The top ten toys revealed by John Lewis have been thoroughly tested by children and have been announced in good time to allow customers to spread the cost of Christmas.

While the festive season is still five months away, John Lewis has announced its predictions for the top selling toys for Christmas this year. As the cost of living crisis shows no signs of slowing down, it is suggested that consumers start shopping for Christmas gifts early, in order to spread the cost. The list has been produced several weeks earlier than last year.

The top ten list of toys has been compiled by the company’s buyers, after “months of sourcing and testing”, then the top selections were play-tested with children between the ages of five to ten. After extensive trials by the young experts who make up the retailer’s Toy Testing Panel, each child tester was asked to select their favourite toys from the collection.

The retailer says hundreds of products were reduced to the top ten, which is detailed below. The top toys include a throwback to the 90s with Furby, newer licences such as Gabby’s Dollhouse, up to the minute tech and interactive toys, some John Lewis exclusives and plenty of role play fun.

Alan Wright, head of toys and books at John Lewis, commented: “The rise in popularity of Barbie and nostalgic 90s toys helped form the decision for our top toys selection for Christmas 2023, as we predict the Barbie phenomenon to continue into the winter months.”

The Top Toys for Christmas 2023 are:

• Gabby’s Dollhouse Girl Doll
• Barbie Convertible Doll Car
• Le Mieux Puppy, Cockapoo
• Melissa & Doug Barber Role Play Set
• John Lewis Wooden Café Set, exclusive to John Lewis
• Fisher-Price Mix and Learn Music Table
• Little Live Pets Mama Surprise
• Hasbro Furby
• Lego Holiday Main Street, exclusive to John Lewis
• Scalextric John Lewis vs Waitrose Car Racing Set, exclusive to John Lewis

Not all of the toys are available now, but are coming into stock soon. All of the list should be on sale by September.

The list focuses on “big presents” and naturally includes big box and higher ticket pric items. To help customers maximise their budgets, aongside the top ten, John Lewis is keen to stress that it also offers a huge range of affordable toys and gifts, with over 1,500 available for under £20. This includes Lego from £3.49 and up, books and games from £4.99 and plush from £8.99.