The holidays are a time of joy – especially for children. But lurking in those colorful presents could be dangers that can lead to serious injury or harm. Unsafe toys can cause eye injuries, blunt impact injuries and even wrongful death.
Here is a list of unsafe toys, from child safety group World Against Toys Causing Harm, to help you plan a fun and safe holiday for your kids.
- Peppa Pig’s Muddy Puddles Family. These sets of figurines may appear safe, but contain small parts that could lead to choking hazards. Shockingly, some of the packages do not contain a choking warning, while others are marked appropriately.
- Kids Time Baby Children’s Elephant Pillow. Advertisements for this fluffy elephant pillow portray an infant snuggling with it, without warning of the suffocation hazard it poses.
- The Slimeball Slinger. This slingshot fires squishy slime balls at an included sticky target. It can fire over 30 feet, which poses a serious risk of eye injuries.
- Banzai Bump N’ Bounce Body Bumpers. Essentially inflatable suits used for child sumo wrestling, the suits do not provide adequate protection against impact injuries.
- Nerf Rival Apollo XV-700 Blaster. These toy guns shoot ammunition with power sufficient to cause eye injury. While the packaging depicts children using eye protection, the product does not come with goggles.
- The Good Dinosaur Galloping Butch. This toy requires operation via a button on the toy’s pointed tail, and the electronic action could cause face or eye injuries if activated close to a child’s face.
- Peppy Pups. These cute stuffed animals come with long leash-like cords that could pose a strangulation hazard.
- Flying Heroes Superman Launcher. These toys allow children to pull a rip cord to launch a spinning Superman into the air, which could lead to eye injuries from either a direct impact or a glancing blow from the spinning blades.
- Baby Magic Feed and Play Baby. The baby doll comes with several smaller toys that interact with the baby, including a spoon large enough for a child to swallow.
- Warcraft Doomhammer. Children may use this heavy, rigid plastic hammer to cause blunt force injuries to other children.
We encourage all parents to inspect the toys they give their children this holiday to ensure a safe and happy holiday for all.
Isaiah 9:6, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”