Toy Hall of Fame adds 4 new play items in 2026

Four playthings have been selected in 2026 to enter the National Toy Hall of Fame.

The new inductees are: the game of Bingo, Care Bears plush characters. the Pokémon Trading Card Game and the outdoor slide.

 

Winners were announced on Nov. 6 at The Strong National Museum of Play, in Rochester, N.Y., home of the Toy Hall of Fame.

The other eight finalists this year were: Bop It!, Mahjong, Monster High dolls, Mouse Trap, Polly Pocket, Sorry!, Tickle Me Elmo and Yahtzee.

Personally, I had predicted that Bingo and the Care Bears crowd would be accepted into the hall of fame. Each is worthy and meets the criteria for induction, based on:

Icon-status (the toy is widely recognized, respected and remembered).

Longevity (the toy is more than a passing fad and has enjoyed popularity over multiple generations).

Discovery (the toy fosters learning, creativity or discovery through play).

Innovation (the toy profoundly changed play or toy design).

Bingo, a game of chance, originated in Naples, Italy, around 1530. It was modified by both the Germans and the French before making its way to the United States.

In 1929, the game was introduced in America as “Beano,” using dried beans as markers on cardboard playing cards, by Hugh J. Ward, of Pittsburgh, Pa. He copyrighted the game and published a rule book in 1933.

 

The game was further popularized and commercialized by Edwin S. Lowe of Brooklyn, N.Y., a toymaker and game entrepreneur. He overheard someone with a winning card accidentally blurt out “bingo” instead of “beano.” So, Lowe went with the name “Bingo” for his version of the same game.

 

Lowe hired Carl Leffler, a Columbia University mathematics professor in New York City, to come up with non-repeating number groups so that fewer people would get Bingo at the same time. By 1930, Prof. Leffler had invented 6,000 different bingo cards.

 

This was also the answer to the prayers of an unnamed Catholic priest in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., who had seized upon the game thinking it to be the solution to his problem of financing the parish school. He bought several sets of the game and invited his parishioners to play the game with great gusto and frequency.

 The E. S. Lowe Company had great success with its bingo game sets, while also manufacturing chess and checkers games and assorted plastic toys. The Milton Bradley Company acquired the E. S. Lowe Company in 1973 for $26 million. Milton Bradley became a subsidiary of Hasbro in 1984.

Soft and sweet, cute and cuddly, Care Bears have been teaching youngsters compassion, kindness and consideration for others for 45 years.

The Care Bears were created in 1981 by artist Elena Kucharik of Cleveland, Ohio, for American Greetings. 

The plush stuffed animals were subsequently manufactured and released by the toy company Kenner in 1983. The Care Bears’ unique “tummy symbols” have special powers.

 

The popularity of the colorful bears – each designed around a simple human emotion or virtue – has endured over the decades, with adults and kids alike, said Michelle Parnett-Dwyer, chief curator at The Strong museum.

“Nearly a million Care Bears followers on social media, and scores of apps for mobile devices, attest to Care Bears’ enduring nimbleness in making new friends even in the electronic world,” she said.

 

Authentic Brands Group of New York City acquired the intellectual property of Care Bears, one of the world’s most enduring family entertainment franchises, in August 2026.

The Pokémon Trading Card Game has sold more than 85 billion cards since it debuted in 1996. The game’s mechanics are straightforward and can be grasped within a single game. Two players, each using a deck of 60 cards featuring Pokémon creatures, trainers and items engage in battle until one emerges victorious. The game is simple for beginners to learn but complex enough to stay engaging for experienced players.

 

“The Pokémon Trading Card Game’s widespread appeal and global presence are undeniable,” said museum curator Mirek Stolee. “The appeal is amplified with the infusion of the lovable Pokémon creatures.”

Slides have been around for ages, and they’ve always been a staple of childhood, according to Jeremy Saucier, vice president for collections at The Strong museum.

“With the right materials and imaginations, slides are a vehicle for free play. Today, slides are customizable, modular and more flexible,” he said. “People of all ages remember fondly the simple, satisfying and energizing experience of racing down a slide.”

“By the 1900s, slides became fixtures at funhouses and amusement parks. Also, the playground movement of the early 1900s further introduced slides into public spaces dedicated to children playing together,” Saucier said.

 

I was rooting for Tickle Me Elmo and Yahtzee to be voted into the Toy Hall of Fame. Each has been nominated previously.

Tickle Me Elmo made his debut 30 years ago as a furry, plush doll based on the bright red Muppet character Elmo from the “Sesame Street” children’s television show and Jim Henson Productions. Elmo shakes, giggles and vibrates when squeezed.

 

Tickle Me Elmo was introduced in 1996 by Tyco Toys of Woodbury Heights, N.J. The toy franchise rights are now owned by Mattel, Inc., of Segundo, Calif., as part of its Fisher-Price division. (Mattel acquired Tyco Toys in 1997.)

“Tickle Me Elmo allowed the toy to emulate the experience of being tickled,” reported Chris Bensch, who recently retired from of the Toy Hall of Fame. “When Elmo was tickled, he laughed, then he laughed some more and shook with glee.”

In 1956, the aforementioned Edwin S. Lowe acquired the rights to a dice game was invented by an anonymous Canadian couple, who called it “The Yacht Game,” because they played it on their yacht with their friends. Lowe changed the name to “Yahtzee.”

 

When playing Yahtzee, each player gets three tries to roll five dice to try to match a predetermined poker-like combination of the number values to score points. Simplicity, speed and luck make this fast-paced game a perennial favorite among adults and children.

With the four new additions, there are now 94 individual toys, games or playthings that have been inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame since it was established in 1998. Charter members are indicated in boldface type:

Alphabet blocks, American Girl Doll, Atari 2600 Game System, baby doll, Baby Nancy, ball, Barbie, Battleship, baseball cards, bicycle, Big Wheel, Bingo, blanket, bubbles, Cabbage Patch Kids, Candy Land, cardboard box, Care Bears, checkers, chess, Clue, coloring book, Crayola Crayons, dollhouse, dominoes, Duncan Yo-Yo, Dungeons & Dragons and Easy-Bake Oven.

 

Erector Set, Etch A Sketch, Fisher-Price Corn Popper, Fisher-Price Little People, Frisbee, G.I. Joe, The Game of Life, Hot Wheels, Hula Hoop, jack-in-the-box, jacks, Jenga, jigsaw puzzle, jump rope, kite, LEGO, Lincoln Logs, Lionel Trains, Lite-Brite, little green army men, Magic 8 Ball, Magic: The Gathering, marbles and Masters of the Universe,

 

Matchbox Cars, Monopoly, Mr. Potato Head, My Little Pony, Nerf, Nintendo Game Boy, paper airplane, Phase 10, pinball, Play-Doh, playing cards, Pokémon Trading Card Game, puppet, Radio Flyer Wagon, Raggedy Ann and Andy, Risk, rocking horse, roller skates, rubber duck, Rubik’s Cube, sand, Scrabble, sidewalk chalk, Silly Putty, skateboard, slide, slime and Slinky.

 

Star Wars action figures, stick, Super Soaker, swing, teddy bear, Tinkertoy, Tonka Trucks, top, Transformers, Trivial Pursuit, Twister, Uno, View-Master and Wiffle Ball.