'Tis the season for giving holiday toys to kids and 'tis the season to avoid these top-10 worst toys, as listed by the World Against Toys Causing Harm (W.A.T.C.H.) consumer watchdog group.

Boston-based W.A.T.C.H. publishes an annual list of the most harmful and dangerous toys that should be avoided by wary parents.

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If anybody is considering buying a plastic battle hammer for a 3-year-old, a pencil that doubles as a slingshot or the glow-in-the-dark bow and arrow set, W.A.T.C.H. says think again.

"Toy guns, bottle rockets and bows and arrows on the list this year seem exciting and intriguing to children," the group said in a news release, "but have the real potential to lead to tragic, sometimes deadly consequences.

Number one with a bullet, almost literally, is the Air Storm Firetek Bow. A company called Zing makes the bow set that fires glowing arrows with bulging tips that shoot up to 50 yards, or half a football field.  Apparently, Zing took a cue from "Hunger Games Iim" in which a kid archers is the main star.

A lot of dangerous toys seem to be based on movies and TV shows that popularize related products and take advantage of the impulse buying urge of kids and the parents who want to please them, according to W.A.T.C.H.

Parents should "avoid these impulse purchases, know the hazards to look out for and thoroughly inspect a toy and its package prior to purchase," the group says.

Another top toy of danger is the Catapencil by Toysmith, aimed at combining a writing implement with a slingshot. Ouch.

Then. there's the SWAT electric machine gun by Chinese manufacturer Junxing, which looks like a real gun. Son Yong Yu of Toysmith said, in fact, it wasn't a toy, but a "novelty item, sort of like Dan Ackroyd's old "Saturday Night Live" bit as Irwin Mainway on "Consumer Reports."

The U.S. Consumer Protection Safety Commission said 11 children died from dangerous toys in 2012 and more than 260,000 emergency room visits were related to dangerous toys.

Other toys to avoid include bottle rockets, Radio Flyer's Radio Flyer Ziggie, Skip Hop's Alphabet Zoo Rock & Stack Pull toy, Walmart's wooden instruments, and Toys "R" Us' True Legends Orcs Battle and colored hedgehog.

For more information, visit toysafety.org/.

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