Toy Expert and America’s Savvy Auntie®, Melanie Notkin, Reveals the

2014 Savvy Auntie Coolest Toy Award Winners

New York, NY – November 11, 2014 – Melanie Notkin,  founder and CEO of Savvy Auntie, the multiplatform lifestyle brand for aunts and godmothers, announces her 6th Annual Savvy Auntie Coolest Toy Awards for the 2014 holiday season. This year, 20 toys have made the coveted editorial list.

Savvy Auntie is focused on the growing influential niche of American women who love the children in their lives, but don’t (yet) have children of their own. This powerful demographic Notkin dubbed PANKs® (Professional Aunts No Kids) has a strong desire to make the most savvy toy choices each season. With many toy marketers and toy lists focusing on primary caregivers, Notkin created the Savvy Auntie Coolest Toy Awards in 2009 to give aunts and other secondary caregivers the toy-savvy they need to make the best gift choices for the children in their lives. Savvy Aunties may be secondary caregivers, but they are primary gift givers.

According to a 2012 joint-study entitled: The Power of the PANK, by Savvy Auntie and Weber Shandwick, there are 23 million PANKs in North America, women age 18+ who are not (yet) moms but have a special bond with a child in their life. PANKs spend $9 billion a year on those children, baseline just one child per PANK. A whopping 76% of PANKs spend over $500 per child in her life, per year. Notkin’s annual toy list helps those generous aunts and godmothers pick the right toys for the children they love.

Notkin’s annual toy list certainly helps Aunties maintain that “Cool Aunt” status. And Notkin’s toy list also fosters what she’s playfully dubbed: “QualAuntie Time.” The playtime time an Auntie spends with a niece or nephew of any age is quality time - often uninterrupted playtime - an important part of any baby and child’s developmental growth. Studies show that from pretend play as babies and toddlers to social development and problem solving as big kids, toys that children enjoy playing with are often an important part of their development. Savvy Aunties are giving kids gifts they crave as well as giving them the opportunity to develop necessary skills through having fun.

As a respected toy expert, Notkin meets with toy manufactures and industry analysts to discover the year’s ground-breaking toys – the ones on the top of most nieces’ and nephews’ lists. “I find the most buzzed about toys based on industry outlooks, toy quality, strong pop culture tie-ins, modern twists on the classics - and then I add a little of my own “Savvy Auntuition” to produce this list each year,” Notkin says. “The toys children want to play with the most are the definitely the coolest toy choices an aunt can make.”

2014 SAVVY AUNTIE COOLEST TOY AWARD WINNERS

There are 20 winners in all, sorted by age. For more information on each award winner and ‘Why Savvy Auntie Loves It’, visit SavvyAuntie.com/ToyAwards. Please note: prices may vary throughout the season.

Ages 1+

VTech Go! Go! Smart Animals - Zoo Explorers Playset ($40)

Ages 3+

Leapfrog LeapTV ($150)

Tolly Tots Disney Frozen Snow Glow Elsa Doll ($40)

Just Play Doc McStuffins Get Better Talking Mobile Cart ($45)

Ages 4+

Mattel HOT WHEELS® RC Street Hawk Remote Controlled Flying Car ($60)

Hasbro FurReal Friends Get Up and GoGo My Walkin Pup Pet ($60)

Playmates Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Secret Sewer Lair Playset ($100)

Ages 5+

Spin Master Zoomer Dino ($80)

Moose Toys Shopkins™ Small Mart ($20)

Mattel HOT WHEELS® Airbrush Auto Designer ($30)

Ages 6+

LEGO Friends Heartlake Shopping Mall (41058) ($95)

LEGO Super Heroes The Batcave (6860) ($75)

Spin Master Kinetic Sand Sandbox and Molds ($20)

Spin Master Sew Cool Sewing Machine ($30)

Crayola Virtual Design Fashion Collection ($30)

Jakks Pacific Max Toy Truck ($60)

Ages 8+

Nerf Mega ThunderBow Blaster ($40)

Hexbug VEX Robotics Spider ($70)

Wowwee MiP Robot ($100)

Ages 10+

LEGO Cuusoo Minecraft III (21106) ($40)

 Each winning toy is listed on SavvyAuntie.com/Gifts with links to an online retailer and an “Ask a Parent” button to help ensure parental approval when needed. The winning toys earn a 2014 Savvy Auntie Coolest Award Winner seal for promotional purposes, attracting the PANK demographic with Notkin’s ‘stamp of approval.’

###

 About Savvy Auntie

Founded by Melanie Notkin, Savvy Auntie is the multiplatform lifestyle brand that empowers and engages aunts, serving the PANK demographic discovered and coined by Notkin, and heralded by fabulous kid-loving women everywhere as a modern celebration of Aunthood. Notkin launched SavvyAuntie.com in 2008 and it remains the first and only resource and online community for this demographic. The brand also includes a popular and engaged social media following, Auntie’s Day® - a national day founded by Notkin to honor aunts and godmothers, and Melanie Notkin’s national bestseller: Savvy Auntie: The Ultimate Guide for Cool Aunts, Great-Aunts, Godmothers and all Women Who Love Kids (Morrow 2011). As a lifestyle expert, toy expert and a taste-maker for children’s trends, Notkin appears on TV and as a spokesperson for brands.

Melanie Notkin is also the author of Otherhood: Modern Women Finding a New Kind of Happiness (Seal Press / Penguin Canada 2014) and appears on TV as taste-maker for children’s trends and is available immediately as a lifestyle expert for Holiday Gift Guide stories and TV segments, as well as other child lifestyle expertise as needed.

For additional information on the Savvy Auntie Coolest Toy Awards or on-air and talent inquiries: Press@SavvyAuntie.com.  For more information, visit: SavvyAuntie.com.