What are the MadeForMums Toy Awards?
All you need to know about the MadeForMums Toy Awards 2022 – and how they'll be judged
The MadeForMums Toy Awards are an annual event, where we recognise the best toys for children aged 0 to 16 – and release the list of our award-winners in October, just when we know loads of parents like us are all on the hunt for great toys to buy for Christmas.
We announce the Shortlisted toys in September and then, in October, we announce our Gold, Silver and Bronze winners in over 30 categories, covering everything from Best Baby Toy and Best Board Game to Best Science Toy, Best Stocking Filler, Best Doll, Best Construction Toy and Best First Bike.
We also award special Editor's Choice awards for toys that really stand out from the crowd, which may include a special emphasis on more eco-friendly toys.
We're known here at MadeForMums for our expert, honest and thorough product reviews, and we bring those same standards to our Toy Awards – knowing that the award of a winner's badge from us will be recognised both by parents and major retailers as a sign of outstanding quality and play potential.
How are the toys judged?
The very best people to rate toys are – obviously – the children who play with them, so every year, we recruit a panel of child judges, ranging in age from 8 weeks to 16 years.
In 2021, we had over 900 children on our judging panel (you can see some of them in the picture above). We set them (and their parents) the task of playing with our toy entries and telling us exactly what they think of them. And, boy, do they tell us EXACTLY what they think!
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We also hold special judging days at MadeForMums HQ – where our editorial team and invited guests (including toy industry experts) put all the toys through their paces, too.
Once we have all that testing feedback in, the MadeForMums Toy Awards team selects the Shortlisted toys – and then, after a very detailed final round of judging, we finally reveal the Gold, Silver, Bronze and Editor's Choice winners.
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Authors
Helen is author of the classic advice book Parenting for Dummies. Before joining MadeForMums over 7 years ago, she was Head of Community at Mumsnet and also the Consumer Editor of Mother & Baby.
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