Explore Our Super-Fun Guide to the Greatest Toys of 2024

Ready to discover the coolest toys, games, and gadgets of the year? Check out our annual Scout Life Toy Guide for all the epic stuff you need to have on your list! Everything here has been tested, reviewed and approved by kids. Get ready to find your next favorite thing!

PUT ON AN AIR SHOW

The Sky Viper Nova FX Light Display Drone is easy to fly, and it can flip and do barrel rolls with the touch of the controller’s stunt button. It’s for both indoors and outdoors, but our 11-year-old pilot says, “You really need a fair amount of room.” He also says it “has a bunch of lights you can cycle through to change colors.” Twenty-four bright LED lights with 25+ different color patterns, to be exact. ($49.99, skyrocketon.com)

Before using flying toys, visit knowbeforeyoufly.org for guidelines from the Federal Aviation Administration.

INSIDE ACTION

Bad weather day? Nex Playground brings the action inside. It turns your TV into a virtual arcade, gym, obstacle course and more. Get moving with games for all ages. Our 11-year-old tester says, “The dancing game is so, so fun. There are lots of games you can play with your family.” Her 7-year-old brother says, “I like playing Whack-a-Mole and the spaceship one with my sister. Brick Buster is really fun.” ($199.99 for unit with five games and carrying case; $49 quarterly or $89 yearly for Play Pass, which unlocks 20+ games and experiences; nexplayground.com)

FROM BATMOBILE TO BATCAVE

Get 2 for 1 with the Ultimate Transforming Batmobile. Choose between Batmobile action and adventures in the Batcave command center. More than 20 sounds and LED lights bring this playset to life, adding realism to the superhero excitement. It also comes with a 4-inch Batman action figure, a Bat Glider and more. ($59.99, spinmaster.com)

JOIN THE SCIENCE SQUAD

On the way to your own rocket launch, watch a real one in virtual reality (VR), as well as explore the International Space Station. Then come back to Earth in the Orion capsule and visit Mission Control. As a member of his Science Squad, you can count on Bill Nye’s Rocket Lab VR Activity Set to guide you every step of the way with videos, a cool booklet and more. ($49.99, abacusbrands.com)

GAME ON

Take your game wherever you go with the Dink Buddy portable pickleball net. This sturdy and well-made net is easy to set up and take down — our testers, ages 9 to 13, were able to do it all by themselves. It comes in a handy storage bag, but it doesn’t include paddles or balls. Once you have those, you’re good to go! ($99, mydinkbuddy.com)

STOMP STUNTS

Launch Stomp Rocket Stunt Planes with just a stomp of your foot! The three different foam planes were designed by real aeronautical engineers to perform some really cool tricks: giant loops, 100-foot-long glides, and crazy flips and turns. The launcher is adjustable so you can try out different angles. ($29.99, stomprocket.com)

MUSIC MAKER

If you’re into making music, Otamatone is for you. This cute, fun-to-play little guy teaches rhythm, pitch, scales, melodies and more. Press and slide your fingers up and down to play different notes. Squeezing its face makes funny sounds, and shaking the stem adds vibrato. Our 9- and 11-year-old testers play all kinds of songs with it and can’t put it down! ($39.99, hamee.com)

CRASHING FUN

Send those hard-hatted, spring-loaded Crash Cats flying! It’s an easy and fun sliding block puzzle game to play with friends or solo. The goal is to keep the red- helmeted cat on the board while crashing all the yellow-helmeted cats out. Our 10- and 12-year-old players got a kick out of the problem-solving fun! ($29.99, ravensburger.us)

BUILD THE MAGIC

Relive exciting Harry Potter adventures with the Lego Triwizard Tournament: The Arrival set. More than 1,200 pieces come together to create the highly detailed Durmstrang Ship and Beauxbatons Carriage. The set comes with five minifigs and lots of accessories, including the Triwizard Cup and Goblet of Fire! ($139.99, lego.com)

FUN IN MOTION

Put together more than 50 structures with the TECTI kinetic building system. The cubes are interlocking and able to shift into different shapes because of built-in hinges. TECTI is recommended for ages 12+, but our 7-year-old tester who’s really into building sets says, “It’s fun and not very hard to put together, and you can make cool toys that you can play with.” ($44.99, funinmotiontoys.com)

THE CHOICE OF CHAMPS

Duncan’s Hornet is one of the best looping yo-yos around. It’s easy for beginners to use, but it’s also a favorite of world champs for two-handed competition play. It features an improved ball-bearing axle and gap, and the polycarbonate construction makes it really durable. ($9.99, duncantoys.com)

PEEL, TEAR AND SHARE!

