MadeForMums Toy Awards 2024 Winners: Best playsets, role play and character toys

From preschoolers to tweens, our parent and child testers have carefully evaluated each toy, ensuring only the most engaging, creative, and fun options earned a spot on this year’s winners list.

Read on to discover the top toys that will spark joy and endless playtime!

Jump to:

• Best toys featuring a TV/movie/book character
• Best playsets (under £40)
• Best playsets (over £40)
• Best toys for role play/pretend play

Best toys featuring a TV/movie/book character

Whether you have a Bluey devotee or Harry Potter fan on your hands, you’ll know how much joy these familiar faces and characters spark for children of all ages.

Our testers tried out a huge range of toys, from light-up wands to an animatronic Disney favourites, to see which were worthy award winners. Testing out toys for preschoolers, young children and tweens, our MadeForMums parent testers along with their children looked for toys that brought another dimension to these famous characters.

Looking at how interactive each toy was, how often each child returned to the toy, the assembly, quality and – of course – the fun factor, they cast their votes and these are the engaging toys that came out on top.

Gold: Peppa Pig Muddy Puddles

My little boy LOVES this toy. He immediately worked out how to turn it on and was engaged. He thought it was hilarious and loved speaking with Peppa and imitating her dancing!

Silver: Unicorn Academy Rainbow Light Up Wildstar

I love Wildstar! Her rainbow hair is so cool, and I enjoy brushing it and making it all pretty! She sings songs from Unicorn Academy, and I love to dance and sing along with her. I can’t wait to put my dolls on her back and take them on magical adventures. Wildstar makes playtime so much more fun, and I want to play with her all the time!

Bronze: Talking Pip Plush / Talking Posy Plush by Bandai

Louis is 27 months old, and he was delighted with the toys and was really excited to get then out of the box and play with them. He sat on his own and explored them and found out what they could do for a good 15 minutes. He thought it was funny that they could speak and was particularly excited to play with the little toys the Pip and Posy were holding.

Editor's Choice: WOW! Stuff Real FX The Disney Stitch Edition

My daughter has really enjoyed playing with Stitch. She likes making him interact with the family, and found great pleasure in making stitch grumpy by putting his ears down and then biting her brother and her dad. She likes that his personality changes depending on if his ears are up and down. She also likes that he starts snoring when you stop playing with him. She likes that he is cuddly and has taken him to bed as well as out and about.

Best playsets (under £40)

For families looking for affordable yet engaging playsets, our under £40 category offers excellent value without compromising on fun.

From charming mini worlds to compact playsets, these toys set the stage for endless creative play at a budget-friendly price. Our mini-testers thoroughly explored these sets, while parents evaluated their durability, how easy they were to assemble, and how long they kept their child's attention.

These playsets under £40 are affordable, high-quality options that earned their spot as 2024 MadeForMums Toy Awards winners.

Gold: Littlest Pet Shop – Pet Shop Playset

The house is amazing – love it so much. I like the swingy bird perch, the cat bed and the hamster wheel, it’s really good! I also like putting the animals in the right place in the house.

Silver: EPOCH Sylvanian Families Hamburger Stand

Imogen (3) loved playing with this set. The little moped with driver is adorable, as is the way the restaurant bit folds up together into a trailer with all the bits (with a little practice!). The delivery driver has been all over the house to deliver burgers to their other Sylvanian characters as well as the other small toys their have. Definitely a favourite set now and a versatile addition to their collection.

Bronze: Play-Doh Rainbow Swirl Ice Cream Playset

This toy was very exciting for my boy who loves ice cream! I think his dream job would be to run his own ice cream truck so this was a dream come true! With my help though he loved twisting the sprinkles out and accessorising his ice cream creations. We had lots of fun and ended up being late for bedtime as we didn't want to stop playing!

Editor's Choice: Heroes of Goo Jit Zu: Hero Creator Pack

My son really enjoyed building this, he needed a little help from us, and was a little messy with water but that’s because he's 4-years-old. We followed the easy to read instructions and added all the separate compounds. After making it, it has been stretched, thrown here and there for role play, and it is still going strong, no leaks. I also love the fact you can reuse by emptying and refilling.

