Welcome to Whattoy.com, a Toys and Games magazine written by parents for parents, dedicated to helping us all understand which toys and games are best for our children. We will continue to add our reviews over the next few weeks, so keep calling back to see what's new

Four of us started this magazine because we were frankly fed up with buying toys for our own kids that ended up being ‘5 minute wonders', as they broke / pieces got lost / they only did one thing.

So we talked to a few teachers, read some books and articles on ‘developmental toys', looked back at our experiences with our children, and worked out what we thought made a good toy or game. This was our simple list. See what you think:-

1. It should be built to last a few years (no tat!)
2. It should be interest to your child for a few months (or years)
3. It should combine good fun with some learning for the child.
4. It's great if the whole family can play with it.
5. Ideally no small parts that might get hoovered up/ lost down the sofa!
6. It shouldn't irritate the rest of the family by bleeping / singing and talking in an American accent…pretty much anything with a computer chip is bad!

If you have any other ideas on what makes a good toy then let us know at feedback@whattoy.com .

Very very few toys or games hit all these criteria, and sadly relatively few hit any at all!!

We have previewed hundreds of toys and games over the summer against our list, and we have only picked around 1 in 10 to go through to a full review, those that we thought we might choose to give to out children. Our stars are not given lightly!

Our star ratings:-

• 5 Stars PERFECT. Unique, and every home should have one.
• 4 Stars REALLY GOOD. You will not be disappointed.
• 3 Stars CLASSY. A great toy. There may be other toys that do the same thing.
• 2 Stars GOOD BUY. Our Goodbye, depending on what you are looking for. Not for everyone
• 1 Star JUST OK. These still are not bad toys (they get no stars!), but just don't have any distinguishing features.
• 0 stars NOT RECOMMENDED.