How Toy Brands Can Turn 2026 Industry Trends Into PR, Media Coverage, and Sales
The Toy Fair x The Toy Association’s 2026 Trends Briefing didn’t just outline what’s new in toys. It mapped out what consumers, influencers, and the media will be talking about all year long. For toy companies, these trends are PR frameworks, storytelling opportunities, and sales accelerators waiting to be activated. How does a brand initiate these strategies? Start with a public relations agency.
As a PR agency for toy brands,Startr Co. helps companies like Learning Resources, Educational Insights, and hand2mind turn cultural shifts into media coverage, influencer buzz, and retail momentum. Below, we break down each official trend category from the 2026 Briefing and share how toy brands can transform them into pitch angles, partnerships, and campaigns that drive real business impact.
Cozy Up to Cozy Culture
The Cozy Culture trend reflects a growing desire for calm, comfort, and tech‑free play. With 73% of parents saying their kids could benefit from a “digital detox,” families are actively seeking toys that help them slow down, regulate emotions, and reconnect.
Picture plush textures, gentle interactivity, botanical aesthetics, and toys that feel intentionally soothing. The Toy Association highlighted hand2mind’s BubblePlush, a soft, tactile twist on a classic yoga ball that encourages active play while supporting sensory needs.
PR and media relations strategies for Cozy Culture toys include:
Wellness‑driven storytelling where outlets are covering children’s mental health, overstimulation, and the impact of screen time. The toys also fit into screen-free gift guides, back-to-school transition stories, and sensory-friendly classroom features.
Influencers and creators who focus on Montessori and gentle‑parenting and sensory play creators, pediatric therapists and occupational therapists, and other influencers who excel at demonstrating tactile and calming play in visually compelling ways.
A toys and games PR agency can also support hosting an experimental activation where Cozy Culture can lend itself to immersive, family‑friendly experiences. Think “Digital Detox Play Days” at malls or libraries, sensory‑friendly pop‑ups, and Cozy Play Lounges at bookstores or community centers.
Ignite Creativity with Inspiring Inventors
The Inspiring Inventors trend taps into the booming maker movement, fueled by kids who watch creators build, design, and experiment online. With 96% of parents ensuring they purchase at least one educational toy for holidays and birthdays—and 78% wanting toys that build creativity and problem‑solving skill—families are embracing hands‑on, open‑ended play.
This trend celebrates modular building, upcycling, tinkering, and STEM‑driven exploration. The Toy Association spotlighted Educational Insights’ Boxineers Kits, which encourage kids to transform cardboard into imaginative creations, blending sustainability with creativity.
PR and media relations strategies for Inspiring Inventors toys include:
Education‑focused storytelling that highlights STEM learning, creativity development, and the value of open‑ended play. These toys fit naturally into STEM gift guides, sustainability features, and back‑to‑school learning roundups.
Influencers who specialize in STEM education, DIY crafting, maker culture, and kid inventors who build and experiment on camera. These creators excel at showing process, creativity, and transformation—perfect for social‑first campaigns.
Experiential activations such as maker workshops at libraries, children’s museums, or retail stores. Public relations agencies can also support upcycling challenges, hands‑on building events, and “Inventor Labs” that invite kids to create in real time.
Show Your Style with Express Yourself
The Express Yourself trend reflects how toys have become extensions of identity, aesthetic, and personality. With 72% of parents watching toy haul videos before buying—and more than half purchasing blind boxes for themselves or their kids—toys are now social currency.
Think collectible charms, wearable minis, flocked figures, and toys that double as décor. Kids, teens and adults alike are embracing toys as tools for self‑expression, stress relief, and creativity.
PR and media relations strategies for Express Yourself toys include:
Social‑commerce‑driven storytelling that taps into haul culture, unboxing trends, and aesthetic‑based collecting. These toys fit seamlessly into teen lifestyle features, stress‑relief roundups, and décor‑friendly gift guides.
Influencers who specialize in hauls, unboxings, teen lifestyle content, and aesthetic‑driven TikTok trends (coquette, kawaii, Y2K, etc.). These creators excel at showcasing toys as accessories, décor, or personality statements.
