21 of the Most Popular Gifts of the Century

Though not a toy, Apple’s iPad changed touchscreen computing for everyone. For children, the device provided an almost endless number of games and entertainment diversions. Apple sold more than 300,000 of them the first day it was released.

Skylanders is a toys-to-life video game. The game is played by situating characters called Skylanders on a device that reads the figures’ tags through near-field communication (NFC) technology, bringing them to life as playable characters. Skylanders is credited with launching the toys-to-life category.

LeapPad Explorer is basically an iPad for children. It has its origins as an interactive book introduced in 1999. The LeapPad Explorer won the Platinum Award from the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio in 2011.

This robot dog debuted in 2013. Besides heeding commands and doing backflips, the toy uses light-sensor technology to respond to its environment. The 2013 version of the robotic puppy came with blue, pink, dalmatian, and Scooby-Doo.

The “Frozen” movie, inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, “The Snow Queen,” was a big hit for Disney, spawning video games, books, a Disney on Ice show, a Broadway musical, and of course merchandise. In 2014, dolls of the princesses Elsa and Anna from the animated film outsold Barbie.