MadeForMums Toy Awards 2017: Winners announced

And our judges have also picked out 7 very special toys to be receive our new Editor's Choice award.

Here are the MadeForMums Toy Awards 2017 winning toys...

BEST ACTIVITY CENTRE

GOLD: Skip Hop Explore & More 3-Stage Activity Centre, £135

SILVER: Fisher-Price Roaring Rainforest Jumperoo, £119.99

BRONZE: Little Tikes Light n Go 3-in-1 Activity Table, £39.99

BEST ACTIVITY MAT

GOLD: A Little Bird Told Me My Little Sunshine Multi-Activity Gym, £69.95

SILVER: Skip Hop Camping Cubs Activity Gym, £75

BRONZE: Kid's Concept Baby Gym Edvin, £87.90

BEST ART AND CRAFT TOY

GOLD: Little Brian Paint Sticks, £4.99 for 6 or £7.99 for 12

SILVER: Aquabeads Deluxe Studio, £29.99

BRONZE: Bunchems Bunchbot, £29.99 and Dessineo Learn to Draw, £34.99

FINALISTS: The Great British Sewing Bee Studio, Paint-Station Table Top Easel & Pods Set, John Adams Chocolate Sprinkle Stix

BEST BABY TOY (0-6 MONTHS)

GOLD: The Gro Company Ollie the Owl, £34.99

SILVER: Chicco First Dreams Baby Bear, £19.99

BRONZE: Lamaze Philip the Pelican, £14.99

FINALIST: Mitteez

BEST BABY TOY (6-12 MONTHS)

GOLD: Fisher-Price Zoom n Crawl Monster, £34.99

SILVER: BRIO Sensory Blocks, £29

BRONZE: Lamaze Cosimo Concerto, £25.99

BEST BALANCE BIKE

GOLD: Chicco Red Bullet Balance Bike, £34.99

SILVER: Strider 12 Pro Aluminium Super Light Balance Bike, £110

BRONZE: Kids Concept Balance Bike Neo, £79

BEST BATH TOY

GOLD: TOMY Toomies Spin & Splash Jellyfish, £9.99

SILVER: Skip Hop Fill Up Bee Fountain, £10

BRONZE: Hape Rainy Day Catching Set, £17.99

BEST BOARD GAME

GOLD: Orchard Toys Cheeky Monkeys, £9.50

SILVER: Laurence King Publishing Monkey Bingo, £19.99

BRONZE: Ravensburger Buggaloop Game, £29.99

FINALISTS: John Adams Mr Bucket, Spin Master Games Wobbly Worm

BEST CHILDREN'S APP

GOLD: TOMY Lightseekers, Free

SILVER: Entertainment One PJ Masks Super City Run, £2.99

BRONZE: Bing Baking, £1.99

FINALIST: Kuato Studios Noddy Toyland Detective

BEST CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING TOY

GOLD: K'NEX Thrill Rides Web Weaver Roller Coaster, £69.99

SILVER: Sticklebricks Big Red Bucket, £19.99

BRONZE: Ravensburger VW T1 Campervan 3D Puzzle, £21.99, and Lego Duplo Number Train, £12.99

FINALISTS: Geomag Classic, SmartMax My First Animal Train

BEST DOLL

GOLD: Design a Friend Ava Doll, £19.99

SILVER: Baby Annabell Interactive Doll, £54.99

BRONZE: Baby Born Interactive Doll, £49.99

FINALIST: Project MC2 Experiment Dolls

BEST EDUCATIONAL/LEARNING TOY

GOLD: Orchard Toys Magic Maths, £12

SILVER: Skylark Learning My First Emotions, £69

BRONZE: I Learn To Write Educational Learning Toy, £19.99 and I Learn Maths Educational Learning Toy, £19.99

FINALISTS: LeapFrog Leapstart, TrendsUK Peppa's Alphaphonics Campervan, Interactive Worry Plaque, Dessineo Learn to Draw, I Learn To Read Educational Learning Toy

