If you love hearing about the latest and greatest toys, games, puzzles, plush and crafts for your kids then you’re in luck with today’s feature! Just a few weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending my second Toy Insider virtual trade show event, Sweet Suite (at home) that featured over 50 of the top companies in the toy industry. Today I’m sharing some of my favorite discoveries, highlights, and even some freebies I received after the event!
DISCLOSURE: I received the swag bag of materials shared at the end of this post as I attended this The Toy Insider Sweet Suite event. All opinions shared are mine. In addition, some of the links in this post contain affiliate links, which come at no cost to you. Know that I only promote products I personally use and stand behind. To learn more about my affiliates, please review my disclosure policy.
Those who have followed me for a long time know that I typically don’t like to share products that I didn’t get to test out and play with and this post takes a different approach. I vetted the press releases, visited the booths and watched live demos about many of the items shared below and think they’ll be fun to enjoy with my kids.
ABOUT THE EVENT
The event itself was set up as a virtual trade show that you “walked” around (think google maps street view style) and enter different zoom chats. Some companies did live demos, some played games and some had special activations you could participate in if you had arranged to receive the items prior to the event.
I am a Horizon Group USA influencer this year and received a package of some of their products for a Creative Roots painting session and Rock Painting session. We had previously done (and loved) their Made by Me Rock Painting kit but Brielle really took to the special tips they gave, including using the other end of a paint brush to create polka dots on your piece!
We also brought along our MERMAID Squishmallow plush to play a few rounds of Squishmallow Bingo. We unfortunately didn’t win but it totally made us want to get some more of their over 1000 character plushes! They do have some cute Halloween ones coming out that we got a sneak peek on so check them out in the months ahead!
CRAFTS
I put together an Amazon list of as many of the items as I could find from below (some aren’t out for a few months) plus the swag bag items I shared on instagram.
- Crayola Clicks Markers – These seem like a genius idea that seems so obvious! These are retractable, clickable markers that include no tops to have to snap back on tight!
- Crayola Twistables Erasable Colored Pencils – The girls are always upset when they made a mark where they didn’t mean to so I know these will be a big hit in our house, especially since no sharpening is needed!
- Crayola Colors of the World – I know this Crayon series of colors that represents lots of different skin tones for color is already a big hit so I’m happy to see it’s now expanded into colored pencils and marker sets as well! This is great for the back to school season and something to drop off for your kids’ classrooms!
- The Gift Box Ornament Decorator by Hey Buddy, Hey Pal- I’ve seen the Eggmazing egg color decorating kit come out around Easter but have never gotten a chance to try it. Now they have a Christmas themed one that allows you to decorate Christmas ornaments in the same rolling method!
GAMES & TOYS
You know that we’re big board and card game fans in this house so this was a category I paid great attention to while attending the event. Here are some favorites I’m eager to check out!
- Exploding Minions – My girls LOVE the original version of this game, Exploding Kittens and they love the Despicable Me movies (uhhh remember that one Halloween?) so I know this one will be fun to play! My 5 year old had no problem understanding the strategy to play this game and everyone loves to be the winner by not holding the exploding kitten!
- Disney 5 Second Rule Game – You pick a card and have 5 seconds to answer whatever is on it. We played a few rounds during our zoom chat in their booth and it was fun to try and play along. Examples: “Name three Disney characters that start with the letter M” or “Name 3 Disney characters that sing”. Some questions seem easier than others and most, I’m sure, have more than one way to win! This is another example where kids could be better players than adults since they might be bigger Disney watchers!
- Beat That! by Gutter Games – We host Christmas every year and I try to come up with some type of games or craft for my girls and my nephews. This type of game seems similar to “minute to win it” type games that takes a minimal amount of supplies (these are all available in the box), small actions and a range of abilities.
- Triggle by Fat Brain Toys – Another strategy game that looks so fun! Each player takes a turn playing a rubber band across pegs on this unique game board and if you create a gap you get to put your piece onto the board. The player with the most pieces on the board wins. I can see my girls loving this game.
Thank You
After the event, attendees received this MEGA swag bag box of goodies a few days later. WOW! I was blown away by all the items that were strategically included in this box, including a few of the items I had highlighted above from the event! You can see the full unboxing of my swag bag over on my instagram stories saved as a highlight here.
Thanks again to the Toy Insider for inviting me to tag along on this virtual trade show floor to meet new brands, rekindle relationships with current ones and have more ideas for upcoming birthdays and holidays for my kids and family!
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