Santa’s shortlist: The buzziest toys in Canada this year

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A little kid in from of a Christmas tree, hoping for one of the popular gifts for kids in Canada in 2025.

The Get

For this week’s top story, we’re looking at the toys kids want, the toys that they’ll love and what to do when Santa doesn’t deliver the (exact) goods.

By Kate Rae

What’s on kids’ Christmas wish lists this year? Labubu and Gui Gui, Gabby’s Dollhouse and Stitch, hatching T-Rexes and a budget-busting $700 Switch. If these sound familiar, it’s because you’ve likely heard them floated over breakfast or spotted them scribbled onto letters to Santa.

We all want to give our kids the most magical Christmas possible, but the holiday hype can set the stage for disappointment, especially when their wish lists grow longer by the day. And realistically, no parent can (or should) buy every toy they ask for. So how do you keep your kid, your budget and your peace of mind intact? We called in the pros.

Top toy picks in Canada for 2025

According to toy retailers, these are three picks at the top of kids’ lists this year:

Gui Gui, $18

This is slime with a glow-up—it’s scented, decorated and sparkly. It comes in four different textures and 13 different scents, so you can pop one in a stocking or go big with a bunch. moosetoys.com

Primal Hatch, $90

Remember the Hatchimal craze? This is that, only the egg is birthing a T. Rex. Kids will love the hatching egg, and then can train their new dino with a clicker. spinmaster.com

Nintendo Switch 2, $700

This pricey pick comes bundled with the Mario Kart World game. If this feels way too steep, the first-gen Switch is still available at just over $400, and there’s a Lite version for $280. nintendo.com

If the picks above didn’t make your kid’s list and you’re at a loss or you need new ideas, check this out. Every year Chris Byrne, a.k.a. The Toy Guy, curates his selection of great toys of the year. “The best toys are the toys that aren’t complete without the child,” he says. “It’s never the piece of inert plastic. It is the child’s imagination that really makes a toy magical.” Here are some of his standouts this season:

Exploding Kittens: The Board Game, $40

“It looks like a traditional cardboard board game, but if you play certain cards, you flip the board and it’s like a pop-up book. It goes from calm mode to chaos mode,” says Byrne. explodingkittens.com

The Goodyear Mega Car Engine Repair Set, $70

“It’s from a little company called Red Toolbox,” says Byrne. “It looks like the cab of a truck, but it’s got a toy drill that you can use to take out the engine block. There’s a lot of play built into it, which I think is really, really cool.” red-toolbox.com

Lego Duplo Interactive Adventure Train, $90

“I don’t care how old you are, there’s probably a Lego set for you,” says Byrne. “This one for preschoolers has 57 pieces. It’s really open-ended and fires the imagination, which I really love.” lego.com

How to manage kids expectations for Christmas morning

Given the season’s heightened emotions, endless options and limited budgets, parents are bound to worry about letting their kids down on Christmas morning. We asked Azra Karmali-Moloo, a registered clinical psychologist in Calgary, for practical ways to set everyone up for success—even if that Switch isn’t under the tree.

Know your kid. Keeping in mind their temperament helps you prepare for how they might react. “Kids with traits of impulsivity, really big feelings and rigid thinking are going to need some extra support,” she says.
Set clear and honest limits early. For younger kids, be specific. You can say something like: “Santa is going to be bringing you one really big gift, two medium gifts and three small gifts.” With post-Santa older kids, she says, you can frame it a bit differently and say: “’Christmas is a time where family comes together. Gifts are part of that, but they're not the whole celebration.’”
Expect pushback, but keep the boundary. Your kid might not like the limits and respond: “But I want four big presents…” Let their feelings exist, says Karmali-Moloo. “We’re not trying to disagree or get them to adopt a different opinion or let go of the emotion. But we’re also not going to change what we’re doing. This is not going to be the first time they don't get everything they want in life.”
Preview the big morning. Kids with rigid thinking may need to hear the plan ahead of time, she says: “We’re going to open gifts, and it’s going to be really exciting. You might not get exactly what you want and you might have some feelings around that—and that’s OK.”
Plan for the post-unwrapping dip. After the frenzy, kids can have a bit of a crash—especially if they didn’t get everything they dreamed of. Keep the day moving with a fun plan: pancakes in pajamas, carols with family, and skating outside. “It creates a sense of connection and bonding,” she says.

It's easy to get swept up in the panic of wanting to get our kids exactly the right thing, but take a deep breath and remember: Presents are a part of Christmas, but they’re not the whole story—or the most important one.

Kate Rae is an award-winning Canadian writer and editor who lives in Toronto.

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