If you grew up in the golden age of cereal prizes, then you know that the real magic wasn’t in the milk. It was at the bottom of the box! The tiny treasures sparked imagination and even fueled sibling rivalries. Here are 10 cereal box prizes that truly made mornings unforgettable.
10. Honeycomb Digital Watches
By the 1980s, technology was trendy, and Post Honeycomb rode the wave by offering colorful plastic digital watches in their cereal boxes. They weren’t just playthings…they actually told the time. It was the kind of prize that lasted long after breakfast—a combination of trendy and practical.
9. Leon Neon Glow Bracelets
The ’80s also had the glow craze, which encouraged Kellogg’s to offer Leon Neon glow bracelets in their cereal boxes. The bracelets were bendable, glow-in-the-dark tubes that turned breakfast into a prelude to a backyard party. The prize was tied into the era’s obsession with arcades, neon colors, and dance parties.
8. Wacky WallWalkers
Wacky WallWakers were perhaps among the most iconic cereal prizes ever made. These sticky rubber octopus-shaped toys “crawled” down walls after being thrown. Kids were able to get them from cereals like Froot Loops and Apple Jacks, enjoying the novelty and gross-out fun. The toys also glowed in the dark, and that added extra magic at bedtime.
7. Spooky Speedsters
General Mills’ Monster Cereals already had an aura of playfulness, but in the 1980s, they took it up a notch with Spooky Speedsters. These were snap-together racers shaped like ghosts, coffins, and bats. Kids could build them quickly, and then race them across kitchen floors. The cars were also a part of a wave of build-and-play cereal prizes that encouraged creativity.
6. Flintstones Car
Imagine your favorite cartoon family is suddenly in your hands before school. That’s what happened in the ’70s, when Post’s Fruit and Cocoa Pebbles came in with the tiny Flintmobile toy. It was modeled after Fred Flintstone’s stone-age car, and kids loved racing them across kitchen tables, recreating cartoon adventures. The prize linked together two weekend rituals: cartoons and cereal.
5. Sugar Bear Bike Reflector
Cereal prizes started blending fun with function in the mid-’70s. Another great example is the Sugar Bear bike reflector. It was tucked into boxes of Post Super Sugar Crisp, and snapped onto kids’ bikes. Suddenly, breakfast mascots were riding alongside the kids and through the neighborhood. Collectors remember it fondly because it turned a marketing gimmick into something practical and personal.
4. Monster Mitts
Post Honeycomb also tapped into kids’ love for the weird with Monster Mitts. They were plastic gloves molded with designs like scales, bones, and bulging eyes. They turned ordinary hands into spooky claws, perfect for startling siblings during breakfast. Monster Mitts weren’t high-tech or flashy but they captured the playful spirit of the era.
3. Crater Critters
In the late 1960s, Crater Critters took cereal fun intergalactic. These quirky snap-together alien toys were introduced by Kellogg’s, and they came in funky shapes and bright colors. No glue or tools needed—kids could twist the pieces together to create little creatures that scream sci-fi.
2. Cracker Jack “Toy Surprise”
While not a cereal prize, Cracker Jack’s “Toy Surprise” shaped the culture of food prizes that influenced the cereal industry. It was introduced in 1912, and every box of caramel-coated popcorn promised a hidden treasure. The toys gave kids a reason to open up boxes with big smiles and help cement the phrase “prize inside” into everyday language.
1. The Funny Jungleland Moving Pictures Book
For the top spot, we have the first-ever cereal box prize. Kellogg’s originally gave this moving pictures book away as an in-store premium with Corn Flakes purchases. Later on, they shifted to a mail-in redemption system, wherein kids could send in box tops to receive the book. The prize was so successful it created millions of copies between 1909 and the 1930s. Advertising historians acknowledge the promotion as the birth of the cereal box prize tradition.