Good Housekeeping Unveils Top Kid-Tested Toys

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Good Housekeeping magazine has revealed the recipients of its best toy awards for this holiday season, and the winners were judge by more than 100 children who tested 500 toys.

Fun was the goal inside the Good Housekeeping Institute's Engineering Lab, where kids ages 3 to 13 chose the toys as the best of the best, CBS2's Cindy Hsu reported.

Four-year-old Julia said she loved the Blazin' Dragon. You start by put water inside its head, then you push a button and cool water vapor comes out of its mouth.

The vapor toasts a toy marshmallow.

But for Julia, that wasn't the main selling point.

"I think they'd like them because they have sparkly eyes," she said.

The Sanchez sisters tested out the Cepia Big Robots. The girls made punching motions with their controllers, and the robots mimicked their movements.

When the weather warms up, another top toy will be the Firetek Zyclone, which sends soft foam discs flying up to 100 feet outdoors.

Six-year-old Walle Chan was a pro with the First Flyer Helicopter, which hovers about three feet in the air and is easy for young kids to operate.

For some sneaky science, there's the Electro Dough kit. Children use dough and circuits to learn about electricity.

Crayola also has a cool kit with markers that can be turned into an airbrush to create all sorts of designs, and the markers are washable.

"I'm not going to give you anything too messy moms, I've got your back," said Meaghan Murphy, the Executive Editor at Good Housekeeping.

Thomas and Friends Trackmaster came out No. 1. Click here to see the complete list.

Murphy watched as the kids tested the toys.

"Then they break out into cheers, 'Woo he stuck another landing!'" she said.

Along with the fun factor, the toys were also tested for safety. They went through drop tests to make sure they wouldn't shatter into small pieces that a child might swallow.