BEST OUTDOOR/GARDEN TOY

GOLD: Zimpli Kids Slime Blaster, £19.99

SILVER: Plum Create Your Own Swing Set, £169

BRONZE: Little Tikes Fountain Factory Water Table, £59.99

BEST PLAYSET

GOLD: Vtech Toot-Toot Drivers Fire Station, £32.99

SILVER: Sylvanian Families Starry Point Lighthouse, £59.99

BRONZE: Fisher-Price Little People Caring For Animals Farm, £34.99

FINALISTS: PJ Masks Headquarters Playset, Schleich Wild Life Playworld

BEST PUZZLE FOR CHILDREN

GOLD: SmartGames Little Red Riding Hood, £19.99

SILVER: Ravensburger American Flag 3D Sneaker Puzzle, £14.99

BRONZE: Usborne Jigsaw with a Picture Book: Cinderella, £9.99

BEST RIDE-ON TOY

GOLD: Little Tikes Princess Horse & Carriage, £109.99

SILVER: Plum Evo 5-in-1 Globber Scooter, £90

BRONZE: My 1st Years Blue Ride on Car, £120

BEST ROBOT TOY

GOLD: Anki Cozmo, £199.99

SILVER: Fisher-Price Teach n Tag Movi, £44.99, and Meccano Robot M.A.X., £149.99

BRONZE: Clementoni Evolution Robot, £59.99

FINALIST: DOC Educational Smart Robot

BEST SCIENCE TOY

GOLD: AugmentifyIt AR Space Cards Quiz Game, £9.99

SILVER: Zoomy 2.0 Handheld Digital Microscope, £54

BRONZE: Nickelodeon Experimake Sludge & Slime, £15, and Insect Lore Live Butterfly Garden, £17.99

FINALIST: Cubetto

BEST SCOOTER

GOLD: Ozbozz Light Burst Scooter, £29.99

SILVER: Yvolution Y Glider Deluxe Refresh, £44.99

BRONZE: Micro Scooters Maxi Micro Deluxe Scooter, £124.95

BEST SOFT TOY

GOLD: Posh Paws International Winnie the Pooh Snuggletime, £12.99

SILVER: Peppy Pups Pug, £27.99

BRONZE: Gund Flappy, £42

FINALIST: Chicco First Dreams Baby Bear

BEST STOCKING FILLER

GOLD: Zimpli Kids SnoBall Battle Pack, £4.99

SILVER: Mix-Up Clay, £4.85

BRONZE: Mokuru, £9.99, and Tonka Tinys, £2.49 each or 3 for £5.99

BEST TECH TOY

GOLD: TOMY Lightseekers, £69.99

SILVER: Vtech Kidizoom Flix, £59.99

BRONZE: WOW! Toys Remote Controlled Flying Minions, £25

BEST TODDLER TOY

GOLD: VTech Chase Me Casey, £37.99

SILVER: TOMY Sort and Pop Spinning UFO, £17.99

BRONZE: Magicube Safari Park, £34.99, and Clementoni Interactive Football Table, £39.99

FINALISTS: Chicco Detective Dog, Learning Resources Snap n Learn Counting Cows

BEST TOY FOR ACTIVE PLAY

GOLD: BladezToyz Peppa Pig Inflatable Muddy Puddle Playmat, £12.99

SILVER: HGL Emoji 10-piece Bowling Set, £9.99

BRONZE: MyReBounder Mini Trampoline, £89.95

FINALIST: Chicco Goal League

BEST TOY FOR PRETEND PLAY

GOLD: LeapFrog Scoop & Learn Ice Cream Cart, £39.99

SILVER: KidKraft Abbey Manor Dollhouse, £99.95

BRONZE: Little Tikes Cook n Learn Kitchen, £149.99

FINALISTS: KidKraft Brooklyn's Loft, Fisher-Price Servin Up Fun Food Truck, KidKraft Let's Cook Wooden Playkitchen, Chicco Food Truck

