Making Sure The Toys on Your List are Safe

The Toy Industry Association (TIA) is the industry trade organization that hosts Toy Fair every February in New York. Over the past year, TIA has been helping American toy makers make sense of the new toy safety testing laws and standards and now they are reaching out to parents to help us understand how to buy safe, and great, toys.



TIA has created two websites for consumers: toyinfo.org, which provides tips for shopping for safe toys and how to keep your children safe with their toys after purchase, and toyawards.org, which showcases the top toys in 11 product categories that have been nominated for the much-anticipated annual Toy of the Year Awards. The Conversations area on toyinfo.org features a Discussion Board where consumers can ask questions about safety issues and share thoughts about toys as well as information about Hot Toy Trends and my personal favorite, a series of videos called The Moms of Toy Safety, in which six senior toy industry executives — who all happen to be moms of young children — share their insights into selecting appropriate toys and ensuring fun, safe play in the home.



See how your holiday shopping list measures up to the 2010 Toy of the Year Awards finalist list! Winners will be chosen on February 13, 2010 at the 10th annual Toy of the Year Awards in NYC and John Lasseter, chief creative officer of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios and principal creative advisor of Walt Disney Imagineering, and Sam Walton, founder of Walmart Stores, will be inducted into the Toy Industry Hall of Fame.

Disclosure: By sharing this rather pertinent (in my opinion!) information with you, I will be entered into a random drawing to win a customized package of toys and games for my family. You can vote for your favorites in the TOTY Awards and enter to win all the Finalist products in the category of your choice!