• Fur Real Friends Biscuit My Lovin Pup A large interactive puppy with a large price tag as well!
• Fisher-Price Elmo LiveSo cute! Elmo tells long stories, encourages, and interacts like no other Elmo plushie to date.
• RipStik G Caster Board A cross between a skateboard and a snowboard.
• Playskool Kota My Triceratops Dinosaur If you have the room for it, this ride-on interactive baby Triceratops is a blast for young kids.
• Radio Flyer Classic Rock and Bounce Pony with Sound For children ages 9 months and up. The pony neighs when it detects motion.
• EyeClops BioniCamThis electronic toy takes pictures and videos for close-up discoveries.
• LeapFrog® Tag Reading SystemWe love this interactive learn-to-read system.
• EyeClops Night Vision Infrared Stealth Goggles This cool set uses real infra-red night vision technology so that kids can see in the dark. Great fun.
• Vtech – Wall.E Learning Laptop A QWERTY keyboard flips down on this learning laptop with LCD screen built into the Wall-E robot character. 15 learning activities keep kids busy.
• Oregon Scientific Interactive GlobeIt’s a great learning experience, although we like the LeapFrog Explorer Smart Globe a little better. Learn geography through truly fun and addictive games.

GOAL IS MORE IMAGINATIVE, MAKE-IT-UP-YOURSELF, BELLY-LAUGHING PLAY FOR KIDS AND EASIER SHOPPING FOR MOM AND DAD

Toys don’t get much better than these. If you’re a kid just wanting to have fun, or an overworked parent looking to keep holiday shopping simple, check out the one expert-selected holiday toy list that cuts through all the heavily-hyped electronic razzmatazz in favor of safe, creative toys with staying power.

The hot-off-the-presses 2008 Best Toys for Kids list released today by the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA) gets back to the basics. It features toys for make-it-up-yourself, belly-laughing play that’s safe, fun for kids and supports their physical, cognitive, and social development. These toys are a great reason to bypass the hordes of anxious, exhausted shoppers at the usual big box stores and try smaller toy stores with better selection, good service, and a priority on toy safety.

“Many toy shoppers are surprised to learn that there is a whole world of engaging, unique, well-made toys that they never see in huge, impersonal, one-size-fits-all stores. These are the toys you will find on the 2008 Best Toys for Kids list and in your local neighborhood toy store,” notes Kathleen McHugh, President of the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association.

“The people at your locally-owned toy store are from your community. They hand-select a wide range of safe, highly creative toys you don’t see advertised,” continues McHugh. “These toys may not be the ones your kids bug you to buy them, but they will be the ones they play with over and over.”

Toy store owners who are toy and play experts have selected the 2008 Best Toys for Kids (listed below). The list includes toys for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and older children, and guides parents to toy selections according to different types of play. Details about each toy can be found at www.astratoy.org.

INFANT (Ages Birth-12 Months)

1. Busy Bee Discovery Flower (ALEX) Ages 6 months+

2. Together Tunes Too Block (Neurosmith, manufacturer & Small World Toys, vendor) Ages 6 months+

TODDLER (Ages 1-3 Years)

3. Wheely Bug (Prince Lionheart) Ages 1.5+ (small size), and 3+ (large size)

4. Dexter the Digger (WOW Toys, manufacturer & Ravensburger, vendor) Ages 1.5+

PRESCHOOL LEARNING (Ages 3-6 Years)

5. Magna-Tiles: 3-D Magnetic Building Tiles (Valtech Co.) Ages 3+

6. Magnetic Mosaics – Kids (The Orb Factory) • Ages 4+

Preschool Pretend & Play (Ages 3-6 Years)

7. Road & Rail Play Set – Railway Station (Plan Toys, Inc.) Ages 3+

8. Stablemates(TM) Red Stable Set with Two Horses (Breyer Animal Creations, Div. of Reeves International, Inc.) Ages 4+

CONSTRUCTION

9. Circus Ring (Playmobil) Ages 5+

10. Excalibur Castle (Le Toy Van, manufacturer & Hotaling Imports Inc., vendor) Ages 3+

11. 24-foot BluTrack Challenge Pack (MJ Sports dba BluTrack(R)) Ages 3+

ARTS & CRAFTS

12. Sticky Mosaics Jewelry Box (The Orb Factory) Ages 6+

13. Wikki Stix Tons of Fun (Omnicor Inc. / The Wikki Stix Co.) Ages 3 – 11

MUSIC

14. Schoenhut 44-Key Baby Grand Piano (Schoenhut Piano Company, Inc.) Ages 5+

15. Learn to Play Piano (Melissa & Doug) Ages 3+

GAMES FOR YOUNGER CHILDREN (Ages 3-7 Years)

16. Zingo! (ThinkFun, Inc.) Ages 4 – 8

17. Qwirkle (MindWare) Ages 6+

Games FOR OLDER KIDS (Ages 8 Years+)

18. SET Cubed, a Curious Game of Clever Connections (Set Enterprises, Inc.) Ages 8+

19. Bananagrams (Bananagrams) Ages 7+

SCIENCE

20. Wind Power — Renewable Energy Science Kit (Thames & Kosmos) Ages 8+

21. Geyser Tube (Be Amazing! Toys) Ages 8+

ACTIVE

22. The Original Flying Turtle (Mason Corporation) Ages 3 – 12

23. Mini Super Sports Disk (OgoSport, LLC) Ages 4+

TOYS TO WOW KIDS!

