Play Fair New York – The Willy Wonka of Toys and Play

Play Fair in New York Is The Ultimate Play and Toy Experience, Consider It The Willy Wonka of Toys and Play

In early February, WickedGoodTravelTips was invited to attend the first annual Play Fair and Toy Fair (http://playfairny.com and http://toyfairny.com) at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. With my husband and son in tow, I headed to Manhattan on the coldest day of the year so far. This experience was like being a kid in a candy store, but instead of candy, there were toys, play activities, and everyone’s favorite characters from favorite shows, plus so much more.  If you have children, this is one event you won’t want to miss.

The key to experiencing this show was getting there early; the lines wrapped around outside of the front of the building, and it was very very crowded. The staff had it to a fine science and did an excellent job of managing the crowds. Once the doors opened to the Play Fair, we went straight to the Lego area. My son was able to build cars and race them, design images on Lego boards and display them.

We then moved on to the Nickelodeon area, where the kids could become coders and create their own video game with bee from Honey Nut Cheerios, slide down the slide of the Paw Patrol lookout tower, sit in Blaze from the Nick Jr. show Blaze and the Monster Machines and take a picture, among other activities.

They even introduced their new pup, Tracker, who will be joining the Paw Patrol in the fall. It was really very creative and very well organized. The new toys that were available for the kids to try out were incredible and of course the favorite show characters they could take pictures with. Having a schedule to see when your favorites are going to be there made it easy for families. There was a Nerf tent to try out the new Nerf guns that were coming on the market and there was a race car area to race around a track and some of your favorite shows to watch on the big screens.

The toy fair was a whole other area of excitement. Unfortunately, my son was not able to attend this area because it was designated to 18 and older. It was so amazing and overwhelming. The amount of toys that were there, and many will be coming to the market soon. I wish I could have bought many of them when I was there, but we have to wait like everyone else.

I was able to meet the team at Sweets Kendamas. (Sweetskadamas.com) This is a wooden skill toy that tests and helps you improve your hand-eye coordination. It was really well crafted toy and comes in mini, micro and a formal size. Gabe Klemm, the CEO of Sweet Kadamas really has hit the “Tama on the kozara, Ozawa or chuzara” with this toy. My son has taken quite a liking to it and I hoping he will become an expert.

There is a new product coming from WABA Fun, that is a playdough consistency from Kinetic Sand, it’s incredible. This product will hit the stores early summer, I for one can’t wait for it to come out.

There was so much there it was a challenge to see it all or mention it all in this article, but I do highly recommend the play and toy fair to any toy enthusiast or families with children of any age to join in on the fun. I know I will be back next year!

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About the Author:  Alisha Rappaport is a consultant for non profit foundations and is a mommy blogger for Wicked Good Travel Tips. She enjoys taking her son on new adventures and sharing her experiences with our readers.
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