Kids In Illinois Want This Toy For Christmas

ILLINOIS — Just how does Santa know exactly which toys kids in Illinois want to find under the Christmas tree? Perhaps he powers up the computer at the North Pole and consults Google. That could explain how he knows American kids are just wild about Power Wheels, the riding toy from Fisher-Price that allows kids to rev around their yards and parks like aspiring Nascar drivers.

But that’s not the case in Illinois, where an analysis of Google searches by Review.org, an internet company that reviews all kinds of home devices and products. Kids in our state are asking for LEGO Friends in their letters to Santa.

So what are LEGO Friends? According to the toy maker's website, "Whatever the situation requires, the five Friends each use their strengths and creativity to save the day. They can act as caregivers or construction workers, pie-bakers to pilots, singers to scientists, artists to animal trainers, and everything in between. Whatever they (or your child) can imagine." There are even "mini movies" about the Friends.

Power Wheels were the favorites in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, South Carolina, South Dakota and West Virginia. The review site said the common thread among those states is the they don’t have a single Disneyland between them.

Fortnite Action Figures by McFarlane Toys are popular in several states: Arizona, Connecticut, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

And in California, Colorado, Florida, Maine, Mississippi and Montana, kids want the simple simplicity of spinning a hula hoop, an enduring toy introduced in 1958.

The review site consulted Google Trends to find the most searched-for toys on the site during the holiday season.

Photo by Renee Schiavone/Patch