TRU Identifies Holiday Toy Trends

After a year of tracking toy purchases across the globe, Toys 'R' Us has named four trends that it anticipates will impact toy buying decisions this holiday season

April 6, 2018

Toy retailer highlights this year's hot toy themes including dinosaurs and STEAM.

After a year of tracking toy purchases across the globe, Toys 'R' Us has named four trends that it anticipates will impact toy buying decisions this holiday season.

The four trends are Age of Dinosaurs, Full STEAM Ahead, Lil' Sous Chefs in Training and Pets with Personality.

“As the world’s leading dedicated toy retailer, Toys 'R' Us leverages industry insights, monitors purchase patterns and observes culturally relevant themes to understand what parents and kids gravitate toward each year,” says Richard Barry, executive vice president, global chief merchandise officer, Toys 'R' Us. “Whether it’s cooking up fun pretending to be a chef, caring for a technologically savvy pet or promoting curiosity and learning through play, these trends include some of the hottest new items for the 2015 holiday season.”

The following are the Toys 'R' Us 2015 Toy Trends,

as well as select toys exemplifying each category:

Age of the Dinosaurs

Inspired by new, hit movies, including the blockbuster

Jurassic World

from Universal

and the highly anticipated release of Disney’s

The Good Dinosaur,

as well as dinosaur-themed shows such as DreamWorks Animation’s "Dinotrux," it is Mesozoic mania on toy shelves this holiday season. TRU predicts toys such as the following will resonate with parents and children:

"Dinotrux" Mega Chompin’ Ty Rux from Mattel
Imaginext Ultra T-Rex from Fisher-Price
Jurassic World
Hero Mashers Ultimate T-Rex from Hasbro
Zoomer Chomplingz from Spin Master
Zoomer Dino
Jurassic World
Indominus Rex from Spin Master

Full STEAM Ahead ?

STEAM has emerged as one of the most popular trends among parents wanting to introduce the areas of science, technology, engineering, arts and math to children as part of playtime. These unique playthings are dedicated to advancing inquisitiveness while helping to spur strategic and creative thinking:

AnkiOVERDRIVE starter kit from Anki
Bright Beats Dance & Move BeatBo from Fisher-Price
Meccanoid GKS from Spin Master
Project Mc2 dolls from MGA Entertainment
Smart Toy bear from Fisher-Price

Lil’ Sous Chefs in Training

From pictures on social media to an entire network of celebrity chefs, the kitchen is the popular place to be. These crafty, delicious toys help spark imagination while creating personalized playtime experiences:

Candy Craft chocolate pen from Skyrocket
Play-Doh Cookout Creations from Hasbro
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pizza Oven from Wicked Cool Toys
The Real Cotton Candy Maker from Cra-Z-Art
Yummy Nummies Mini Kitchen Party Sets from Blip

Pets with Personality

Kids have always found a friend in their favorite stuffed animal and now they are gravitating toward play pets that can interact with them. The following toys are just a few of the playthings kids will be clamoring to adopt into their playroom: