The Toy Association’s Top Toy Trends of 2022

by KRISTIN MORENCY GOLDMAN, senior advisor, strategic communications, The Toy Association

From toys that encourage kids to flex their imaginations and create original content to games that transport players to exotic foreign lands — or simply offer the opportunity to mentally or virtually escape — The Toy Association’s top toy trends of 2022 showcase exciting new ways for families to prioritize play this year.

“With Genius of Play research showing that 76% of parents believe play provided a positive escape from the reality of the pandemic last year, we expect both kids and adults to continue to seek refuge in play while much of the world remains uncertain,” says Adrienne Appell, executive vice president of marketing communications at The Toy Association. “While there have been plenty of ups and downs and the effects of the global health and shipping crises have been felt unevenly by our member companies, at the end of the day, play is a mainstay — providing emotional support, opportunities for learning, and a chance for families to connect and destress.”

In preview meetings held with toy companies over the past few months, The Toy Association’s trends team identified the following themes as ones to watch this year:

In the age of TikTok and millionaire influencers, everyone wants to be a creator. For kids who are inspired to create and share their own content, there is no shortage of toys that can help them create personalized content through construction, drawing, coding, photography, filmography, and more. 

Toys that fall into this category do an excellent job of weaving social media trends into hands-on play patterns that help kids build a variety of skills. Also, be on the lookout for a new wave of ASMR-friendly toys that are social media friendly but grounded in tactile play.

We all want to build a happier, healthier tomorrow, and toys and play continue to be regarded as critical tools for engaging kids in issues that we as a society care about, from sustainability and the protection of endangered species to social justice causes and topics surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

Supporting this trend, a recent OnePoll survey commissioned by The Toy Association revealed that a toy’s sustainability is important to the majority of U.S. parents — proving that products that put in the investment behind the scenes will see the biggest payoff with consumers. 

The metaverse — a buzzword that erupted toward the end of last year — is expected to drive trends across multiple industries this year, including toys. Expect to see more nonfungible tokens (NFTs), augmented reality, and virtual reality technologies in the play space, as well as products tied to immersive gaming experiences. 

For those who want to stay grounded in the physical world, but are still looking to escape, there are plenty of options, from vacation- and international-themed puzzles and games to compact, travel-ready toys for anyone finally heading off on a vacation after nearly two years of being cooped up at home. 

Spurred by the growth of viral videos on platforms like TikTok, ASMR, which stands for autonomous sensory meridian response —and has nearly 270+ billion views to the hashtag as of this writing— has become synonymous with creating warm fuzzy moments of zen out of everyday events.

Despite social media driving this trend, it’s one that is grounded in physicality and in 2022 we will see even more toys that engage the senses in exciting ways. The trend includes light-up playthings that let kids express their changing moods, classic brands reinvented with new fidget play, and toys that provide calming social-emotional comfort to kids.

The pandemic has continued to take its toll on traditional viewing habits, as more studios opted for hybrid releases through most of 2021. While we are starting to see a shift back to the “only in-theaters” release model, we expect the brands that come out of non-linear streaming platforms (Disney+, Netflix, HBOMax, YouTube, Paramount +, etc) or take a hybrid approach to continue to dominate the toy aisles. In addition, social media influencers continue to reach beyond their channels to create new partnerships in the toy space and offer licensees immediate access to built-in audiences.

Interested in hearing more about top toy trends of the year? Be sure to check out The Toy Association’s full trends release and accompanying presentation, which is available on The Toy Association’s YouTube channel. Visit toyassociation.org/trends to learn more.

A version of this article was originally published in the February 2022 edition of the Toy Book. Click here to read the full issue!