Watchdog group lists unsafe summer toys

BOSTON — A Boston-based consumer watchdog group has warned of the dangers to children that water balloon slingshots, lawn darts and other summer toys can pose.

Those playthings top a list of 10 questionable toys that was issued Thursday by World Against Toys Causing Harm, which is better known by its acronym, W.A.T.C.H.

Others include low-riding wheeled toys; swimming pools; all-terrain vehicles; toys with small parts; baby pools and garden buckets; backyard water slides; high-powered water guns; and bounce houses and backyard trampolines.

The group said that more than 2.5 million American children are injured each summer. It said that many of those accidents are preventable.

Last summer, the organization singled out fidget spinners — those popular plastic and metal toys that users spin around a finger — saying that they pose a choking hazard.