With the Sticki Rolls Sticki Station, make your own sticker bracelets and necklaces simply by peeling and tearing. As the ultimate DIY pack, the station includes 32 Sticki Rolls of 10 holographic mini stickers with cute characters that make six bracelets and two necklaces. Share your creations with friends! Six charms and tons of colorful beads included. ($24.99, skycastletoys.com)

SUPER CUBER

Go superhero with Rubik’s Cubers. Choose from Batman, Iron Man, Black Panther, Spider-Man and more to take on the Rubik’s Cube challenge. The character’s head is the puzzle cube, and the character’s body is the stand. Our 13-year-old tester has his displayed in his room and takes it down to play with all the time. ($14.99, amazon.com)

DISNEY DUELING

Donald Duck vs. Flounder! Mickey Mouse vs. Maleficent! With Disney Lorcana Trading Card Game: Gateway, use character cards to battle your opponent. Our 10- and 12-year-old players found the game fun and more challenging than Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! Be aware that it’s not necessarily something that can be played in the back seat of the car: Lots of card decks and game pieces are involved. ($24.99, ravensburger.us)

SCURRY AND SCALE

Make it scurry across the floor and scale walls! The remote-controlled Hex Bots Wall Crawler Gecko has a range of 25 feet and even has glowing red eyes. Our brother (age 13) and sisters (11 and 9) testers report, “It’s pretty cool that it actually climbs and stays on the wall without falling off!” The gecko has a rechargeable battery, but the remote requires two AAA batteries (not included). ($29.99, spinmaster.com)

OUT OF THIS WORLD

Go on a Galactic Adventure with this roller-coaster building set! It comes with more than 300 pieces and is 2 feet tall and 3 feet wide when assembled. Start your space shuttle on a motorized chain up the first hill and then down through sharp turns and corkscrews on its out-of-this-world journey. ($79.99, tlji.com)

DINO ADVENTURES

Build your own exciting adventures with Dinosaur Dash Tracks. The set comes with more than 200 pieces, including a jungle off-roader, dino car, six dinosaurs, a drive-through cave and a hanging cage contraption to capture those pesky dinos. You can even decorate everything with glow-in-the-dark stickers. Our two 10-year-old testers’ final review? “It’s really cool!” ($27.99, walmart.com)

COLORFUL CONSTRUCTION

Our 9-, 11- and 13-year-old testers absolutely loved the Connetix Rainbow Ball Run. Use colorful magnetic tiles, tubes and your imagination to build structures to race wooden balls. Our reviewers like that the tiles can be “used for many different options and are really sturdy — they don’t just fall apart.” The only drawback is that you need an additional pack to make what’s shown on the box. ($99.99; additional Rainbow Square Pack $75; connetixtiles.com)

PET YOUR DIGITAL PET

Introducing Punirunes, a squishy digital pet! Take care of your super-cute pal and help it grow. You’ll feed, bathe, customize it with outfits and colors, decorate its room, play games with it and more. And you can actually touch it as you do these things and watch it react on screen. Unlock 55 characters, all in one pod! ($39.99, spinmaster.com)

GO, DODO!

Dodo is a hilarious, fast-moving memory game full of family fun! Players race against time to make sure the dodo bird’s egg gets safely to the bottom of the game board’s mountain. “You have to be quick!” say our brother (age 12) and sister (10) reviewers. “You can play again and again as a single player or with friends. It had us laughing and wondering what it would do next!” ($34.95, thamesandkosmos.com)

I SPY TREASURE

Go exploring for treasure with Spy Labs: Pocket Metal Detector. This nifty tool senses metallic stuff (Think: coins and more!) through thin layers of soil, sand, fabric and paper. It’s small enough to carry around in your pocket while out on your adventures. Our 10-year-old tester was impressed: “It really works!” ($12.95, thamesandkosmos.com)

READY, SET, STOMP!

Go head to head with your friends with Dueling Stomp Racers. Each air-powered race car takes off with the stomp of your foot on the launcher. The kit also comes with a ramp for cool car tricks, and you can customize your cars with the included decal stickers. Our 10-year-old racers had a blast! ($29.99, stomprocket.com)

TUMMPLE TOPPLE

It’s kind of like Jenga, but you can build with Tummple in different directions. Place bricks and tumps (blockers) to create barriers as you build a neat structure. To win, don’t topple it, and be the one with the fewest bricks left at the end. Our tester family says it’s a super-easy and fun game with sturdy, well-made pieces. ($21.99, komarcgames.com)

NAUGHTY DOG

It’s really simple, but it’s doggone fun! With The Dog Ate My Homework game, one player feeds the dog the “homework” page and turns the ear crank for the chews, and the other player unscrambles the shredded picture. Put it back together in time and win a Doggie Treat. The player with the most after three rounds wins. ($25, universitygames.com)

GIGA FUN

Mom and Dad might remember this one: GigaPets — they’ve made a comeback! Each fun digital pet is updated but still full of personality, with lots of sounds and animations. Play games, teach it tricks and take care of it so it will grow. Choose from Floppy Frog, StarCat/CompuKitty, Pixie, Bit Bunnies and more. It comes with a keychain, so it’s easy to take your new friend everywhere. ($19.99, gigapets.com)