Do balloons belong in the National Toy Hall of Fame? Officials are floating the idea.
The Toy Hall of Fame adds new toys each year. (The added toys aren’t actually new. Each has stood the test of time and proved its worth. Each helps kids play and learn.)
Besides balloons, 11 other finalists are being considered too:
- the game Apples to Apples
- the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books
- Hess toy trucks
- remote-controlled vehicles
- the stick horse
- the game Phase 10
- the game Sequence
- the Pokémon trading card game
- My Little Pony figures
- Transformers action figures
- the trampoline
Christopher Bensch helps manage the museum’s collections. He thinks the judges will have a tough decision this year. “These 12 toys represent the wide range of play,” he says.
Anyone can nominate a toy for the Hall of Fame. The museum has received 2,400 nominations for 382 different toys over the past year. To be considered, toys must have lasted a long time, be recognizable, and have great “play value.”
Since 1998, the National Toy Hall of Fame has recognized more than 80 toys for inspiring creative play. That list includes toys such as the stick, the paper airplane, and the cardboard box.
My Little Pony has been on the museum’s “maybe” list for seven years now. Will the colorful ponies finally make it in this year?
Last year’s inductees were baseball cards, Cabbage Patch Kids, the Fisher-Price Corn Popper, and Nerf foam toys.
The National Toy Hall of Fame is inside The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York. But you don’t have to go there to vote. Fans can vote for their favorites from September 18 to 25 on the museum’s website.
The winners will be announced in November.
And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing. — Zechariah 8:5