BEST TOY FOR ROLE PLAY

GOLD: Mi-Mic, £24.99

SILVER: Morphy Richards Kitchen Set, £14.99

BRONZE: Casdon Dyson Ball Vacuum, £19.99

FINALISTS: Minnie's Little Helper Phone, Ben10 Deluxe Omnitrix

BEST TOY VEHICLE

GOLD: Wilton Bradley Monster Smash-Ups, £34.99

SILVER: Hot Wheels R/C Bladez Drone Racerz Set, £34.99

BRONZE: Playmobil Ghostbusters Ecto-1, £39.99

BEST TRAVEL TOY

GOLD: Vtech Smart Watch DX, £44.99

SILVER: BRIO My Take Along Set, £29.99 and Playmobil My Take Along Farm, £29.99

BRONZE: Zinc Flyte Midi Flyte Case Scooter, £69.99

BEST WOODEN TOY

GOLD: Le Toy Van Honeybake Cafe Machine, £29.95

SILVER: BigJigs Toys Tea Set on a Tray, £31.99

BRONZE: Hape Classical Bus T1 Walker, £39.99, and BRIO Classic Deluxe Set, £69.99

EDITOR'S CHOICE AWARDS

Awarded to the toys our judges picked out as having something particularly special. Clockwise from top left, they are:

• Fisher-Price Teach n Tag Movi, £44.99:chosen by celebrity judges the Scummies Mummies (see more on our celebrity judges, below) because it's nice to so see a great robot that's squarely – and creatively – aimed at the under-5s.
• Wow! Stuff Remote Controlled Flying Minions, £25:chosen by Tara on our editorial team because they're just so funny and silly – and exciting to fly.
• Clementoni Evolution Robot, £59.99:chosen by Helen, MadeForMums Deputy Editor, who especially liked the programming mode on this red and grey, construct-it-yourself robot – one of the best coding toys we’ve seen in this age range.
• Ravensburger American Flag Sneaker 3D Puzzle, £14.99:chosen by guest judge Tess from Let Toys Be Toys for its lovely retro look, and the fact that your reward for solving the puzzle is having a pen holder you can keep.
• M.A.X. (Meccano Advanced Factor), £149.99:chosen by Susie, MadeForMums Editorial Director, who really rated this build-it-yourself robot for the quirky, humorous way he interacts.
• Gund Flappy the Animated Elephant, £42: chosen by Hazelann, our Reviews Editor, because the way this well-made cuddly elephant flaps his ears is just too cute. (Hazelann may have had a bit of a tussle with our other grown-up judges about who was going to take Flappy home...)
• Micro Scooters Maxi Micro Deluxe, £124.95: chosen by guest judge GuiltyMother for its quality and the fact that its substantial weight limit and height adjustment means it'll last your child years. And you could probably borrow it, too (as we suspect she's planning to do...)

What are the MadeForMums Toy Awards about?

The MadeForMums Toy Awards are all about celebrating the best in children's toys, from toys for newborns to toys for pre-teens – and all ages, stages and genres in between.

We're known here at MadeForMums for our expert, honest and thorough product reviews, and we've brought those same standards to our Toy Awards – knowing that the award of a winner's badge from us will be recognised both by parents and major retailers as a sign of outstanding quality and play potential.

How were the toys judged?

We want to recognise the great toys that entertain, educate and excite children of all ages and stages, so we divided all our award entries into 29 different categories, shortlisted the very best of them, and then judged all those on their play potential and value for money.

And – new this year – we also created 7 Editor's Choice awards – to showcase the toys that our judges thought had something about them that was particularly special.

Who were the judges?

The very best people to rate toys are – obviously – the children who play with them, so we recruited a panel of over 250 child judges, ranging in age from 12 weeks to 12 years, and set them (and their mums) the task of playing with our toy entries and telling us exactly what they thought of them. And boy, did they tell us EXACTLY what they thought!

We also had 2 celebrity judging days at MadeForMums HQ, where all the shortlisted toys were tried out by an awesomely influential panel, including:

• The Scummy Mummies, comedians, authors, and hosts of a brilliantly funny fortnightly podcast chat show for 'less-than-perfect parents'
• Mum blogger, entrepreneur and inspirational speaker Guilty Mother
• Tess from the amazingly successful parent-led campaign group Let Toys Be Toys
• Rob from the toy industry magazine and website Toy News
• Expert members of the MadeForMums editorial team

Read more...

• Toys rated by age: from newborn to 9 year olds
• Watch our MFM Toys video reviews on YouTube
• Must-have toys for Christmas (according to the big toy shops)