Why You Can Trust CNET Toys for kids at heart
These are all the kids' toys that adults will love too. No judging here.
- Bridget has spent over 18 years as a consumer tech reporter, hosting daily tech news shows and writing syndicated newspaper columns. She's often a guest on national radio and television stations, including ABC, CBS, CNBC and NBC.
OK, don't think I'm weird, but there are some kids' toys out now that make for great gifts for grown-ups too. I'm quite serious. If you're looking for gift ideas for adults, there are some hot toys that kids will totally love -- and that adults will want to steal away from them.
There's an interesting trend happening this year in the toy industry. The Toy Association reports that more adults are buying toys for themselves this year -- because sure, many of us are kids at heart or collectors. But also, we're all a little broken inside these days and looking for some fun to escape. So this year, along with our regular toy guide for kids, we present this toy guide for kids at heart.
Candy Claw Machine
Thames and Kosmos makes some of the best build-it-yourself engineering toys, and they're often hard to find -- like this Candy Claw Machine where you make your own arcade game.
When you build it, you'll learn all about gears, belts and hydraulics. In fact, you'll probably learn that hydraulics may not be the easiest way to pick up little candy tricks. And maybe you don't need any more challenges in your life right now, but that's OK. It's still fun to build something.
Aero Dancer
One item that's a little easier to find is this fella: the wacky, waving inflatable arm-flailing tube man called the Aero Dancer. And it makes for great home office decor.
Why should this only bring joy to car dealerships when it can do the same to your bookshelf? And who can resist getting a lesson in aerodynamics with your new deskmate?
Koosh Sharp Shot
Forget darts and holes in your wall -- you gotta Koosh it up. If you didn't grow up with a Koosh Ball, then let me help correct that misstep in your life. Because Koosh is back, and there are new accessories for it that can make Koosh a fun party game. For instance, there's the Koosh Sharp Shot, which is essentially a target toss game where you fling it to certain areas.
Depending on the challenge, it will light up and give different scores. Criss-cross mode has you connect three targets, or you can hit moving targets. There's lots of stress relief and silliness to be had here. And yes, they still have that plastic smell.
Crossed Signals
Here's another new game, and this one is from Mattel. It's called Crossed Signals, and it's basically these light-up sticks that you hold in each hand. It flashes arrows and X's, and you have to move your sticks up and down in the right direction to score points -- trust me, it gets fast and tricky.
Play alone or play against others -- it makes for a good ice-breaker game at parties if (like a lot of us) you've forgotten how to hold conversations with other people.
Air Hogs Gravitor
Drones can be complicated and expensive. But Air Hogs has come out with these toy drones that are cheap and make you feel like you have magic powers. The Air Hogs Gravitor senses when your hand is below and hovers above it, so you can fling it around and do tricks -- or just crash it into stuff.
The Gravitor is so light, I would describe it as feeling like Styrofoam, so you don't have to worry about breaking lamps or for that matter, breaking faces. It comes with a trick stick on top for tossing and catching, and you can do more advanced tricks so that you can impress all your co-workers on your next Zoom call.
Zing Go Go Bird
And speaking of crashing into things, Zing makes these remote-controlled birds, butterflies and dragons that are fun outdoors. The Zing Go Go Bird Butterfly is very lightweight, and you can race friends or do tricks.
The controls are very simple for any kid to use -- or for any burned-out grown-up who wants to fly away from it all. It works at a distance of 60 meters, and there's not much crash guilt here since it's made of plastic. After charging it with a USB cable, you'll get about 10 minutes of continuous flight time out of it.
Tamagotchi
I know you're going to think I'm crazy for this next one, but hear me out -- Tamagotchi. Yes, the egg creature you keep alive that was crazy popular in the '90s. They're still making them, and they come in many different forms now, for $20 or less. There's even an R2-D2 Tamagotchi with all these little Star Wars games and side characters that come out to play.
Before you start to freak out -- no, R2-D2 doesn't die if you ignore your Tamagotchi, but he will get a little cobwebby.
They also have new twists on Tamagotchi called Tamagotchi Pix, which kids can use as a camera to take their photo next to their little critters -- so you can pretend you live inside that little egg, all safe and free from social media.
Power Rangers Retro-Morphin Figure
Another blast from the past is this Power Rangers Retro-Morphin action figure from Hasbro. If you were ever a fan of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, you'll be familiar with the look of this toy and its head-flipping action.
It's slightly different than the original Bandai toy (Hasbro's imitation is a little bulkier), but it'll make you want to sit down with a bowl of cereal on Saturday morning and watch all your favorite costumed heroes.