Food is a necessity in life, and apparently, food is a necessity in the toy aisle as well. Retailers are stocking up on food-themed toys quicker than you can find fresh produce at the grocery store. Fueled by innovations in classic play, toymakers are getting creative with fresh foodie toys across multiple categories, including playsets, games, collectibles, dolls, and plush. From ice cream to pizza and all the sweet and savory snacks in between, kids will be able to find all of their favorite foods in toy form this season. Take a look at some of our favorites below, and despite what your parents taught you, it’s totally OK to play with your food — we promise.
5 Surprise Foodie Mini Brands from Zuru Toys
Kids can unwrap, peel, and reveal more than 65 mini versions of fast food items from brands such as Subway, TGI Fridays, Sonic, and more. Each capsule contains five different surprises. There are four rare frozen moment minis and eight accessories to collect, including a soft drinks machine, a ketchup dispenser, and menus.
Ages: 3+
MSRP: $8.49
Available: Now
Top & Bake Pizza Counter from Melissa & Doug
This 34-piece set comes with a wooden pizza counter, a pizza paddle, a pizza cutter, a delivery box, a menu, play money, a cheese shaker, felt cheese and sauce, a wooden pizza crust, and wooden pizza toppings. The pieces feature self-stick tabs that hold them together. Kids can slice the pretend pizza with the rolling pizza cutter.
Ages: 3
MSRP: $64.99
Available: Now
Play-Doh Kitchen Creations Ultimate Ice Cream Truck from Hasbro
This 3-foot ice cream truck comes with 12 Play-Doh colors and 27 tools, such as cones, dishes, stampers, and molds, that kids can use to create pretend ice cream. There is a soft serve machine, a scooping station, a cash register that makes “cha-ching” sounds, and built-in storage. The set also plays classic ice cream truck jingles.
Ages: 3+
MSRP: $94.99
Available: Now
Chicken Nuggets Furry and Fleece Plush from Iscream
This plush set comes with seven chicken nuggets, ketchup, a container for the nuggets, and a dipping container. Kids can remove the plush chicken nuggets from the larger container to “dip” them in the smaller container. All pieces are made from furry fleece material with embroidered and metallic details.
Ages: 12+
MSRP: $43
Available: Now
Cake-N-Bake Challenge from Hey Buddy Hey Pal
This color-matching, cake-building game comes with textured foam cake slices in different colors and icing cards with toppings such as sprinkles, strawberries, and candies. Players are each dealt a game card to bake their own cake, racing to correctly stack their cake with slices and toppings and be the first to ring the game bell to receive a candle card. The first player to collect six candle cards is the champion and gets to wear the included chef’s hat. Special action cards make the game more difficult with instructions, like only using one hand or skipping a turn, while mystery cake cards give players extra help. There are three different modes that change up the gameplay.
Ages: 4+
MSRP: $29.99
Available: Now
Pizza Co. from Osmo by BYJU’s
This set combines physical pieces and digital play as kids use a pretend pizza, toppings, money tiles, and more to create a successful pizza business. Kids can be their own boss as they learn how to run and grow a business, saving up their profits to upgrade their shop while using math and critical thinking skills. Players must connect their own iPad or Fire Tablet to activate the game. Real-time audio and visual feedback helps kids learn.
Ages: 5+
MSRP: $49
Available: Now
L.O.L. Surprise Loves Mini Sweets Surprise-O-Matic from MGA Entertainment
These L.O.L. Surprise dolls come in vending machine-inspired packaging and candy-themed fashions featuring brands such as Jolly Rancher, Hershey’s Chocolate, Reese’s, Chupa Chups, Milk Duds, Sweethearts, Twizzlers, Bazooka Joe, Pez, and Peeps. Kids can press a button on the Surprise-O-Matic machine to dispense accessories they can unwrap. Each package comes with nine surprises, including an L.O.L. Surprise Loves Mini Sweets Surprise-O-Matic doll, an outfit, shoes, a bottle, and more. Kids can feed or bathe the doll for a water surprise. There are 12 dolls in the collection.
Ages: 4+
MSRP: $14.99
Available: Now
Disney Junior Alice’s Wonderland Bakery Alice Doll & Magical Oven Set from Just Play
This set features a light-up oven that plays phrases and sounds from Alice’s Wonderland Bakery on Disney Junior, including the “The Baking Song.” Kids can build stackable cakes, press the Wonder Whirl button to watch the cakes magically spin and to hear sound effects, and place the pot on the burner to hear realistic cooking sounds. The 10-inch poseable Alice doll features rooted hair, a removable outfit, and a headband. The set also comes with two stackable layer cakes, a pot, two spice jars, and a spatula.
Ages: 3+
MSRP: $42.99
Available: Now
This article was originally published in the September 2022 Fall Toy Preview edition of The Toy Book. Click here to read the full issue!