Best playsets over £40

When it comes to larger, premium playsets, we’ve tested everything from bustling pet shops to detailed hamburger stands.

These playsets provide the ultimate immersive experience, offering a range of accessories and high-quality builds that promise hours of imaginative fun. Our child testers explored every inch of these elaborate sets, while our parent testers assessed their long-term value, durability, and ease of assembly.

These playsets over £40 stood out for their attention to detail and endless play possibilities, making them worthy winners of our MadeForMums Toy Awards 2024.

Gold: Rubble & Crew Bark Yard Crane Tower

Oliver has really enjoyed playing with this toy. He loves Paw Patrol and Rubble, and loves the moving parts and the sounds that it makes. He really likes that the moving parts that hold the Rubble figure actually hold the figure in place, and it doesn't just fall off if when moving around.

Silver: EPOCH Sylvanian Families Secret Forest Falls

I really like it because it’s fun and I can use it to play with other figures too. My favourite bit is the waterfall being a slide, but the castle is really cute too. I think the husky’s clothes and things he can wear are cute and I like that he can peep through different holes.

Bronze: Smoby Gabby's Dollhouse Ice Cream Factory

My daughter has really enjoyed this toy and particularly enjoyed constructing it and adding the stickers, that is definitely where she was the most excited. I definitely think she will keep coming back to it and will play with this lots over the years, she has very much enjoyed making us all ice creams!

Editor's Choice: Melissa & Doug - Sort, Stock, Select Wooden Vending Machine Play Set

My son Ezra has loved playing with this. He was so excited when he opened it, he played with it for 2 hours straight, and wanted to play with it immediately when he got up the next day. I can see he will come back to it again and again. It’s something he can play alone or with us or his friends and there are many opportunities for imaginative play.

Best toy for role play/pretend play

Nothing sparks the imagination quite like a creative role-play toy. Children love pretending to be Mummy and Daddy, playing with mini toy versions of everyday objects, as well as playing dress up and stepping into the world of firefighters, vets, ice cream sellers or doctors.

A great pretend play toy is open-ended and encourages children to let their imagination run wild. Our little testers spent hours serving up everything from ‘pizza’ to cups of ‘coffee’, putting many role-play toys through their paces.

Taking into consideration the play potential, creativity, kid appeal and appearance, as well as quality, number of accessories and price, our community of parents and their children shared their honest opinions on which toys deserved to make the cut. Check out our 2024 winners below.

Gold: PlayHouse Pop-Up Play Curtain

I love the toy shop because I can play shops and be the customer or the toy seller. The window is my favourite part because I feel like a real shop keeper. I love playing with it every day.

Silver: LeapFrog Count & Swirl Ice Cream Maker

My little girl was so excited to play with this toy when it first arrived, and has played with it nearly every day since. She absolutely loves role play toys at the moment and this was no exception. She has been serving ice creams to everyone, including her baby sister and dolls!

Bronze: Casdon De'longhi Barista Coffee Machine

I like making coffee and milk for mummy. But I can’t make any for my sister because its for grown ups. But I can pretend to drink it because I’m a big girl.

Editor's Choice: Casdon Ooni Pizza Oven & Casdon Ooni Pizza Topping Station

My 4 year old really enjoyed the role-play element of these toys. ”Mummy can we play with my new pizza toy” was what I heard for a few days after she began testing! She loved the idea of creating her own pizzas and enjoyed the variety of toppings.

Read more:

• MadeForMums Toy Awards 2024: Winners announced
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• MadeForMums Toy Awards 2024 Winners: Best building and vehicle toys
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• MadeForMums Toy Awards 2024 Winners: Best dolls, pets and soft toys
• MadeForMums Toy Awards 2024 Winners: Best baby, toddler and preschool toys
• MadeForMums Toy Awards 2024 Winners: Best books, gifts and collectables
• MadeForMums Toy Awards 2024 Winners: Best sustainable, sensory and wooden toys
• MadeForMums Toy Awards 2024 Winners: Best classic toys