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The musical instrument with the cute monkey character may seem to some parents like a great toy for their kids. Except that the keyboard paint is full of lead. A brightly colored teething ring has small beads that a toddler could snap off and swallow, creating a choking hazard. The toys are among many that have been deemed unsafe by the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission but still can be found for sale, in many cases over the Internet, according to a report released Tuesday by consumer watchdog group Maryland Public Interest Research Group. (McDaniels, 11/22)

In 2015, more than 250,000 emergency visits nationwide for children younger than 15 were toy-related. [Wassam] Rahman, an emergency medicine physician at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, alerted holiday-shopping parents at a news conference to the Florida Public Interest Group's 31st annual toy safety report. The report identifies 44 toys — ranging from M&M-branded jewelry with high levels of lead and Ikea bat capes that can cause strangulation to hoverboards/self-balancing scooters with batteries that can overheat and catch fire or explode — that have been recalled since January 2015. (Kumar, 11/22)