What Do Kids, Moms and Dads Want for Christmas 2026?

Short answer: Kids want KPop Demon Hunters toys, the Nintendo Switch 2 and anything from Pokémon’s 30th anniversary. Moms want a beauty splurge (the Dyson Airwrap or an LED face mask), something cozy, and better sleep. Dads want smart glasses, a massage gun and something for the backyard. We read this season’s toy hot lists and gift guides and ranked what kept showing up. The full top-10 lists for all three are in the Christmas collection on Our Picks →, our Amazon store

What are the hottest toys for Christmas 2026?

One name is on nearly every list this year: KPop Demon Hunters. Mattel’s singing dolls, the Nerf swords, the Bitzee pets and the trading cards are all on Toy Insider’s, Amazon’s and the big retailers’ lists. Kids who saw the movie want all of it.

Close behind:

Nintendo Switch 2. The console on every wish list, especially with the Mario Kart World bundle.
Pokémon turns 30. The anniversary trading cards and the new Pikachu toys are pulling in kids and the parents who grew up on it.
Tickle Me Elmo Giggle Max. The 1996 craze is back, bigger and gigglier, for toddlers 18 months and up.
Primal Hatch Megalodon. A giant egg that hatches a shark, following last year’s dinosaur hit.
Bluey, PAW Patrol and Toy Story 5. The preschool favorites all have new playsets, and Toy Story 5 brings the talking Woody back.

The other thing toy lists keep pointing to is nostalgia. Tamagotchi, Tickle Me Elmo and Pokémon were all big in the 90s, and parents are happy to buy them again.

What do moms want for Christmas this year?

Three themes run through this year’s gift guides for moms:

A beauty splurge she wouldn’t buy herself. The Dyson Airwrap is still the most-requested beauty gift. At-home LED face masks are the new one; the Shark CryoGlow sold out last December.
Cozy. Heated throws, soft blankets and slippers. They sell out every December for a reason.
Sleep and calm. Sunrise alarm clocks like the Hatch Restore 3, a new Kindle Paperwhite, and a digital photo frame the whole family can send pictures to.

And at the small end, the Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask and a Stanley or Owala tumbler are on so many lists they’re practically the official stocking stuffers of 2026.

Personalized keepsakes are having a big year too: birthstone necklaces with one stone per child, recipe books, family photo books. If you want something that can’t be returned because it was made for her, that’s the lane.

What do dads want for Christmas 2026?

Dads’ lists lean toward gadgets and getting the body to stop aching:

Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. Sunglasses that take photos, play music and take calls. This is the gadget of the year for dads.
A Theragun or other massage gun. Muscle recovery is the biggest wellness trend in gifting.
A health tracker, like the Oura Ring 4 or a WHOOP band, for sleep and fitness with no screen.
An Ooni pizza oven for the dad who likes a backyard project.
A YETI tumbler, AirPods Pro 3 or AirTags if you want a smaller gift you know he’ll use.

And yes, the Switch 2 is on dad lists too. It’s “for the kids,” officially.

Where can I see the full lists?

All three top-10 lists, plus a row of stocking stuffers under $50, are on one page: Our Picks, the Inklings World Amazon store. Every pick links straight to Amazon, so you can check today’s price and whether it’s still in stock.

The big-ticket toys sell out first. If something on the kids’ list is the one they’ve circled, order it early.

How did we pick these?

We didn’t guess. We read this season’s hot-toy lists (The Toy Insider, Amazon’s Top Toys, Target’s Bullseye’s Top 50, Which?) and the major holiday gift guides. Then we ranked each item by how many of them it appears on. Nobody paid to be on these lists.

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