New toy trends for the holidays

With COVID restrictions lifted and shoppers back on the streets, local toy stores have all the info on what gifts are trending this Christmas.

Miner’s Doll and Toy Store in Ocean Springs ordered extra stock to keep up with demands.

The employees at Miner’s Doll and Toy Store say customers are flocking to brick-and-mortar shops in post-pandemic Ocean Springs.

This season, fidget toys are a ubiquitous obsession among kids. Miner’s employees maintain that trend by filling their shoppers’ bags with these plastic distractions.

Store clerk Olivia Owens showed us a magnetic puzzle called a Shashibo cube. “We do sell a lot of those. A lot of people come in asking about the fidget toys. But it’s just a fidget toy – you can make all kinds of different shapes. A lot of the fidget toys that are really popular are the Pop Its.”

Pop Its amount to silicon bubble wrap that can keep kids’ hands busy.

While trendy new toys like this appear each year, owner Merileigh Furr says classic gifts are also among the shop’s best-sellers. “I think the greatest trends are a lot of the traditional things like trucks and dolls, and we have a lot of outdoor toys, games, puzzles, little electronic kits. It’s just a wonderful spectrum of things that seem to never go out of style.”

Businesses on the coast have seen an upswing in foot traffic since COVID restrictions aren’t what they were. “We’ve had so many more shoppers coming in-store this year. Last year everybody was very guarded even though they were kind of getting out. This year people feel confident, they’ve got vaccines.”

For Christmas Eve, Miner’s will be open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. for your last-minute fidget toy needs.