DENVER — A Colorado consumer group warns that parents should be careful this holiday season when shopping for toys. Hazards range from water-absorbing beads that can swell inside a child’s body to internet-connected AI toys that can give inappropriate advice or expose children to violent or sexual content.
The Colorado Public Interest Research Group (CoPIRG) released its 40th annual Trouble in Toyland report, which Executive Director Danny Katz said has prompted about 150 toy recalls over the past four decades. Katz said the group’s annual guides and tips are intended to help consumers spot risks that are increasingly hard to see and increasingly sold online.
“Even though the vast majority of toys are safe, there is still some trouble in toyland,” Katz said. He urged parents to buy from reputable sellers and to be wary of toys advertised on auction and third-party marketplaces, noting that he recently was able to purchase a toy on eBay that had been recalled in March.
Among the hazards highlighted in the reporter are water beads — small polymer beads that look tempting to toddlers but expand dramatically when exposed to water.
“If you’re going to put something like this in your mouth… there’s a high likelihood that you’re going to have to go to the emergency room,” Katz said. “Thousands of kids have gone to the emergency room over the last few years because they've swallowed these water beads. These water beads have grown and they've either led to blockage or other internal problems.”
Katz also warned about the dangers of button batteries in electronic toys, saying parents should ensure battery compartments cannot be opened easily. You should head to the emergency room as soon as possible if batteries are consumed.
The report raises concerns about a new class of connected toys that use artificial intelligence to interact with children. During testing, Katz said some AI chatbots in toys described how to light a match, recommended graphically violent video games and even provided sexually explicit answers to questions. In other cases, Katz said the toys offered responses that could discourage independent behavior. The toys would urge a child not to leave the house or to take the toy along.
Paul Belden, a children’s entertainer for Timbuk Toys, said in-person shopping gives caretakers the chance to inspect toys, see how they’re made and get a sense of quality that can be harder to judge online.
“You can hold it in your hands. You can pick it up. You can look at it yourself,” Belden said. “We carefully curate the selection of toys that we sell in these stores, because it’s important that we know we’re selling quality.”
CoPIRG’s top tips for safer toy shopping include checking that an item cannot pass through an empty toilet-paper tube — a quick test of choking risk for children under 3 years old. Also confirm toys come from reputable manufacturers or sellers, read customer reviews and avoid toys with easily removable button batteries.
