Not all the testers for Good Housekeeping’s annual Best Toys list wear lab coats. Some are barely out of diapers.

For its 2012 list, engineers reviewed hundreds of toys for safety and educational merits. But the true test comes from 140 kids, ages 3 to 13, who play with the top 135 new toys at the magazine’s product-testing laboratory in New York.

There are more price-conscious choices under $25 to choose from this year, according to the Good Housekeeping Research Institute, along with toys that teach, including robotics for very young children and sophisticated art projects and models for older kids. Others fall into the category of back-to-basics, abandoning tech in favor of more open-ended play.