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How To Get Free Toys For Gifts This Christmas (or Any Other Time)

By Author Chhavi Agarwal

How To Get Free Toys

Are you beating your head to find free toys? Or are your little ones asking for their favorite Peppa Pig, Little Pony, Barbie, and Ninja Turtles, but you don’t know how to afford them? 

Collecting toys is a hobby children and adults relish, but sometimes it might seem like a splurge, and you would wish somebody could give them to you for free. 

We know how hard it is to resist the appeal of receiving free products. The good news is that there are a few ways to get your favorite toys free of cost and without breaking a sweat. 

Whether you want new toys for Christmas or birthdays, to expand your collection, or just as a parenting technique to calm your toddler, their programs let people enjoy toys for free. 

You can indulge in the joy of silly or smart toys without stretching your budget. Regardless of age, there are avenues to obtain free stuff, such as toys for boys and girls, toy cars, legos perfume samples, and diapers. 

Fortunately, the toy industry has become more innovative in distributing free toys as a marketing strategy. So let’s explore some fantastic ways to get your favorite quality toys in a few steps.

The post includes affiliate links.

Want to make money quickly? Here are a few platforms to earn up to $25 – $50 in a few minutes!

Websites To Get Free Toys

Freecycle Network

A fantastic source of receiving free toys is Freecycle.org or Freecycle Network. This site boasts a commendable membership of over 9 million individuals in more than 5,300 towns and cities. 

To get started, you have to be a member of Freecycle. Sign up on their website with essential information like your email id, name, and password. They will ask you to choose a username visible to other members. 

Signing up for this site is entirely free of cost. Once you are a member, you will gain access to a myriad of Freecycle Town groups. You can browse and get your favorite item for free in these groups. 

It is an excellent platform for parents to get free toys for children during the holiday or any other time of the year. 

You can also list toys or items you don’t need and give them to others who need them more. This is also a way of decluttering your space. 

Read: Get Free Money Right Now

The Toy Foundation’s Toy Bank

The Toy Bank is an initiative managed by a non-profit organization, The Toy Foundation. They are committed to upholding the value of play for children residing in underprivileged or underserved communities. 

Established in 2003, the Toy Bank has brought a smile to the faces of over 26 million children. They have provided them with the happiness that comes with owning toys. 

They have invested a whopping amount of $225 million since their inception and are continuing to do so. This achievement has got contributors from around the country, even from toy companies and retailers. 

The Toy Bank prioritizes children facing serious illnesses or hospitalization, temporary foster care, abuse or neglect, domestic violence, separation from military parents, or the aftermath of natural disasters. 

They work in collaboration with 1000+ local charities and communities across the country. You can visit their website and contact them to locate the nearest Toy Bank partner.

Toy Testing To Get Free Products

A lot of companies offer an opportunity to use and review their products. Some are giveaways, but most just let you keep the product for a few hours to days to use and share feedback. Below are a few companies that provide this chance to parents and children. 

Far Out Toys’ FunLab

Far Out Toys is a global enterprise parent to brands like Glo-Up girls’ dolls. FunLab is another venture by them whose sole motive is to unite parents and children with the joy of playing with toys. 

The twist is that you must pay a membership fee every 1 or 3 months, depending on your selected billing period. Once you are a member, you will gain access to exclusive programs. 

One of the most popular programs is that parents can review complimentary toys that suit their child’s preferences. 

They will ask you to give feedback on these toys periodically. Sometimes you can participate in compensated online focus groups.

This is how you can become a toy ambassador for any Far Out Toys offerings. As this is a toy company you will be working for, you will get to experience the top toys, popular family board games, technical games, and age-appropriate playthings. 

Fisher-Price Play Lab

The Fisher-Price Play Lab was established in 1961 to let children engage in play and contribute to the development of toys. At present, it has enrolled over 2800 children for testing.

They have in-person and in-home toy testing opportunities for parents and children in Western New York. In-person testing takes place at the Play lab in East Aurora. 

Parents can pick up and return the toys after using them for in-home testing. In-home testing is typically two weeks, while in-person sessions last 20 minutes on average. 

Parents will receive notifications two days before testing once they have signed up on the website. They also host weekly playgroups that last for one or two hours. 

The Fisher-Price community comprises parents with children aged five and below. Participants get compensated for their time and effort through Amazon or Target gift cards and sometimes cash.

You will require a New York State Child Performer Permit for child participation in testing, but you can initiate the Fun Lab registration process without it. 

Mattel Imagination Center

As you know, Mattel is one of the biggest toy companies in the world. Here, they invite both parents and children as testers. This is how you can also contribute to developing and improving toy products.

Usually, children must be between 3 and 13 to participate, but sometimes they invite children below 3. 

They offer both in-house and on-site testing scopes. However, on-site participation is only for individuals within a 50-mile radius of El Segundo in California. 

As compensation, Mattel will provide you with gifts such as free toys or gift cards for on-site testers. Virtual testers can expect electronic gift cards, a great way to get toys for kids, babies and adults.

Hasbro Fun Lab

Hasbro FunLab also offers toy testing programs. Though they have both in-house and virtual events, the primary location for the former is the Home Tester Club at the Hasbro facility in Pawtucket, R.I., Canada, and the United Kingdom. 

