniversary year of Barbie’s birth, it’s the Barbie Stable Set making a comeback to be played with as a solo item or with other Barbie products.

The wooden kitchen has replaced the café this year but food related toys are apparently set to be very popular again this year encouraging youngsters to test out their imaginary cookery skills with a full dinner service, condiments and utensils.

Lego continues to be a number one best-selling brand across John Lewis’ toy offer with a wide range of options Lego Santa’s sleigh with reindeers, a creative option for older children that can be built collaboratively as well as solo.

Across construction toys, Connetix is up there with magnetic building blocks that develop problem solving and investigative skills. For a sensory gift, the Play-Doh ice cream set combines arts and crafts with role-play, while the wooden vending machine toy adds an educational element through counting and letter recognition.  Again it’s that yearning for nostalgia that appeals – Play Doh was a staple of childhood or if not Play Doh – salt dough which was easy to make adding a few drops of food colouring to create the magic.

And the transportable record player from VTech is recommended for musical play featuring 5 ‘vinyl records’ that they say are sure to become the soundtrack of Christmas morning.

And finally guess which product features at number 6 in the John Lewis must have Christmas list – a teddy bear ! Who doesn’t love a teddy bear, whether traditional or character, bears are always a Christmas morning favourite. Go one better and choose one of Be My Bear’s extensive range of teddy bear and animal making kits, an ideal Christmas stocking filler to be made with love on Christmas morning or later in the day when it’s time for a post dinner breather – spend time together making a friend for life – quite literally, a keepsake to be treasured down the years and passed on to the next generation.

Happy Christmas Shopping !

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