As Christmas approaches, TantrumXYZ polled parents to find out what they thought were the top ten worst Christmas toys and the winner was TOMY HIDE ‘N’SQUEAK EGGS, which scored 28% of the vote.
The toy, which is made up of a yellow plastic egg-box filled with six ‘eggs’ which crack open to reveal a different-coloured tweeting ‘chick’ in each one, rankles parents because of the number of different pieces of plastic it is made up, and their ability to get into every corner of the house.
‘My child loves them but I hate them! The bits hide under the sofa, chairs and beds, and my obsession to make sure each chick is correctly paired up before I can put it away drives me mad!’ said one parent.
Another commented: ‘What is it actually teaching your baby? That if you crack open your carton of eggs, living chicks which emit a half-hearted ‘tweet’ will suddenly appear?’
The eggs were followed closely by the V-Tech Walker, a walker on wheels with an in-built activity station and plastic phone.
‘The sound is badly-produced,’ said one parent. ‘And when the toddler hits the same button on repeat it can get beyond annoying.’
‘Any toy that allows a toddler to press the same button repeatedly to make some annoying sound or song is the worst,’ said another.
Lego, Furbies and Happy Meal Toys also featured in the top 10; with mess, irritating noises and garish plastic being the top-cited reasons for why they wind up parents.
‘Parents have spoken,’ said Lisa Williams, editor of TantrumXYZ. ‘Certain toys might be popular with kids, but they annoy the hell out of parents, who often have enough on their mind already. If you are buying presents for your niece, nephew or grandchildren this Christmas, please spare a thought for their parents too!’
A spokesperson for Tomy said: ‘Hide ‘n’ Squeak Eggs are a great way to encourage play and to develop your baby’s early skills and most importantly they are egg-cellent fun!
‘They do require a little more effort from parents to put away but that is the name of the game – we think parents should listen to the kids; they know best!’
Full results:
Tomy Hide ‘n’ Squeak Eggs – 28%
V-Tech Walker – 22%
Lego – 13%
Furby – 9%
Bop It – 6%
Happy Meal toys – 6%
Play-Doh – 6%
Kinder Egg toys – 3%
Sofie La Giraffe – 3%
Hatchimals – 3%
Editor’s Notes:
If you’re still considering a Hatchimal, despite their inflated price tag, pop over to our editor’s Instagram to see her reviews and videos, they’re really not all they’re “cracked up” to be – sorry.
Lego only made it onto our Christmas Gift guides once this year, while we do usually adore Tomy and V-Tech we can see the parent’s points. Luckily they have a huge range to choose from, as these two champions of children’s toys know exactly what children want.