As grandparents spend billions and take on larger caregiving roles, new national awards recognize the products they trust most while providing brands with direct consumer insight.

CHARLESTON, S.C., July 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Grandparents have become one of the country’s most influential family shoppers, spending more than $172 billion on their grandchildren each year, according to AARP’s 2026 Grandparenting Study. Their role extends well beyond gift giving. Nearly 7 in 10 grandparents (69%) provide care for their grandchildren, averaging more than 500 hours each year, giving them firsthand experience with the toys, baby gear, feeding products, games, travel gear, and everyday essentials families rely on. Yet despite their enormous buying power and hands-on involvement, few brands market directly to grandparents, and very little product content exists specifically to help them make informed purchasing decisions.

ZestYears, a national grandparenting resource, created the Golden Grandparent Awards to help close that gap. The program, which today announced its inaugural winners, recognizes products evaluated in real family settings by grandparents and their grandchildren.

Rather than replacing traditional product reviews, the Golden Grandparent Awards provide a perspective that has largely been missing: real-world feedback from grandparents who regularly purchase, gift, and use products with their grandchildren. The program helps grandparents discover trusted products while giving brands and retailers direct insight into what this influential audience values, recommends, and buys.

“For too long, grandparents have been expected to navigate an overwhelming marketplace without a trusted resource built specifically for them,” said Ellie Barziv, co-founder of ZestYears. “The Golden Grandparent Awards were created to put grandparents at the forefront, giving them a trusted place to discover products while providing brands with a perspective they haven’t traditionally had access to.”

Every submitted product is evaluated in-home by grandparents with their grandchildren across ten criteria, including ease of setup, quality, safety, age appropriateness, packaging, excitement level, giftability, portability, usefulness, and overall family value. Because many grandparents regularly care for their grandchildren, the testing reflects real family routines and repeated product use rather than one-time demonstrations.

Every participating brand, whether selected as a winner or not, receives a comprehensive evaluation summarizing tester feedback, highlighting what families appreciated most, identifying opportunities for improvement, and providing valuable insight from real family settings.

“The goal isn’t simply to recognize great products,” said Alexandra Breuer, co-founder of ZestYears. “It’s to help grandparents navigate an increasingly crowded marketplace with confidence. At the same time, they’re introduced to innovative brands alongside trusted favorites across every stage of childhood, from classic play and nutrition to travel, technology, learning, and everyday family life.”

Winning products receive the Golden Grandparent Award designation along with visibility across ZestYears’ gift guides, editorial features, and dedicated winner pages, helping grandparents discover trusted products while giving brands additional exposure to a highly engaged grandparent audience.

The inaugural Golden Grandparent Award winners span the full range of products grandparents are buying today, from classic toys and games to AI-powered learning, travel solutions, nutrition, child safety, and everyday family essentials.

MAGNA-TILES – Creative Learning Award
Recognized for setting the standard in magnetic construction play, inspiring creativity, problem-solving, STEM learning, and open-ended fun that grows with children across ages and stages.

Baby Brezza – Baby Feeding Solutions Award
Recognized for simplifying everyday feeding routines with innovative solutions that save time, reduce stress, and make feeding and bottle care easier for families.

mifold – Best On-the-Go Child Safety Solution Award
Recognized for its compact, portable booster design that makes child passenger safety more convenient for travel, carpools, grandparents’ cars, and everyday family adventures.

Little Spoon – Excellence in Children’s Nutrition Award
Recognized for making nutritious meals and snacks simple and convenient, helping families serve wholesome, age-appropriate food with confidence.

Newton – Ready-to-Go Sleep & Play Award
Recognized for delivering a portable sleep and play solution that combines exceptional safety, comfort, and convenience, giving families confidence at home and wherever their travels take them.

Roshambo – Playproof Eyewear Award
Recognized for creating flexible, durable children’s eyewear that keeps up with active play while remaining comfortable, stylish, and built to last.

StickerBox – AI-Powered Imaginative Play Award
Recognized for making creativity instant through a voice-activated printer that transforms children’s ideas into custom stickers, encouraging imagination, self-expression, and creative thinking.

Figgy – Style Meets Play Award
Recognized for combining modern design with endless play possibilities through a flexible play couch that inspires building, imagination, movement, and everyday family fun.

GoChess – Innovative Gameplay Award
Recognized for reinventing classic chess with AI-powered guidance that makes learning, practicing, and playing more engaging for every skill level.

August & Ivy – Modern Parenting Design Award
Recognized for combining premium style, exceptional organization, and smart feeding features in a diaper bag that keeps families prepared for every outing with ease.

MeBook.me – The Children’s Keepsake Award
Recognized for creating personalized storybooks that place each child at the heart of every adventure, turning them into the main character while building confidence, imagination, and lasting family memories.

Dex Language Discovery Camera – World of Words Award
Recognized for making language learning interactive and fun through a camera-powered experience that encourages curiosity, vocabulary growth, and global exploration.

GoBalance Play – Kids Movement & Technology Award
Recognized for blending physical activity with interactive technology to help children build balance, coordination, confidence, and core strength through play.

SplashEZ – Educational Water Play Award
Recognized for combining outdoor water fun with early learning, encouraging active play while introducing letters, animals, and educational discovery.

Art Smiles – Art & Cultural Discovery Award
Recognized for introducing children to art styles, artists, culture, and museum-ready discovery through an engaging educational experience that builds curiosity and a love of art.

To learn more, visit the Golden Grandparent Awards winners page for full write-ups on each winner, why each product earned recognition, and information about becoming a future product tester or participating in the next round of the Golden Grandparent Awards.

Source: AARP 2026 Grandparenting Study

About The Grandparenting Hub by ZestYears

The Golden Grandparent Awards by ZestYears are a cornerstone of the ZestYears Grandparenting Hub, a national resource that helps modern grandparents discover trusted products, gift ideas, expert insights, travel inspiration, family activities, and practical guidance for the way families live today. Through peer recommendations, award-winning products, original content, and gift guides, the hub helps grandparents navigate every stage of grandparenting while providing brands and retailers with valuable insight into one of today’s most influential buying audiences.

Media Contact:
Sandy Ellison, Sandy@Zestyears.com

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SOURCE ZestYears