2024 Finalists2024 Finalists
Apples to Apples
From its debut in 1999, Apples to Apples was a commercial success and reshaped the field of party games. By encouraging a group to offer creative or provocative answers to the questions posed […]
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Balloons
From a single balloon on a string to glittering foil balloon arrangements to intricate balloon sculptures of clouds, play with balloons is something everyone can enjoy. Blowing up a balloon improves lung capacity. […]
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Choose Your Own Adventure Gamebooks
With their roots in oral storytelling that asked listeners for their input, and the branching stories and role-playing simulations of the mid-20th century, Choose Your Own Adventure gamebooks gave kids new opportunities to […]
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Hess Toy Trucks
Since 1964, the Hess toy trucks have signaled the beginning of the holiday season. For many, the trucks (and their iconic TV jingle) evoke memories of times past and the fun of playing […]
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My Little Pony
Introduced in the 1980s and reintroduced in 2003, the My Little Pony line of mini-horses encourages children in traditional forms of doll play—fantasy, storytelling, hair grooming, and collecting. The small pastel ponies have […]
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Phase 10
In 1982, Black game inventor and entrepreneur Ken Johnson introduced Phase 10. The rummy-style card game challenged players to collect various groups of cards to complete 10 phases, in sequential order, before their […]
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Pokémon Trading Card Game
Pokémon Trading Card Game has impacted trading card games throughout the world, with more than 64 billion cards produced since it debuted in 1996. The game’s mechanics are straightforward and can be grasped […]
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Remote-Controlled (R/C) Vehicles
Radio-controlled vehicles—self-powered model cars manipulated from a distance by a special transmitter—offer kids the exhilaration of speed and control in miniature form. The thrill of R/C vehicles for kids is in manipulating the […]
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Sequence
Sequence uses the familiar elements of a standard 52-card deck of playing cards in concert with a board on which players seek to occupy five-chip rows, columns, or diagonals before their competition. The […]
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Stick Horse (Hobbyhorse)
In its simplest form, a stick horse, sometimes referred to as a hobbyhorse, is a pretend horse head mounted to a straight stick. Play with a stick horse inspires creativity and imagination. Whether […]
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Trampoline
On March 6, 1945, George Nissen received a patent for his innovative “Tumbling Device,” which he later trademarked “trampoline” based on the Spanish word for diving board. In recent years, trampoline parks and […]
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Transformers
Hasbro, Inc. first offered Transformers, a toy line of action figures that change their shapes, in the mid-1980s. Marketed with an elaborate backstory supported by a Marvel comic book series, a cartoon television […]
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