The Home Tester Club looks for people to test products like toys, food, and skincare aids. They will mail you the products and will expect honest reviews in return. 

One unique thing about Hasbro is asking participants to answer a few questions before assigning them a product. You can join the community for free, unlike Fisher-Price. 

There is another clause that you have to look out for, i.e., you can’t sign up if you are below 18 years of age or work in the following industry: 

  • Advertising
  • Market research
  • Public relations
  • Newspaper
  • Magazine Publishing
  • TV
  • Movies
  • Radio
  • Manufacturing or distribution of toys
  • Entertainment Games or Videos

Once you are in, you will receive notifications whenever they are conducting a survey. You can enroll your child in toy testing events, focus groups, in-home play dates, and retail shopping studies.

Other Websites To Get Free Toys

Swagbucks

Swagbucks can help you with gift cards for toys. The site has a plethora of simple tasks that you can take to earn cash, coupons, cashback, and gift cards. 

Using the site is easy, as the instructions are straightforward and navigable. It is also one of the reputable sites offering a variety of simple tasks to choose from. Completing these tasks can earn you rewards, making it a preferred site among those seeking freebies. 

They are also a platform that allows you to join focus groups. Some tasks available on Swagbucks include playing games, watching videos, browsing the internet, and shopping online. 

But how do you get a free toy? 

Upon completion of these tasks, you will receive points that you can redeem for money via PayPal, cash on a Visa card, or gift cards. And here, you can choose gift cards from retailers like Target, Walmart, and Amazon. 

And, of course, you know how large of a toy collection all these stores have. So you don’t need to hunt for places to shop for toys, either.

App Testing

Another way to earn money and obtain discounts on your favorite popular toys is by exploring new apps. There are quite a few companies that offer payment for testing their app and reviewing it.

Some of the renowned ones are : 

  • SurveyJunkie: Desktop, iOS, and Android
  • AppBounty: Desktop and Android
  • AppKarma: Android
  • FeaturePoints: Android

All you have to do is install the above on your phone and get started. The good thing about these apps is that they don’t demand any long-term commitment; you do as they ask and receive the payment.

Once your account gets credited, you can purchase the best toys at a discounted rate or even for free. 

App testing is not only a way to get your hands on the favorites like Star Wars figurines, infant toys, family games, and the like, and you can also treat it as a source of additional income. 

These app testing sites can also allow you to win store deals, sample products, gift cards, or free subscriptions. 

Get Free Stuff From Craigslist

Craigslist is a popular choice for both shoppers and sellers. It is a classified marketplace known nationwide, providing a broad reach to discover what people are offering locally or anywhere across the United States.  

But did you know that you can get free stuff from Craigslist too? To locate free toys, go to the “For Sale” section and select the “free” option to browse through the items in your desired area. 

You can check out the toys you want within the free stuff or browse through them to reach your favorite ones. You can check out three categories to see their inventory correctly: the “free section,” “toys and games,” and “baby and kids.” They have everything from stuffed toys, games, and puzzles to science toys on the site.

Logging in to Craigslist is also very simple. Like any other site, it asks for your name and email id for quick verification. 

Make sure to read the details, like the item’s condition, to ensure it’s a good deal. And ask for additional photos from the seller to ensure you are not landing in a scam. 

Trashnothing.com

Trashnothing.com is a platform that associates itself with the concept of freecycling. It is related to prominent groups such as Freecycle, Full Circles, ReUselt on Yahoo Groups, and Freegle groups. 

It has a massive community of 8 million members and is an entirely safe site to be on. It simplifies the process of locating free toys and various other items. 

This is how it has grown into a parents’ favorite, making it easy for them to search for their desired toys without spending hours. 

To join this platform, you can create a new account with your email address or leverage existing social accounts like Facebook, Google, Microsoft, or Yahoo. 

Ibotta And Receipt Pal

These two sites will blow your mind if you need to know what platforms like Ibotta or ReceiptPal do. 

The first step to using these sites to the fullest is not to throw away your receipts. These platforms are made for you to obtain various benefits, such as gift cards, samples, coupons, and cash, simply by uploading your receipts. 

Two popular apps in this category are ReceiptPal and Ibotta. You can shop, scan your receipts, and earn vouchers and rewards. ReciptPal usually pays you for any itemized receipt. You can get items from Amazon, Visa, Walmart, Target, Home Depot, and Lowes. 

Ibotta, on the other hand, provides rebates for specific purchases. It gives you rewards when you purchase anything from the site, and once your rewards reach $20, you can go ahead and encash it via PayPal. 

Final Thoughts On How To Get Free Toys?

We understand that there can be a lot of reasons why you would want toys for free. Be it to save a little during Christmas, get exclusive playsets before they are in the market, find educational toys, or add your collectibles. In addition, some toys can be developmental in a toddler’s childhood.

Taking advantage of programs companies willingly offer is not something to be ashamed of. And toys nowadays are expensive, and sometimes children may not be able to understand the constraint you are going through.

These time-saving methods of earning free toys are an excellent way to save money and get good quality products without spending much. 

Author: Debolina. She is a digital marketing dynamo with a pen and a love for words that just won’t quit! So by day, she is a full-time marketing maven, crafting campaigns and conquering the online world one click at a time. And at night, she is a wordsmith weaving story and spinning tales that delight and inspire.