MONTREAL – French-language consumer magazine Protgez-Vous has awarded six “seal of excellence” prizes in its 27th annual toy and game ratings.

The quality of toys on the market this year is “very good,” noted Danielle Charbonneau of consumer-protection group Option Consommateur, which co-ordinated the toy testing project.

A total of 318 toys and games were tested by 117 families with 243 children. Parents then rated each according to a 13-point grid.

Of that total, which includes 209 new toys and games, 110 were “recommended” and only three earned the notorious “trash prize.”

The focus this year was on toys and games for children age 6 and under.

“Each of the top toys and games represents the pleasure of play ” not just educational toys, but where kids have fun,” Charbonneau said yesterday.

Here are the top-ranked products, as described by toy-guide editor Genevive Girard:

Day and Night, from Smart Games (China), a brightly-painted wooden toy for ages 1 1/2 to 6. Children can create shapes by combining blocks. “There are also 48 problems for children 3 to 6 in which they are asked to reproduce an image based on colour or a silhouette. It develops observation and logic.” Cost: $30

Peinture doigts, from Djeco (China), is an eight-colour finger-painting kit with illustrations for children age 3 to 6. “The kit has lots of high-quality, washable paint and charming illustrations. The kids liked experimenting.” Cost: $30

Monts–mots Singeries, from Ludik Qubec (China), is a board game for at least 3 players age 5 to 10. Children guess what’s on illustrated cards by identifying gestures or asking questions. “The game has easy and clear rules, with pretty pictures, offering varied and fun-filled activities.” Cost: $25

Panic Tower!, from Goliath (India), for the entire family age 6 and up, is about building towers from wooden blocks on a multi-coloured surface, with players following orders on cards. “Simple rules, suspense, good-quality materials, maintains high interest.” Cost: $34

Wazabi , from Gigamic (China), is a family board game with dice and cards for ages 8 and up. Players throw the dice, then according to the number take cards and give away dice. The goal is to get rid of all the dice. “It’s clear, not too complicated, accessible, and fun for groups.” Cost: $25

Jaipur, from Game Works (Germany), is a strategy game designed for two, age 12 and up, that lasts 30-45 minutes. With cards and tokens, players buy and sell merchandise and trade camels. “With simple rules, this fun game creates suspense, has superb illustrations and a good combination of luck and strategy.” Cost: $25

The three toys awarded the “trash prize” are:

FurReal friends , from Hasbro (China), a battery-powered fluffy kitten aimed at the 4-6 age group, which walks and meows, but is “hard to manipulate, loses hairs, and children lose interest after a few days.” Cost: $30.

Crazy Forts!, from Crazy Forts (China), for the 5-8 age group, provides plastic pieces to build cabins children can play in, but involves “long and difficult assembly, the cabins are fragile and collapse at the slightest touch, and is expensive.” Cost: $50

Comment fonctionne l’lectricit (how electricity works), from Lisciani Giochi (Italy), for the 8-14 group, offers 88 experiments, but “14 of them do not work, if you follow instructions one of the tests short- circuits and damages the battery container, the warning is given at the end of the experiment, and the toy becomes useless.” Cost: $40

Ratings of all toys tested, and capsule descriptions of 341 books in French for children up to the 14-and-over age group, are in the November issue Protgez-Vous, which hits newsstands today. It can also be accessed at protegez-vous.ca