Experiential activities can include blind‑box swap events such as “Build Your Aesthetic” customization stations and pop‑ups that encourage kids and teens to curate their own style. A PR agency for toy brands can help bring these moments to life through retail partnerships and social‑first event design.
Rediscover the Past with Throwback Toys
The Throwback Toys trend is fueled by nostalgia—not just from millennials, but from Gen Z and Gen Alpha who are discovering early‑2000s toys for the first time. Pinterest Predicts 2026 reported a 140% surge in searches for 2000s‑era kids’ toys and more than 60% of the most‑loved characters among ages 3–12 originated before 2010, according to the Toy Fair x Toy Association 2026 Trends Briefing. This manifests as refreshed heritage IP, retro aesthetics, modernized classics, and toys that tap into cultural memory.
PR and media relations strategies for Throwback Toys include:
Nostalgia‑driven storytelling that taps into Y2K culture, retro fashion, and the resurgence of early‑internet aesthetics. These toys fit into trend features, pop‑culture roundups, and generational nostalgia stories.
Influencers who specialize in nostalgia content, Gen Z creators who love retro aesthetics and collectors who showcase vintage or reissued toys. These creators excel at sparking viral “remember this?” moments.
Experiential activations such as Y2K‑themed pop‑ups, retro toy vaults, throwback‑inspired retail displays, and collaborations with fashion or beauty brands. A PR agency can help build immersive nostalgia experiences that resonate across generations.
Fuel Fandom with Fan‑Driven Play
The Fan‑Driven Play trend reflects how licensing, fandom, and cultural moments now shape toy demand in real time. With licensing accounting for more than one‑third of U.S. toy sales—and cultural moments moving faster than traditional movie cycles—toy brands are designing products that respond to sports, streaming, music, and meme culture. Think toys inspired by viral shows, sports events, K‑pop fandoms, gaming communities, and meme‑worthy moments.
PR and media relations strategies for Fan‑Driven Play include:
Culturally relevant storytelling that highlights how toy brands respond to real‑time trends, fandom communities, and cross‑platform storytelling. These toys fit into entertainment features, sports tie‑ins, and pop‑culture trend stories.
Influencers who specialize in fandom communities—from K‑pop and anime to gaming and sports—as well as meme creators who can amplify timely, humorous content.
Experiential activations such as watch‑party partnerships, fandom‑themed pop‑ups, limited‑edition drops, and collaborations with streaming platforms or creators. A PR agency can help brands move quickly, tapping into cultural moments as they unfold.
The Path Forward for Toy Brands
Toy Fair x The Toy Association’s 2026 Trends Briefing makes one thing clear: The brands that win this year won’t just follow trends—they’ll activate them. Cozy Culture, Inspiring Inventors, Express Yourself, Throwback Toys, and Fan‑Driven Play aren’t simply product categories. They are cultural signals that reveal what families value, what kids crave, and what the media is eager to cover. The Briefing is a playbook for how toy brands should work with a public relations agency to move forward.
For toy companies, the opportunity is enormous. Each trend opens a different door into wellness conversations, STEM education, social‑first storytelling, nostalgia‑driven virality, or fandom‑powered community building. When brands pair these insights with smart strategy from a toys and games PR agency, they can transform product innovation into national headlines, influencer buzz, and retail growth.
Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Los Angeles and New York City, Startr Co. is a strategic communications agency that specializes in scaling next-generation brands. With big-brand experience and deep industry connections, the agency's approach is collaborative, transparent, and grounded in where a client's business is today, so it can lead and shape tomorrow. Over the past decade, Startr Co. has partnered with innovative and recognizable brands including Seven Sundays, GHOST, Our Home (Popchips, Pop Secret, Good Health), GOODLES, SmartSweets, Solely, Walker's Shortbread, La Terra Fina, Learning Resources Brands (Learning Resources, Educational Insights, hand2mind, Brightkins), Fera Pets, Flame Broiler, The Little Gym, and Flight Adventure Park, delivering campaigns that combine creativity, strategy, and measurable impact.
