Wicked Vision, Learning Resources, Little Tikes, and ZURU have been named among the winners of this year’s Outdoor Toy Awards, an awards event hosted by Toyology that made its return this year to champion the best products for kids’ and families’ outdoor play activities.
Featuring ten categories, this year’s iteration of the popular awards event adopted a new strategy and format for judging in accordance with the Covid-19 restrictions that have impacted upon social gatherings for the past 18 months, allocating a judging panel of media outlets, influencers and bloggers a category each.
“We did face some logistical challenges this year due to unavoidable circumstances, and we really did miss the mayhem of us all gathering in one place for a day of fun,” said Peter Jenkinson, founder of The Outdoor Toy awards.
“We’ll be back bigger and better than ever in 2022 but I applaud and appreciate everyone who was involved in this 2021 version. The outdoor play space has been booming during the pandemic and this list comprising the best-of-the-best should give parents a great steer on what’ll keep kids entertained over the summer holidays.”
The winners of The Outdoor Toy Awards 2021 are:
Climbing and Adventure
Wooden Garden Swing Set with Monkey Bars by Rebo
Sport and Splash Fun
Polygroup Pool 10′ Quick Set by Polygroup
Outdoor Games
Countdown from Duck Duck Cat
Science and Nature
GeoSafari Kidnoculars from Learning Resources
Ride Ons
Little Tikes T-Rex Truck from Little Tikes
Trampolines
14 foot Rebounder by Sportspower
PreSchool Play
Aquaplay Lockbox by Simba
Battle & Blaster Toys
X-Shot Water Warfare Fast-Fill by Zuru Toys
Houses, Tents & Hideaways
Feber Super Palace by Feber
Flying Toys
Sonic Booma by Wicked Vision
Amongst the media involved in the event were Amazing Arabella, several DC Thomson media magazines, What the Red Head Said and more.
Nigel Clarke of Dadvengers and ‘The Baby Club’ (CBeebies) was part of the judging line-up for this year’s awards event, alongside Nick Gibbs-McNeil of Kidzcoolit.
Gibbs-McNeil said: “The Outdoor Toy Awards is always one of our favourite events of the summer and it was a massive shame to not be able to have the full size event again this year. That said holding a mini part of the OTA’s at home was very exciting for the kids. We owned a full size playground in our garden for a little while – Fun, Fun, FUN!”
Simon Tomlinson, head of marketing EMEA at Learning Resources, said: “We’re delighted that GeoSafari Jr. Kidnoculars Extreme has won an Outdoor Toy Award in the Science and Nature category. At Learning Resources we regard outdoor play as a vital part of a child’s learning and development, and it forms a key part of our new Summer of Play campaign.”
Alastair Luxford, commercial manager at Geemac, added: “We’ve been huge supporters of the Outdoor Toys awards since their inception, they’re such a great way to celebrate this innovative toy category. We also love the independent judging format making this a true reflection of consumer opinion.”
David Strang, founder of Wicked Vision, concluded: “It’s really great to have been recognised by Toyology’s Outdoor Toy Awards, particularly ahead of the upcoming summer holidays! Getting kids active is at the very core of everything we do here at Wicked.
“I hope the awards will help to inspire kids to get off their screens, get outside, spend quality time with their friends and family and have fun.”
For more information on all the Commended and Highly commended products please visit www.toyology.co.uk