24. Multi-colored Ball of Whacks (Creative Whack Company/US Games Systems, Inc.) Ages 8+

25. Karito Kids World Collection (Karito Kids by KidsGive) Ages 3+

The 2008 Best Toys for Kids list, along with an easy-to-use Toy Store Finder for locating independently-owned toy stores, can be found at www.astratoy.org.

The toys predicted to dominate children’s Christmas lists this year are set to ignite dreams of stage and screen fame, says the Toy Retailers Association (TRA) today.

The TRA’s annual ‘Dream Toys’ list, the only official prediction of Christmas bestsellers, reveals a trend towards music, film and TV inspired toys to indulge fame fantasies from the next generation of rock stars and screen heroes. Plenty of old favorites also make a comeback this year, reflecting the nation’s love for nostalgic characters and brands.

This year’s Dream Dozen, in alphabetical order:
BABY born® with Magic Potty, Zapf Creation®
Bakugan™ Starter Pack, Spinmaster
Ben 10 Deluxe Omnitrix, Bandai
Catcha Beast, Bandai
Cupcake Maker, Character Options
Elmo Live, Mattel
FurReal Biscuit, My Lovin’ Pup, Hasbro
High School Musical 3 Musical Dance Mat, Vivid Imaginations
In The Night Garden Upsy Daisy and Her Chase and Play Bed, Hasbro
My Life, Flair Leisure Products (by Playmates in the US)
Rescue Pals Swim To Me Puppy, MGA Entertainment Ltd
Star Wars Clone Trooper Voice Changer Helmet, Hasbro

Top Girls’ Toys According to the TRA

Music takes the Girls’ category by storm this year, with the Bratz™ Girls Really Rock Dolls (MGA Entertainment Ltd), High School Musical Sing Together Dolls and the film-inspired Camp Rock Gift Pack (both Mattel) making it onto the wish lists of aspiring rock stars. Another musical hit is sure to be Mattel’s Barbie Princess Liana Singing Doll, which sings songs from the Barbie and the Diamond Castle movie.

Younger girls will love Zapf Creation®’s CHOU CHOU My First Tooth, while animal lovers will be delighted to unwrap Vivid Imaginations’ I Love Ponies Honey My Baby Pony, or FurReal Biscuit My Loving Pup (Hasbro), Sylvanian Families Old Hollow Oak Treehouse (Flair Leisure Products), or the hottest or fittest VIPs from Hasbro’s Littlest Pet Shop range on Christmas day.

Top Boys’ Toys According to the TRA

TV and film inspire the Boys’ category this year, with nearly all of the selection featuring characters from our screens. Rev up Christmas for little petrolheads with Mattel’s film-inspired CARS Walkin’ Talkin’ Lightning McQueen, or the Air Hogs® Zero Gravity™ Micro (Spinmaster) Radio Controlled Vehicle.

Figurine lovers won’t be disappointed, with the Gormiti Island of Gorm Playset (Flair Leisure Products) and WWE RAW Arena Playset (Vivid Imaginations) both on the top 12 list. This year’s hit animation Wall.E has also made its mark, with Vivid Imaginations’ Transforming Wall-E Robot a newcomer to the list, while established favorites are represented with the Power Rangers Overdrive Tracker (Bandai), Transformers Animated Roll Out Command Optimus Prime, Indiana Jones Hat & Whip Set and the Clone Wars AT-TE Vehicle and Star Wars Clone Trooper Voice Changer Helmet (all Hasbro).

Top Preschool Toys According to the TRA

Younger children will be kept busy this Christmas with plenty of interactive toys in the Pre-School category. Budding engineers will have their pick of the Bob The Builder Interactive Construction Site (Born to Play), Take Along Thomas Morgan’s Mine Electronic Playset (RC2), or the Roary the Racing Car Silver Hatch Workshop Playset (Vivid Imaginations).

Start work for the green generation with Playmobil’s Recycling Truck. Imaginative little ones can blast off with the Peppa Pig’s Spaceship (Character Options), go back in time with the Playskool Kota The Triceratops (Hasbro), laugh themselves silly with the Mr Tickle Stretch & Giggle or Elmo Live! (both Mattel), or get lost in a good story with the LEAPFROG Tag Reading System. The Teletubbies also make a comeback this year, with Tomy’s Dance With Me Teletubby set to be a huge hit, and keen photographers will be snapping away at the Christmas action with their KidiZoom Multimedia Digital Cameras (VTech).

Here’s a review of the Kota Triceratops: