The work aims to conduct a comparative analysis on the current status of research on smart toys in China and abroad, and the similarities and differences in the research on smart toys in the scaffolding of playful learning. The research lineage, definition and characteristics of smart toys were summarized and sorted out. Taking the Chinese and international smart toys literature (257 articles in Chinese and 235 articles in English) from 2000 to 2023 as the research object, the bibliometric method was combined with CiteSpace software to conduct visual comparative analysis on smart toys research, so as to clarify the current status of Chinese and international research on smart toys and the hot trends. The content analysis method was adopted to analyze and categorize the research cases, and explore the similarities and differences in the research focus, research methodology and other aspects of the research of smart toys as a learning scaffolding tool. The research on smart toys abroad is more concentrated than that in China, but neither of them has formed a core group of authors. The research directions of Chinese and foreign concerns are similar but obviously different in the specific research focuses. Chinese research focuses on the interactive forms and experiences of children's toys, while foreign research pays more attention to the multifaceted applications of technological innovations in the carriers of tangible toys. In the research of smart toys applied to scaffolding learning, Chinese and foreign project researches also show a big difference. Foreign research pays more attention to the integration of smart toy technological innovation in the actual teaching scene, the quantitative assessment of learning effectiveness, and the experience of special groups of children, while the Chinese research emphasizes more on the smart toys in the informal scene of the preschool children's learning to promote and develop, the way and strategy of the interaction between the smart toys and children and adaptation to local culture.